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HavenWorks.com/louisiana Louisiana News |
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Louisiana News, Louisiana State News, Louisiana capital: Baton Rouge, LA News |
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 US
States
Hurricane
Katrina
West
Nile Virus
Louisiana capital: Baton Rouge US
Capitals
LA: Louisiana State
Abbr.
Looking for the other "LA" see: Los Angeles News "LA" ;-)
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 Louisiana
LOUISIANA News:
 John
Boehner
-  Government
-  Economic
-  Legislation
-  Politics
-  History
- Poor
-  Family
-  Women's
-  Medical
- Abortion
-  AL.
-  FL
-  MS
-  SC
-  CA
- LA
-  MN
-  RI
-  MO
-  Ohio
-  Wisconsin
"Republicans Irate Over Expansion of Republican-Approved Program." ... "[T]he family-planning program that [California Democratic Representative and House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi supports expanding in the stimulus bill was created in 1972 under the leadership of Republican president Richard Nixon." ... "What's being proposed is an expansion in the number of states that can use Medicaid money, with a federal match, to help low-income women prevent unwanted pregnancies. Of the 26 states that already have Medicaid waivers for family planning, eight are led by Republican governors (AL [Alabama], FL [Florida], MS [Mississippi], SC [South Carolina], CA [California], LA [Louisiana], MN [Minnesota] and RI [Rhode Island] -- a ninth, MO [Missouri], had a GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] governor until this past November). If this policy is truly a taxpayer gift to "the abortion industry," as [Ohio Republican Representative] John Boehner and House Republicans claim, where are the GOP governors promising to end the program in their states?" ... "Additionally, the process of obtaining a waiver for Medicaid family-planning coverage is extremely cumbersome. A letter written by Wisconsin health regulators in 2007 noted that some states have had to wait for as long as two years before their request was approved. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that eliminating the waiver requirement would save states $400 million over 10 years." -By Elana Schor -TPMDC .TalkingPointsMemo 
 Bob
Corker -  David
Vitter -  Richard
Shelby -  Foreign
- Money
-  Auto
-  Makers
- Michigan
-  Working
-  People
-  US
-  Military
-  Japan
-  Tenn
- La
-  Germany
-  Korea
- Ala
"Anger grows in Michigan over Southern opposition to auto loans." ... "Mark Dobias, a small-town lawyer from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, hasn't always been the domestic auto industry's biggest fan. But when it became clear that a few senators from places like Alabama and Louisiana were determined to do anything to block any aid to General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford, it got to him." ... ""This is regional economic warfare. Pure and simple. The wounded Rustbelt being bayoneted in the throat by economic interests in the East and Sunbelt with aid from their political toadies," he wrote me. He's normally a laid-back guy with a puckish sense of humor, but the hypocrisy was, he said, a bit much." ... ""Michigan is a great state. It has good people - hard-working people who make things. The nation has gained from its natural resources and industrial capacity. And now … we will remember this in the same way that Georgia remembers William Tecumseh Sherman," the union general whose armies laid the Southern state waste." ... "What was highly unusual, in Michigan's quarrelling political culture, was the unanimity with which the state's various factions united in support of trying to help the automakers - and disdain for the senators who would prevent that effort." ... "The thoroughly Republican Detroit News normally denounces any government aid program. But not this time. In a highly rare front-page editorial, it pleaded "we urge the Senate, please give Detroit a chance to make things right … we appeal to Senate Republicans to act not in support of the domestic auto makers, but in the interest of the national economy and national security - we still need an arsenal of democracy."" ... "True, the News did publish a piece by freshman [Tennessee Republican Senator] Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn. [Republican-Tennessee]) that called on Congress to impose much harsher conditions on the companies and their workers as a precondition for any aid. He also called for more involvement by Congress in actually running these companies. But the newspaper shot back, that "like most of Washington, Corker is ill-informed of the forces roiling the domestic auto industry."" ... "There was bitterness, too, in Detroit [Michigan] at the men blocking the bailout. Some cattily noted that when [Louisiana Republican Senator] Sen. David Vitter (R., La. [Republican-Louisiana]) vowed a filibuster, it was the first time he had gotten national press attention since being linked to a Washington prostitution scandal." ... "Sens. [Alabama Republican Senator] Richard Shelby (R., Ala. [Republican-Alabama]) and Corker both represent states where foreign, nonunion automakers have significant operations. Mr. Corker, a freshman who won a narrow victory in 2006, is insisting that the United Auto Workers accept wage cuts so that workers make no more than nonunion workers in the South, such as the [Japan's] Nissan employees in his state." ... "Alabama, a right-to-work state, has granted vast concessions to win [auot manufacturing] plants operated by [Japan's] Toyota, [Germany's] Mercedes-Benz, [Japan's] Honda, and [South Korea's] Hyundai." -By Jack Lessenberry -ToledoBlade.com
David
Vitter -  Mitch
McConnell - Bob
Corker - Foreign
- Money
- Politicians
- Auto
- Manufacturing
- Work
- Louisiana
-  Kentucky
- Tennessee
-  Pennsylvania
- US
- Japan
- Germany
"My Foreign Investor, Right Or Wrong." ... "A bunch of Southern-state Republicans (including, amazingly, ... [Louisiana Republican Senator] David Vitter), from right-to-work states, want to push GM [General Motors] and Chrysler into bankruptcy to bolster the foreign auto presence in their home states. Kentucky has a Ford factory but they also have a [Japanese] Toyota plant in Georgetown [Kentucky], so [Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch] McConnell's on board." ... "Last week, Jane Hamsher explained the conflict of interest for [Tennessee Republican Senator] Bob Corker in Tennessee:" "He hasn't mentioned the subsidies his own state of Tennessee has given toThe GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] does a lot of chest-thumping about "Country First" and patriotism. It's fun to watch them destroy American manufacturing so they can keep Japanese and German corporate executives happy. OK, maybe not so fun." -By D-Day via Hullabaloo
Political
- Corporate
-  Television
-  Media
- Michigan
-  Massachusetts
-  New
York -  Arizona
-  Georgia
- Louisiana
- Alabama
"More Muscle." ... "TPM Reader RS ..." "Here is something progressives really need to address. On Sunday morning political shows, three Democrats are confirmed as guests: [Michigan Democratic Senator] Carl Levin, [Massachusetts Democratic Representative] Barney Frank, and [New York Democratic Representative] Charlie Rangel. It's as if Democrats didn't just win huge electoral advances in the Presidential, House, and Senate elections. So we get the same thing we've had the past 8 years--republican hegemony on Sunday. [Arizona Republican Senator Jon] Kyl? Check. [former Georgia Republican Representative Newt] Gingrich? Check. [Republican Michael] Steele? Check. [Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby] Jindal and [Alabama Republican Senator Richard] Shelby? Check and check? Just look at The Page for the whole list. When is the "liberal media" going to give some of the oxygen to Democrats?""This is unquestionably true. The bookers and producers of the Sunday shows are committed to the continuing dominance of conservative/Republican marquee guests. No question about it. And this is going to be one part of the rewiring of Washington that will take longer and face more resistance than possibly any other. The big interests and institutions that go to Washington to buy influence are quickly reacting to the changing political complexion of the city. The TV bookers and opinion act like nothing's happened." -By Josh Marshall .TalkingPointsMemo 
Jobs
- History
-  Weather
- Disasters
- Louisiana
-  Texas
"Jobless claims soar near 7-year high: First economic report since financial meltdown shows initial unemployment claims rose by 7%, boosted by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike." ... "According to a study by the Department of Labor, initial filings for state jobless benefits increased by a seasonally adjusted 32,000 to 493,000 in the third week of September. It was the highest number of weekly claims since Sept. 29, 2001, when unemployment soared in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." ... "The Labor Department said about 50,000 of the new claims were due to the effects of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. There were 18,400 more claims from the week before in Louisiana alone, and Texas added 1,200." ... "Earlier this month, the government reported that there were 84,000 jobs lost in August, bringing to 605,000 the number of jobs cut from payrolls by U.S. employers in the first eight months of the year." ... "The unemployment rate surged to 6.1% last month, a nearly five-year high and up from 5.7% in July. In the last recession, unemployment reached a high of 6.3%." -By David Goldman -CNN
 John
McCain -  Joe
Biden -  Barack
Obama -  Hillary
Clinton - Hurricane
Katrina - Weather
- Emergency
-  Investigation
- Legislation
- Politics
- History
- Federal
- NY
- New
Orleans - Louisiana
-  Communications
- Funds
- Children
-  Transportation
- 2008
Election
"McCain To Katrina Victims In 2005: You're On Your Own." ... "It doesn’t really come as a surprise to those of us who have watched [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain over the years that he's about to make a campaign stop in New Orleans [Louisiana] after Hurricane Gustav hits this week. After all, he's been exploiting the troops for years, what's a few hurricane victims after that?" ... "What does seem odd is that McCain thinks Gulf Coast residents will forget how he, [Republican President] George W. Bush and the then-Republican Congress turned their backs on them so many times in the months after Katrina thundered ashore in 2005." ... "Too bad he spent the months to follow leading the Republican charge against every Senate bill that would have actually helped Katrina victims or mandated investigations on how the Bush administration could have blown disaster response so thoroughly." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden jumped immediately to the aid of hurricane victims in the week after the 2005 disaster, authoring S.Amdt. 1661 "…to provide emergency funding for victims of Hurricane Katrina."" ... "Biden's legislation would have provided many things including money to purchase interoperable communications equipment to help first-responders dealing with the disaster, $10 million "to find, unite, and transport children impacted by Hurricane Katrina to their parents, legal guardian, or next of kin" and funding to assist victims of domestic violence in affected areas." ... "But with John McCain's help, the Republican-led Senate shot down the funding on a 41-56 vote with McCain voting against, while Biden and Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama voted for the funding." ... "When [New York Democratic] Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY[ Democratic-New York]) proposed the creation of a Congressional Commission to "examine the Federal, State, and local response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.. and make immediate corrective measures to improve such responses in the future," John McCain was once again exactly where [Republican President] George W. Bush wanted him to be: On the "nay" side of a straight party-line vote (44-54) that killed that legislation." ... "And lest you think it was McCain taking a stand against what might become a Democratic witch hunt on the failures of his bosses in the White House, the bill called for a wholly bipartisan panel, stating specifically of the 10-member group that "not more than 5 members of the Commission shall be from the same political party."" ... "Unlike McCain, Barack Obama was one of the cosponsors of that bill and both he and Biden voted for immediate oversight on the bungled Katrina response." ... "But that's not all." -By Bob Geiger
David
Vitter -  Larry
Craig -  Sam
Brownback -  James
Inhofe - Gay
- Family
- Law
- Politics
- La
-  Idaho
-  Kansas
-  Oklahoma
"The Federal Marriage Amendment is back — with Vitter’s and Craig’s support." ... "Republicans are looking at the political landscape, and they’re feeling awfully discouraged. The polls look bad, the base looks depressed, and fundraising looks iffy. Rallying the far-right troops with an anti-gay amendment to the Constitution — even though it has no chance at even getting so much as a hearing — might be helpful to the conservative movement." ... "But the funny part is looking over the list of the 10 original sponsors. Most of the names are predictable — [Kansas Republican Senator Sam] Brownback and [Oklahoma Republican Senator James] Inhofe, for example — but there are two others whose names stand out: [Republican Senators] Sens. David Vitter (R-La. [Republican-Louisiana]) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho [Republican])." ... "Yes, two of the principal sponsors of a constitutional amendment to “protect” marriage include one far-right Republican who hired prostitutes and another far-right Republican who was arrested for soliciting gay sex an airport men’s room." ... "As my friend Kyle put it, these two are “not exactly the poster boys of the family values crowd or particularly upstanding examples of the supposed sanctity of the ‘union of a man and a woman.”‘" -By Steve Benen -TheCarpetbaggerReport.com
[YouTube Video]
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Louisiana News Sources: New
Orleans
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Don
Siegelman - 
Karl
Rove
- 
Leura
Garrett Canary
- Alabama
- US
Attorney - Politics- Investigation
- 2002
Election - La
- Federal
- Prison
- "Freed
Ex-Governor of Alabama Talks of Abuse of Power."
... "Former [Democratic Governor] Gov. Don Siegelman of Alabama, released
from prison Friday on bond in a bribery and corruption case, said he was
as convinced as ever that politics had played a leading role in his prosecution."
... "Speaking by telephone in his first post-prison interview, shortly
after he had left the federal penitentiary at Oakdale, La. [Louisiana],
Mr. Siegelman said there had been “abuse of power” in his case, and repeatedly
cited Karl Rove, the former [Republican President Bush] White House political
director." ... "“His fingerprints are smeared all over the case,” Mr. Siegelman
said, a day after a federal appeals court ordered him released on bond
and said there were legitimate questions about his case. He was sentenced
to serve seven years last June after a guilty verdict on bribery and corruption
charges a year earlier." ... "The investigation, trial and conviction of
Mr. Siegelman, a veteran politician, has become a flash point for broader
Democratic contentions that politics has influenced decisions by the Justice
Department under [Republican] President Bush, including the firings of
several United States attorneys, and other federal prosecutions besides
Mr. Siegelman’s." ... "In a sworn statement, a Republican lawyer and political
operative, Jill Simpson, told of hearing one of Mr. Rove’s allies here,
William Canary, discussing Mr. Siegelman during the 2002 governor’s race,
and saying “that he had already gotten it worked out with Karl and Karl
had spoken with the Department of Justice and the Department of Justice
was already pursuing Don Siegelman.” The United States attorney here, Leura
G. Canary, is married to Mr. Canary." -By Adam
Nossiter -NYTimes
John
McCain
- 
John
Hagee - 
Rod
Parsley - 
Rudy
Giuliani - 
Pat
Robertson
- 
Terrorism
- Politics
- Military
- Religion
- Race
- Obama
- 2008
Election - Hurricane
Katrina - New
Orleans - Louisiana
- Oklahoma
- US
- 
Israel
- "The
difference between Jeremiah Wright and radical, white evangelical ministers."
... "Ross Douthat and Ezra
Klein are arguing about whether Jeremiah Wright's statements are comparable
to those of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and John Hagee's." ... "The statement
of Wright's which seems to be causing the most upset -- and it's one of
two singled out by Douthat -- is his suggestion that there is a causal
link between (a) America's constant bombings of and other interference
with Middle Eastern countries and (b) the willingness of some Middle Eastern
fanatics to attack the U.S. [United States] Ever since the 9/11 attacks,
we've been told that positing any such causal connection is a sign of vicious
anti-Americanism and that all decent people find such questions despicable.
This week we learned that no respectable person would subject his children
to a pastor who espouses such hateful ideas." ... "But the idea that America
deserves terrorist attacks and other horrendous disasters has long been
a frequently expressed view among the faction of white evangelical ministers
to whom the Republican Party is most inextricably linked. Neither Jerry
Falwell nor Pat Robertson ever retracted or denounced their view that America
provoked the 9/11 attacks by doing things to anger God. John Hagee continues
to believe that the City of New Orleans [Louisiana] got what it deserved
when Katrina drowned its residents and devastated the lives of thousands
of Americans. And [Oklahoma Republican Senator] James Inhofe -- who
happens to still be a Republican U.S. Senator -- blamed
America for the 9/11 attacks by arguing in a 2002 Senate floor speech
that "the spiritual door was opened for an attack against the United States
of America" because we pressured Israel to give away parts of the West
Bank." ... "John Hagee privately
visits with the highest level Middle East officials in the [Republican
President Bush] White House and afterwards pronounces that they're in agreement.
[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain shares a
stage with Hagee and lavishes him with praise, as Rudy Giuliani did with
Pat Robertson. James Inhofe remains a member in good standing in the GOP
[GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] Senate Caucus. The Republican Party has
tied itself at the hip to a whole slew of "anti-American extremists" --
people who believe that the U.S. provoked the 9/11 attacks because God
wants to punish us for the evil, wicked nation we've become -- and yet
there is virtual silence about these associations." ... "Nor have the views
of televangelist Rod Parsley, one of McCain's self-proclaimed "spiritual
advisers," received a fraction of the attention generated by Wright. As
both David
Corn and Alan
Colmes, among others, have documented, Parsley espouses views at least
as extreme and radical as Wright, including his proclamation that "America
was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion
[Islam] destroyed." Unlike Wright and Obama -- for whom the former's
controversial views are found nowhere near the latter's public or private
conduct -- both George Bush and John McCain's Middle Eastern militarism
are perfectly consonant with the most maniacal and crazed views of Christian
Rapture enthusiasts such as Hagee, Parsley, Inhofe, and Robertson. Yet
the controversy created over their close ties is virtually non-existent."
... "The Republican Party long ago adopted as a central strategy aligning
itself with, and granting great influence to, the most radical, "America-hating"
white evangelical Christian ministers in the country."
-By Glenn Greenwald -Salon
Barack
Obama
- 
Tim
Russert
- John
McCain
- John
C Hagee - Religious
- Racist
- Political
- Journalist
- 2008
Election - Hurricane
Katrina - Homosexual
- New
Orleans - Louisiana
- Texas
- "Some
hateful, radical ministers -- white evangelicals -- are acceptable."
... "One of this week's hysterical press scandals was that Minister Louis
Farrakhan praised [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack
Obama's candidacy even though Obama had previously denounced numerous Farrakhan
remarks and the Obama campaign did nothing to seek out the Farrakhan praise.
Nonetheless, [MSNBC TV political journalist] Tim Russert demanded
that Obama jump through multiple hoops to prove that he has no connection
to -- and, in fact, "rejects" -- the ideas espoused by Farrakhan deemed
to be radical and hateful." ... "Yesterday, though, the equally fringe,
radical and hateful (at least) [Reverend] Rev. John Hagee -- a white evangelical
who is the pastor of a sprawling "mega-church" in Texas -- enthusiastically
endorsed [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate]] John McCain.
Did McCain have to jump through the same hoops which Russert and others
set up for Obama and "denounce" Hagee's extremism and "reject" his support?
No; quite the opposite. McCain said he was "very honored" to receive
this endorsement and, when asked about some of Hagee's more twisted views,
responded: "all I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor
John Hagee's support."" ... "McCain's sainted supporter, [Connecticut
Independent Democrat Senator] Joe Lieberman, last
year spoke to Hagee's group and lavished him with such obsequious praise
that Lieberman actually compared Hagee, favorably, to Moses. Why is Louis
Farrakhan deemed by our political establishment to be so radioactive as
to not be fit for good company -- black candidates are required to repudiate
his support even when they haven't sought it and denounce his views even
when they've never advocated anything close to those views -- but John
Hagee is a perfectly acceptable figure whom mainstream GOP [GOP=Grand Old
Party=Republican] politicians are free to court without any consequences
or media objections?" ... "From an NPR
interview Hagee gave to Terry Gross in 2006:"
John
McCain
- 
Jack
Abramoff
- 
Bob
Riley
- 
Tom
DeLay
- 
Bob
Ney
- Money
- Politics
- Investigation
- Law
- 
EMail
- Alabama
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Arizona
- Texas
- Ohio
- History
- 2002
Election - 2006
Election - 2008
Election - "McCain
Withheld Controversial Abramoff Email." ... "In the
2006 Senate report concerning [Republican Lobbyist Jack] Abramoff's activities,
which [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain spearheaded,
the Arizona Republican conspicuously left out information detailing how
Alabama [Republican Governor] Gov. Bob Riley was targeted by Abramoff's
influence peddling scheme. Riley, a Republican, won election in November
2002, and was reelected in 2006." ... "In a December 2002 email
[PDF] obtained by the Huffington Post -- which McCain and his staff
had access to prior to the issuance of his report -- Abramoff explains
to an aide what he would like to see Riley do in return for the "help"
he received from Abramoff's tribal clients." ... "An official with the
Mississippi Choctaws "definitely wants Riley to shut down the Poarch Creek
operation," Abramoff wrote, "including his announcing that anyone caught
gambling there can't qualify for a state contract or something like that.""
... "The note showed not only the reach of Abramoff, but raised questions
about Riley's victory in what was the closest gubernatorial election in
Alabama history." ... "And yet, despite the implications of the information,
McCain and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee sat on the controversial
portion of the email. According to an official familiar with the investigation,
McCain also subsequently refused to make the email public after the report
was released." ... "There was a brief footnote in the report that quoted
William Worfel, former vice chairman of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana,
saying that Abramoff told the chief of a Mississippi tribe to spend $13
million "to get the governor of Alabama elected to keep gaming out of Alabama
so it wouldn't hurt ... his market in Mississippi."" ... "But Riley's name
and the details of what was being asked of him were not mentioned once
in the 373-page document." ... "Indeed, as the Associated Press noted
in 2006, McCain stayed deliberately agnostic as to Riley's involvement."
... ""Although Sen. McCain has long bragged of his role in the Abramoff
investigation, he let [former Texas Republican Representative] Tom DeLay
and the other members of Congress who were doing Abramoff's bidding completely
off the hook. The sole exception was [former Ohio Republican Representative]
Rep. Bob Ney, who served time in prison," Melanie Sloan, Executive Director
of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics In Washington told the Huffington
Post recently. "Sen. McCain knew what his colleagues were up to, he chose
to take the easier path and give them a free pass.""
-By
Sam
Stein -HuffingtonPost.com
Corporate
- Government
- Politics
- Hurricane
Katrina - 
Flood
- Disaster
- New
Orleans - Louisiana
- 
University
- 
Homes
- "Supreme
Court rejects Katrina victims' flood insurance case."
... "The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to offer help to Hurricane Katrina
victims who want their insurance companies to pay for flood damage to their
homes and businesses." ... "The justices rejected appeals from Xavier University
[in New Orleans, Louisiana] and 68 other individuals and businesses seeking
to allow their lawsuits against the insurers to go forward."
-AssociatedPress
Hospital
Corporations - 
Pharmaceutical
- Corporations
- Federal
- Investigators
- 
New
Jersey - New
York
- Tennessee
- Ohio
- Louisiana
- Pennsylvania
- "Federal
investigators recoup $2.2B in healthcare-fraud prosecutions."
... "The largest recovery came from a settlement with Tenet Healthcare
Corp. [Corporation], one of the largest for-profit hospital chains in the
United States. In a well-publicized case, whistleblowers from inside the
company alerted federal authorities, which uncovered evidence that Tenet
was manipulating Medicare’s payment system to boost revenue and paid kickbacks
to physicians who sent their patients to Tenet facilities. To settle the
charges and avoid a court judgment on the accusations, Tenet agreed to
pay the government $900 million over the course of four years." ... "Other
hospital companies also coughed up millions to the federal government in
fraud and abuse cases in fiscal 2006, including St. Barnabas Health Care
System in New Jersey ($265 million), Beth Israel Medical Center in New
York ($73 million), the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority
in Tennessee ($37 million), University Hospitals Health System in Ohio
($13.8 million), Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center in Louisiana
($3.8 million) and the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania
($2.9 million)." ... "The pharmaceutical company Serono paid $704 million
to settle charges that it illegally advised doctors to prescribe an AIDS
medicine called Serostim for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA), paid kickbacks to cooperative physicians, and conspired with the
diagnostic device maker RJL Sciences to market a device not approved by
the FDA. RJL Sciences pleaded guilty to its role." ... "Schering-Plough,
another drug company, is on the hook for $435 million as a result of several
charges, including allegedly giving false information to the FDA, which
was investigating whether the company’s marketing practices violated the
law." -By Jeffrey Young
-TheHill.com
Barack
Obama
- Hillary
Clinton
- John
McCain
- 
Mike
Huckabee - 
Washington- 
Nebraska
- Louisiana
- 
Illinois
- New
York
- Kansas
- 2008
Election - "Obama
wins big in Wash., Nebraska, La." ... "[2008 Election
Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama
swept the Louisiana primary and caucuses in Nebraska and Washington state
Saturday, boosting his slim delegate lead over [2008 Election Democratic
Presidential Candidate and New York Senator] Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
in their historic race for the Democratic presidential nomination." ...
"The Illinois senator also won caucuses in the Virgin Islands, completing
his best night of the campaign." ... "The Democratic race moved into a
new, post-Super Tuesday phase as [2008 Election Republican Presidential
Candidate John] McCain flunked his first ballot test since becoming the
Republican nominee-in-waiting. He lost the Kansas caucuses to [2008 Election
Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee, gaining less than 24
percent of the vote." ... "Huckabee also was named by NBC News as the apparent
winner of an extremely close Louisiana primary race." ... "His Kansas defeat
aside, McCain also suffered a symbolic defeat when Romney edged him out
in a straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting
across town from the White House." (1, 2)
-AP -MSNBC
John
Edwards
- Hillary
Clinton
- Barack
Obama
- New
Orleans - Louisiana
- Poverty
- Homeless
- People
- Health
Care - US
- 
Iraq
- Military
- Money
- 2008
Election - "Democrat
Edwards exits presidential race: Clinton, Obama praise
ex-rival, who refrains from endorsing one or other." ... "[2008 Election
Democratic Presidential Candidate] Democrat John Edwards bowed out of the
race for the White House on Wednesday, saying it was time to step aside
“so that history can blaze its path” in a campaign now left to [2008 Election
Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Rodham Clinton and [2008 Election
Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama." ... ""It is time for
me to step aside," said Edwards, ending his second campaign in a hurricane-ravaged
section of New Orleans [Louisiana] where he began it more than a year ago.
“With our convictions and a little backbone we will take back the White
House in November.”" ... "Edwards said Clinton and Obama had both pledged
that “they will make ending poverty central to their campaign for the presidency.”"
... "“This is the cause of my life and I now have their commitment to engage
in this cause,” he said before a small group of supporters. He was joined
by his wife Elizabeth and his three children, Cate, Emma Claire and Jack."
... "Edwards said that on his way to make his campaign-ending statement,
he drove by a highway underpass where several homeless people live. He
stopped to talk, he said, and as he was leaving, one of them asked him
never to forget them and their plight." ... "“Well I say to her and I say
to all those who are struggling in this country, we will never forget you.
We will fight for you. We will stand up for you,” he said, pledging to
continue his campaign-long effort to end what he frequently said was “two
Americas,” one for the powerful, the other for the rest." ... "Edwards
burst out of the starting gate with a flurry of progressive policy ideas
— he was the first to offer a plan for universal health care, the first
to call on Congress to pull funding for the [Iraq] war, and he led the
charge that lobbyists have too much power in Washington and need to be
reigned in." (1, 2)
-AP via -MSNBC
Corporate
- Government
- Louisiana
- 2008
Election - "Richard
Baker to leave Congress by Feb. 6." ... "The dean
of Louisiana's congressional delegation, [Republican Representative] Rep.
Richard Baker, has decided to step down from Congress after 22 years to
take a lucrative job in the private sector representing investors he has
spent a career regulating." ... "The announcement by the Baton Rouge [Louisiana]
Republican was not unexpected and makes him the third member of the state's
seven-member House delegation in the past two months to resign or announce
plans to resign." ... "Baker, 59, a senior member of the House Financial
Services Committee will take the helm of the Managed Funds Association,
the industry group that represents the $1.8 trillion hedge fund industry.
As president and CEO, his salary and benefits package is expected to exceed
$1 million a year." -By Bill Walsh
-NOLA.com
Alphonso
Jackson
- Criminal
- Corporate
- Federal
- Housing
- Politics
- Law
- New
Orleans - Louisiana
- Georgia
- 
Virgin
Islands - SC
- "A
Helping Hand." ... "By all accounts, Housing Secretary
Alphonso
Jackson is a tough, hands-on manager who gets what he wants. "He's
not flying at the 50,000-feet level," says a former senior official in
the Housing and Urban Development Department. "He is definitely into the
weeds." Yet when it comes to dealing with contracts at HUD, Jackson insists
he never gets involved -- "I don't mess" with contracts, he said in a sworn
interview with federal investigators last year. But his record as secretary,
and as deputy secretary before that, suggests otherwise." ... "Behind the
scenes, Jackson has helped to arrange lucrative contract work running into
the hundreds of thousands of dollars for friends and associates who went
to work at HUD-controlled housing authorities in New Orleans [Louisiana]
and the Virgin Islands, according to people familiar with his actions.
Indeed, one of Jackson's good friends, Atlanta [Georgia] lawyer Michael
Hollis, appears to have been paid approximately $1 million for managing
the troubled Virgin Islands Housing Authority. Before landing at the authority,
some sources said, Hollis had no experience in running a public housing
agency." ... "Jackson's past efforts to aid his friends are causing him
no end of headaches. For several months, a federal grand jury, Justice
Department prosecutors, the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation], and
the HUD inspector general's office have been exploring Jackson's role in
contracting decisions at the housing department. According to people familiar
with the investigation, federal agents are focusing on Jackson's relationship
with one friend in particular, William Hairston, a stucco contractor
from Hilton Head Island, S.C. [South Carolina.]" ... "In interviews several
weeks ago with National Journal, Hairston acknowledged that Jackson
had helped him land a lucrative job around January 2006 at the Housing
Authority of New Orleans, or HANO. HUD and a former HANO official have
said that Hairston was paid about $485,000 for working as a construction
manager at HANO during an 18-month period. As it turns out, new information
uncovered by National Journal suggests that Hairston was paid even
more than that. HSD, a Georgia company that was affiliated with Hairston,
was paid $186,280 under a direct contract with HUD, federal procurement
records show. A HUD document identified Hairston as a representative of
HSD." ... "Federal investigators are digging deep into Jackson's relationship
with Hairston, a sometime golfing buddy of the secretary's. According to
the people familiar with the inquiry, federal investigators are also reviewing
allegations that Hairston did work on Jackson's vacation home in Hilton
Head." ... "Simply put, investigators are exploring whether Jackson lied
when he said he did not get involved in HUD contracting. Federal criminal
investigators would not comment on their inquiry." ... "At least four associates
of Jackson have benefited from contracts awarded at the New Orleans and
Virgin Islands housing authorities." -By Edward T.
Pound -NationalJournal
David
Vitter - Louisiana
- Politician
- "Senator
receives subpoena to testify about escort use." ...
"The "D.C. Madam" served a subpoena Tuesday on [Louisiana Republican Senator]
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., requiring him to testify about his use of the
Washington, D.C., escort service federal prosecutors say was a prostitution
ring." ... "The subpoena calls on the freshman senator to testify at a
federal court hearing Nov. 28 looking into the business operations of the
$2 million escort service Deborah Jeane Palfrey operated in the nation's
capital for 13 years. " -By Bill Walsh
-NOLA.com
Michael
Bernard Mukasey
- 
Alberto
R Gonzales - Water
- Torture
- Politicians
- Human
Rights - Law
- 
Conn
- Calif
- New
York
- 
Ind
- 
Del
- La
- Neb-
"Senate
Confirms Mukasey By 53-40: Historically Low Tally
for New Attorney General." ... "The final tally gave [Republican President
Bush's Attorney General nominee Michael Bernard] Mukasey the lowest number
of yes votes for any attorney general since 1952, just weeks after lawmakers
of both parties had predicted his easy confirmation. Mukasey takes the
place of Alberto R. Gonzales, who left under a cloud of scandal in September."
... "He avoided defeat only because a half-dozen Democrats voted in favor
of the appointment along with Republicans and Democrat-turned-independent
Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn. [Connecticut])." ... "Mukasey, 66, had outraged
many lawmakers and human rights groups by repeatedly refusing to classify
waterboarding, a simulated-drowning technique, as torture. His few Democratic
supporters said last night that, although they are troubled by his equivocal
views on waterboarding, they believe Mukasey represents the best possibility
for change at the troubled Justice Department. "This is the only chance
we have," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif. [California])." ... "The
other Democrats in favor of the confirmation were Sens. Charles E. Schumer
(N.Y. [New York]), Evan Bayh (Ind. [Indiana]), Thomas R. Carper (Del. [Delaware]),
Mary Landrieu (La. [Louisiana]) and Ben Nelson (Neb.)." ... "Mukasey garnered
the lowest number of yes votes among confirmed attorneys general since
James P. McGranery, who was approved by a vote of 52 to 18 in 1952 during
the [Democratic President Harry] Truman administration. The only recent
competitor is [Republican President Bush's nominee] John D. Ashcroft, who
attracted 58 yes votes from the GOP-controlled Senate in 2001." (1, 2)
-By Dan Eggen Paul Kane with contributions by Madonna
Lebling -WashingtonPost
David
Vitter - New
Orleans - Louisiana
- Justice
- "Prostitute
tells her Vitter tale in skin mag." ... "A former
New Orleans [Louisiana] prostitute who has said [Republican Louisiana Senator]
David Vitter was a regular customer in 1999 says the soon-to-be congressman
and U.S. senator was sometimes stressed during their meetings, complaining
about "these damn politicians" trying to derail his career." ... "She said
she soon began seeing Vitter at a French Quarter apartment, almost always
on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., for several
months." ... "Vitter has acknowledged being a customer of Pamela Martin
& Associates, a Washington, D.C., escort service the U.S. Justice Department
says was a prostitution ring." ... "Yow and Jeanette Maier, who has admitted
running a brothel on Canal Street, then said that Vitter had also used
their services. Vitter has deflected questions about those allegations
by saying "those New Orleans stories" are not true." (1, 2)
-By Bruce Alpert -NOLA.com
Nancy
Nord
- Children
- Safety
- Politics
- Government
- Consumer
- Law
- Enforcement
- Manufacturer
- Travel
- Money- 
China
- 
Spain
- US
- San
Francisco - California
- New
Orleans - Louisiana
- SC
- "Industries
Paid for Top Regulators' Travel: Two Heads of Product
Safety Agency Accepted Trips From Manufacturer Groups." ... "The chief
of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and her predecessor have taken
dozens of trips at the expense of the toy, appliance and children's furniture
industries and others they regulate, according to internal records obtained
by The Washington Post. Some of the trips were sponsored by lobbying groups
and lawyers representing the makers of products linked to consumer hazards."
... "The records document nearly 30 trips since 2002 by the agency's acting
chairman, Nancy Nord, and the previous chairman, Hal Stratton, that were
paid for in full or in part by trade associations or manufacturers of products
ranging from space heaters to disinfectants. The airfares, hotels and meals
totaled nearly $60,000, and the destinations included China, Spain, San
Francisco [California], New Orleans [Louisiana] and a golf resort on Hilton
Head Island, S.C. [South Carolina.]" ... "Consumer groups and lawmakers
intensified their criticism of the CPSC this summer after several highly
publicized recalls of Chinese-made toys that contained hazardous levels
of lead. Critics have long charged that the agency has become too close
to regulated industries, opting for "voluntary" standards and repeatedly
choosing not to take legal action against businesses that refuse to recall
dangerous products." ... "Government-wide travel regulations state that
officials from agencies such as the CPSC should not accept money for travel
from nonfederal sources if the payments "would cause a reasonable person
. . . to question the integrity of agency programs or operations."" ...
""This is a blatant violation of the ethics code," said Craig Holman, an
expert on governmental ethics law for the nonprofit consumer advocacy group
Public Citizen." ... "The records show that Nord and Stratton repeatedly
accepted gift travel for events from industries subject to CPSC enforcement."
(1, 2,
3)
-By Elizabeth Williamson
-WashingtonPost
Alphonso
Jackson
- Government
- Money
- Politics
- Hurricane
Katrina - Housing
- Construction
- Texas- New
Orleans - Louisiana
- SC
- "Questionable
Contracts." ... "In April last year, Housing Secretary
Alphonso
Jackson traveled to Dallas to deliver a speech to a group of minority
real estate executives. The event should have been pretty routine stuff.
But Jackson -- and these are his words -- shot off his mouth by describing
how he believed contracts should be awarded by the Department of Housing
and Urban Developmen [HUD]t. The secretary recalled, for instance, how
he once had killed a contract award because the contractor had disparaged
his friend [Republican] President Bush." ... "Not too long after
his speech, when he was back in Washington, Jackson realized he had blundered.
Democratic lawmakers, citing concerns about political favoritism in HUD
contract awards, called for an investigation by the department's inspector
general. One powerful senator demanded Jackson's resignation. Jackson,
meanwhile, issued an apology: HUD contracts, he said, were never "awarded,
rejected, or rescinded" because of political influence or bias." ... "The
matter, however, didn't end there. HUD Inspector General Kenneth Donohue
launched an investigation. In September 2006, Donohue rendered his verdict
in a lengthy report: Although Jackson had, in fact, urged senior aides
to consider the political views of contractors in doling out department
business, "no direct evidence" linked political favoritism to such awards.
Jackson, it seemed, had dodged a bullet." ... "But perhaps not, because
federal investigators are once again on Jackson's trail. And this time,
the investigation seems more serious. Donohue's investigators are now working
with the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigationv], a federal grand jury in
Washington, and prosecutors from the Justice Department's Public Integrity
Section. The investigation appears to focus, in part, on whether Jackson
misled Congress when he testified earlier this year that he had never intervened
in awarding HUD contracts. "I don't touch contracts," the HUD boss told
a Senate panel on May 3." ... "Investigators are exploring whether Jackson,
despite that testimony, had actually lined up a contract at the HUD-controlled
Housing Authority of New Orleans [Louisiana], or HANO, for a golfing buddy
and social friend from Hilton Head Island, S.C. [South Carolina] The friend,
William
Hairston, was paid more than $485,000 for working at HANO during an
18-month period, according to figures provided by HUD and a former HANO
official. The work was not competitively bid." ... "In an interview, Hairston,
a stucco contractor, said that Jackson had indeed helped him land the job
at HANO. He said that the New Orleans housing agency, which HUD manages
under receivership, was struggling to repair and rehab its housing units
in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and needed a construction manager. "The
secretary asked me if I would go to New Orleans and help them out," Hairston
told National Journal." -By Edward T. Pound
-NationalJournal
