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2007 Miscellany News History Archives


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2007 Miscellany Archive:

20071231

Dennis Kucinich -

Joe Biden -

Chris Dodd -

Ron Paul -

Duncan Hunter -

Television -

Politics -

US -

Iraq -

Military -

2008 Election -

New Hampshire

"FOX, ABC to reduce debate fields." ... "This weekend’s [New Hampshire] presidential debates and forum will not include some nationally-known candidates, and the chairmen of the state Republican and Democratic parties are not happy." ... "Fergus Cullen and Raymond Buckley say the decisions by ABC News, WMUR and, in Cullen’s case, FOX News, are inconsistent with the New Hampshire primary’s tradition of providing a level playing field for all candidates." ... "ABC News and WMUR-TV (Channel 9) confirmed today that they have established performance-based criteria for Saturday night's pair of presidential debates. Those rules could leave several relatively well-known candidates on the outside looking in, including [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidates] Democrats Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd." ... "And Cullen confirmed that FOX News has invited only five presidential candidates to a GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] forum scheduled for Sunday night, leaving out [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidates] Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter." ... "GOP candidate Paul has said that FOX News is “scared of me” and has called the network “propagandists for this (Iraq) war, and I challenge them on the notion that they are conservative.”" -By John Distaso

-UnionLeader.com

20071230

Mitt Romney

Mike Huckabee

John McCain

Iowa

Television

Ads

2008 Election

New Hampshire

Arizona

Illegal

Immigrants

"Romney, Huckabee attack each other in Iowa." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney's blistering ads criticizing [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee and [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain drew sharp rebukes from their targets and wary responses from voters Saturday, as candidates barnstormed Iowa five days before the nation's first presidential voting takes place in caucuses here." ... "Romney launched a new one against McCain in New Hampshire on Saturday." ... ""McCain championed a bill to let every illegal immigrant stay in American permanently," the 30-second TV spot says. "He even voted to allow illegal immigrants to collect Social Security."" ... "The tone was similar to one Romney rolled out Friday in Iowa against Huckabee." ... ""Soft on government spending," the ad charges. "His foreign policy? 'Ludicrous,' says Condoleezza Rice." ... "Huckabee fought back Saturday." ... ""Every time you turn on your television you're going to see all the terrible things my opponents said I did," he told hundreds crowded into a restaurant in Indianola [Iowa]. "Mitt Romney's not only attacking me. He's now attacked John McCain, he's attacked Rudy Giuliani, he's attacked everybody. He's not telling people why he ought to be president."" ... "McCain, the Arizona senator, dismissed Romney's charges and called him "a phony."" -By David Lightman with contributions by Jim Morrill

-McClatchy

20071229

Ron Paul -

Television -

Politics -

New Hampshire -

Iowa -

US -

Iraq -

Military -

2008 Election

"Paul: Fox News is 'scared of me'." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Ron Paul said the decision to exclude him from a debate on Fox News Sunday the weekend before the New Hampshire Primary is proof that the network "is scared" of him." ... ""They are scared of me and don't want my message to get out, but it will," Paul said in an interview at a diner here. "They are propagandists for this war and I challenge them on the notion that they are conservative."" ... "Paul, the Republican Texas Congressman, was wrapping up his final day of campaigning in New Hampshire until the Iowa Caucuses on Thursday." -By James Pindell

-BostonGlobe

20071228

Economic -

Construction -

History

"Sales of New Homes in U.S. Dropped 9% to 12-Year Low (Update3)." ... "Sales of new homes in the U.S. fell to a 12-year low in November, pointing to bigger declines in construction that will hobble economic growth throughout 2008." ... "Purchases dropped 9 percent to an annual pace of 647,000 and October sales were revised down to a 711,000 rate, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Last month's sales were weaker than the lowest forecast in a Bloomberg survey. " ... "A Bloomberg survey of 68 economists forecast sales would fall to an annual pace of 717,000 from a previously reported 728,000 rate in October, according to the median estimate. Economists' forecasts ranged from a low of 685,000 to a high of 750,000." ... "Sales of new homes were down 34 percent from the same time last year, the biggest 12-month drop since January 1991." ... "The housing recession has deepened since the August turmoil in subprime mortgages led to a worldwide credit shortage. Stricter borrowing standards and a freeze on lending to borrowers with poor credit put mortgages out of reach for more potential buyers. That's driving home prices lower, weakening sales as people hold out for even bigger reductions." -By Bob Willis

-Bloomberg

20071227

US -

Iraq -

Afghanistan -

Worldwide -

Military -

Government -

Accounting -

Terrorism -

Politics -

History -

Alaska -

Ted Stevens

"Wars Cost $15 Billion a Month, GOP Senator Says." ... "The latest estimate of the growing costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the worldwide battle against terrorism -- nearly $15 billion a month -- came last week from one of the Senate's leading proponents of a continued U.S. [United States] military presence in Iraq." ... ""This cost of this war is approaching $15 billion a month, with the Army spending $4.2 billion of that every month," [Alaska GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican Senator] Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska), the ranking Republican on the Appropriations defense subcommittee, said in a little-noticed floor speech Dec. [December] 18." ... "While most of the public focus has been on the political fight over troop levels, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reported this month that the [Republican President] Bush administration's request for the 2008 fiscal year of $189.3 billion [$189.3/12=$15.775 billion per month] for Defense Department operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and worldwide counterterrorism activities was 20 percent higher than for fiscal 2007 and 60 percent higher than for fiscal 2006." (1, 2) -By Walter Pincus

-WashingtonPost

20071226

US -

Iraq -

Military -

Family -

Poll - Idaho -

Oregon -

Afghanistan

"Military family members share public's division on Iraq war, Bush: Polls: Almost half say invasion was a mistake." ... "Close family members of U.S. [United States] troops are split on whether the Iraq invasion was a mistake, and 55% disapprove of [Republican] President Bush's job performance, according to USA TODAY/Gallup Polls focusing on immediate relatives of servicemembers." ... ""They've maxed out on the troops. You've got guys who are over there on their fourth or fifth tours. It's ridiculous," says Jeanette Knowles, 40, of Mountain Home, Idaho, whose brother, Jeff, served a tour in Iraq with the Oregon National Guard." ... "More than 1.5 million servicemembers have been sent to Iraq or Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001, and Army combat tours last up to 15 months." -By Gregg Zoroya

-USATODAY

20071224

Secret -

Dick Cheney -

David Addington -

Government -

Archives -

Law -

Politics

"Challenging Cheney: A National Archives official reveals what the veep wanted to keep classified--and how he tried to challenge the rules." ... "J. William Leonard learned the hard way the perils of questioning [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney. The veteran National Archives official challenged claims by the Office of Vice President (OVP) to be exempt from federal rules governing classified information. His efforts touched off a firestorm—and a counter-strike by Cheney's chief of staff, David Addington, who tried to wipe out Leonard's job." ... "Now, Leonard is quitting as director of the Archives' Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO)—the unit that monitors the handling of government secrets. He tells NEWSWEEK that his fight with Cheney's office was a "contributing" factor in his decision to retire after 34 years of government service." ... "Leonard-described by National Archivist Allen Weinstein as "the gold standard of information specialists in the federal government"-spoke to NEWSWEEK's Michael Isikoff." ... "[Newsweek:] So how did matters escalate?" ... "[J William Leonard:] The challenge arose last year when the Chicago Tribune was looking at [ISOO's annual report] and saw the asterisk [reporting that it contained no information from OVP] and decided to follow up. And that's when the spokesperson from the OVP made public this idea that because they have both legislative and executive functions, that requirement doesn't apply to them.…They were saying the basic rules didn't apply to them. I thought that was a rather remarkable position. So I wrote my letter to the Attorney General [asking for a ruling that Cheney's office had to comply.] Then it was shortly after that there were [email] recommendations [from OVP to a National Security Council task force] to change the executive order that would effectively abolish [my] office." ... "[Newsweek:] Who wrote the emails?" ... "[J William Leonard:] It was David Addington." (1, 2, 3) -By Michael Isikoff

-Newsweek

20071222

Families -

Poverty -

Agriculture -

Christmas-Holidays - Thanksgiving - Gasoline -

Households -

Money -

People

"Food Bank Shelves Going Bare At Holidays: High Living Costs Hurting Donations, While Increasing Demand By Needy Families." ... "The reports from across the country are dismaying: Food pantries are running short and cannot meet the needs of all those seeking help." ... "In the Department of Agriculture's most recent study of hunger in America, released in November, more than 35.5 million Americans, including 12.6 million children, were found to have "low" or "very low food security" (defined as households where hunger was prevalent, where there was not enough money to buy adequate food supplies, where food purchased did not last, or where family members had to cut down or skip meals - sometimes not eating for a day or longer)." ... "That's roughly 1 in 9 households. And the numbers are rising from last year." ... "Everywhere, people are feeling the crunch of rising gasoline and grocery prices, as well as utility bills, rent and mortgage payments." ... "Those factors also are cutting into people's ability to donate to food banks for others in need." ... "At Thanksgiving, the [America's Second Harvest] organization estimated that food banks nationally were short a total of 15 million pounds of food, or roughly 11.7 million meals. "

-AP via -CBSNews

20071221

John Edwards -

Working -

Family -

College-Education -

Money -

Race -

Des-Moines -

Iowa -

NC -

Barack Obama -

Hillary Clinton -

2008 Election

"The Road Warrior: Even if he loses in Iowa's bigger cities, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards can still win by wrapping up smaller, far-flung precincts." ... "For months, Edwards has been rounding up support in the state's rural precincts where the front runners have paid less attention. While [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary] Clinton have drawn crowds in the thousands in places like Des Moines [Iowa] and Ames [Iowa], Edwards has been winning over people in tiny towns like Sac City [Iowa] (population: 2,189). That's important, the strategists say, because under Iowa's arcane caucus rules, a precinct where 25 people show up to vote gets the same number of delegates as a place that packs in 2,500. In other words, even if he loses to Obama and Clinton in the state's bigger cities, he can still win by wrapping up smaller, far-flung precincts that other candidates have ignored. "The bulk of our support is in small and medium counties," says Jennifer O'Malley, Edwards's Iowa state director. O'Malley says Edwards has visited all 99 counties in the state; the campaign has so far trained captains covering 90 percent of all 1,781 precincts. Rural voters are sometimes reluctant to caucus, so the campaign has been enlisting respected community leaders to encourage first-timers to get past their apathy or fear." ... "This could be wishful thinking from an ailing campaign. But it's worth keeping in mind just how wrong the media echo chamber can be when it comes to predicting winners and losers. At about this time four years ago, Vermont Gov. Howard Dean was the press-anointed darling who could seemingly do no wrong in Iowa. Dour John Kerry was scorned by reporters as the should-have-been who had blown it and couldn't possibly win. But on caucus night, Kerry wound up the victor—and Dean wound up screaming. Reporters were left to wonder what they had missed. One story the talking heads may be missing this time: just how badly John Edwards hates to lose." ... "The desire to get ahead—to win—is no small thing for Edwards. He was raised in the depressed town of Robbins, N.C. [North Carolina], where his father, Wallace, worked in a now long-gone textile mill. It's a biographical detail the candidate mentions so often in speeches and campaign ads that it can sometimes border on self-parody. Yet his father's story is what Edwards's campaign, and political career, is all about. His dad worked his way up in the mill and was promoted to supervisor. But without a college degree, there was only so far he could rise. "He heard his mother and I talk about it at the dinner table, so he knew what I was faced with," his father tells NEWSWEEK. Money was scarce. Wallace was determined that John and his younger brother and sister, Wesley Blake and Kathy, would attend college. He set an example of self-improvement. He took classes offered by the mill, and tuned in to the education channel on TV early each morning when the station aired lessons in statistics and probability." ... "Tall and good-looking—and he knew it—John Edwards was a popular student and a star football player, skinny but fast. His high-school friend John Mashburn remembers Edwards as a leader. "In a little redneck town, he was different," he says. There was still racial tension in Robbins in the early 1970s, and black students were sometimes mistreated. In protest, several of them once held a sit-in. Edwards persuaded his white friends to join in. "Johnny got a lot of the athletes, myself, our girlfriends … he was instrumental in encouraging us," Mashburn says. John Frye, another high-school friend, says it was a gutsy thing to do. He "stuck his neck out," Frye recalls. "There was a price to pay in how some folks treated him after that. We had people who didn't embrace desegregation even though it had been a bridge crossed years earlier."" (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) -By Arian Campo-Flores and Suzanne Smalley

Dec 24, 2007 Issue -Newsweek

20071220

Secret -

Intelligence -

War -

Criminal -

Videotapes -

Censorship -

Politics -

Military -

Terrorism -

Texas

"Subpoena of CIA officials threatened: Justice Dept. [department] action in tape destruction probe angers House panel chairman, who expects testimony from two top intelligence agency officials." ... "The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, chafing at the Justice Department's handling of a probe into missing CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] interrogation tapes, threatened Wednesday to subpoena two top CIA officials to jump-start the panel's own investigation." ... "The department, which is conducting a criminal inquiry with the CIA inspector general into revelations that a CIA official destroyed videotapes of two terrorism suspects being interrogated in 2005, asked the panel last week to defer its inquiry." ... "Committee Chairman [Texas Democratic Representative] Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) has called a hearing for Jan. 16. He said he expected testimony from both acting CIA general counsel John Rizzo and Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., the former head of the agency's operations branch, who authorized destroying the tapes." -By Richard B. Schmitt

-LAtimes

20071219

John Edwards -

Ron Paul -

Mike Huckabee -

Noteworthy -

Journalists -

Politics -

Corporations -

Legislation -

Telecom -

Money -

2008 Election

"Media hostility toward anti-establishment candidates." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Ron] Paul and [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mike] Huckabee are obviously disparate in significant ways -- ideologically, temperamentally, and otherwise. But there is a vital attribute common to those three campaigns that explains the media's scorn: they are all, in their own ways, anti-establishment candidates, meaning they are outside and critical of the system of which national journalists are a critical part, the system which employs and rewards our journalists and forms the base of their identity and outlook. Any candidate who criticizes and opposes that system -- not in piecemeal ways but fundamentally -- will be, first, ignored and, then, treated as losers by the press." ... "It is very striking how little Edwards' substantive critique of our political system has penetrated into the national discourse. That's because the centerpiece of his campaign is a critique that is a full frontal assault on our political establishment. His argument is not merely that the political system needs reform, but that it is corrupt at its core -- "rigged" in favor of large corporate interests and their lobbyists, who literally write our laws and control the Congress. Anyone paying even casual attention to the extraordinary bipartisan effort on behalf of telecom immunity, and so many other issues driven almost exclusively by lobbyists, cannot reasonably dispute this critique." ... "Yet because that argument indicts the same Beltway culture of which our political journalists are an integral part, and further attacks the system's power brokers who are the friends, sources, and peers of those journalists, they instinctively react with confusion, scorn and hostility towards Edwards' campaign. They condescendingly dismiss it as manipulative populist swill, or cynically assume that it's just a ploy to distinguish himself by "moving left." In the eyes of our Beltawy press, the idea that our political system is "rigged" or corrupt must be anything other than true or sincerely held." ... "As Digby notes [**], Ron Paul is going to raise more money than any Republican candidate this quarter; he just topped the record for most money raised in a single day; and has now exceeded Howard Dean's 2004 quarter total when Dean was at the peak of his online fundraising prowess. Huckabee is now tied for the lead in national polls and is leading in several of the key early states. Yet our establishment media stars continue to sneer at these anti-establishment candidates as though they are aberrational jokes, and there is virtually no serious effort to understand the meaning of their success." ... "Worse, whenever these candidates are discussed, it almost never entails any discussion of the critiques they are making. Is Edwards right that corporations and lobbyists dictate legislation in Washington and that this state of affairs is profoundly anti-democratic and corrupt? Are Paul's criticisms of our bipartisan imperial policies and his warnings of resulting financial unsustainability (and increasing anti-Americanism) accurate? Is Huckabee's claim true that the GOP has obliterated the economic prospects of its own middle- and lower-middle-class followers?" -Glenn Greenwald

-Salon

20071218

Wave

Technology

Company

Canada

San Francisco

California

Oregon

Global

Climate

"PG&E agrees to buy power from Canadian firm's proposed 'wave park'." ... "The dream of generating electricity from the ocean's waves will take a major step forward today when Pacific Gas and Electric Co. announces its support for plans to build the nation's first commercial wave power plant off the coast of Northern California, the latest step in the state's efforts to combat global warming." ... "The plant will consist of eight buoys bobbing in the water 2 1/2 miles offshore, each buoy generating electricity as it rises and falls with the waves. If all goes as planned, the "wave park" will begin operating in 2012." ... "The power it generates won't be much - enough to light 1,500 homes at most. But it represents another potential front in the fight against climate change. California has ordered utilities such as PG&E to buy more power from renewable sources that don't spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and heat the planet. The utilities are turning to the sun, the wind and now the ocean as a result." ... "San Francisco's [California] PG&E won't build or own the proposed wave park, near Eureka [California], which will be designed and built by Canadian company Finavera. Instead, PG&E has agreed to buy the plant's power." ... "That promise will help Finavera get financing for the project by showing potential investors that it already has a customer. It's an unusual step for a technology that, until now, has existed more in the lab than in the water." ... "There's no guarantee that the project will work. Finavera's prototype buoy sank off the Oregon coast earlier this year, for reasons the company hasn't completely nailed down." -By David R. Baker

-SFGate.com

20071217

Chris Dodd -

Corporate -

Government -

Spy -

Law -

Intelligence -

Politics -

Telephone -

Internet -

E-Mails -

Electronic -

Civil Liberties -

2008 Election -

Foreign -

American -

Nevada -

Conn -

Wisc -

VT -

Mass

"Spy law showdown postponed until next year." ... "Congress won't decide until next year whether to pass a complex law that would let telephone and Internet companies off the hook from lawsuits alleging illicit cooperation with federal government spies." ... "In something of an unexpected move, U.S. Senate Majority Leader [Nevada Democratic Senator] Harry Reid took to the Senate floor on Monday evening and announced he would postpone debate on the so-called FISA Amendments Act [FISA: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]. That bill, which has already been approved in a closed-door meeting of the Senate Intelligence Committee, would grant such corporate immunity and make it easier for the feds to snoop on phone calls and e-mails involving foreigners and Americans without a warrant, drawing rampant criticism from civil liberties groups." ... "Earlier in the day, however, it appeared more certain that the Senate would move ahead with a vote to approve the controversial Senate measure, which would provide legal immunity to electronic communications providers that have allegedly opened up their networks to the National Security Agency and other federal spies since the September 11, 2001 attacks. Above vocal objections from some Democrats, the senators nevertheless voted 76-10 to limit debate and other stalling tactics related to the bill." ... "But in the end, last-minute rallying from Democrats opposed to the telecommunications immunity provisions applied the necessary pressure." ... "Perhaps most notably, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Connecticut Senator] Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), a presidential hopeful, devoted nearly the entire day to delivering one impassioned speech after another about his opposition to granting legal immunity to telecommunications companies accused of providing illegal assistance to government spying programs. Other influential Democratic senators, including [Wisconsin Democratic Senator] Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), [Vermont Democratic Senator] Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and [Massachusetts Democratic Senator] Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) echoed his concerns at various points during the day." -By Anne Broache

-CNET

20071216

Secret -

Surveillance -

Terrorism -

Crime -

Telecommunications -

Companies -

Government -

Legislation -

Politics -

Intelligence-

Drug -

Consumer-

Wireless -

Technology -

United States -

Global -

Space -

Colorado -

New Jersey

"Wider Spying Fuels Aid Plan for Telecom Industry." ... "For months, the [Republican President] Bush administration has waged a high-profile campaign, including personal lobbying by President Bush and closed-door briefings by top officials, to persuade Congress to pass legislation protecting companies from lawsuits for aiding the National Security Agency’s warrantless eavesdropping program." ... "But the battle is really about something much bigger. At stake is the federal government’s extensive but uneasy partnership with industry to conduct a wide range of secret surveillance operations in fighting terrorism and crime." ... "The N.S.A.’s reliance on telecommunications companies is broader and deeper than ever before, according to government and industry officials, yet that alliance is strained by legal worries and the fear of public exposure." ... "To detect narcotics trafficking, for example, the government has been collecting the phone records of thousands of Americans and others inside the United States who call people in Latin America, according to several government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the program remains classified. But in 2004, one major phone carrier balked at turning over its customers’ records. Worried about possible privacy violations or public relations problems, company executives declined to help the operation, which has not been previously disclosed." ... "In a separate N.S.A. [National Security Agency] project, executives at a Denver [Colorado] phone carrier, Qwest, refused in early 2001 to give the agency access to their most localized communications switches, which primarily carry domestic calls, according to people aware of the request, which has not been previously reported. They say the arrangement could have permitted neighborhood-by-neighborhood surveillance of phone traffic without a court order, which alarmed them." ... "The federal government’s reliance on private industry has been driven by changes in technology. Two decades ago, telephone calls and other communications traveled mostly through the air, relayed along microwave towers or bounced off satellites. The N.S.A. could vacuum up phone, fax and data traffic merely by erecting its own satellite dishes. But the fiber optics revolution has sent more and more international communications by land and undersea cable, forcing the agency to seek company cooperation to get access." ... "[An ATT engineer is claiming in a lawsuit that as early as February 2001,] “What he saw,” said Bruce Afran, a New Jersey lawyer representing the plaintiffs along with Carl Mayer, “was decisive evidence that within two weeks of taking office, the [Republican] Bush administration was planning a comprehensive effort of spying on Americans’ phone usage.”" (1, 2) -By Eric Lichtblau, James Risen, and Scott Shane

-NYTimes

20071215

Hacking -

Ohio -

Voting Systems -

Computers -

Elections -

Technology -

Politics -

2008 Election

"Ohio Elections Official Calls Machines Flawed." ... "All five voting systems used in Ohio, a state whose electoral votes narrowly swung two elections toward [Republican] President Bush, have critical flaws that could undermine the integrity of the 2008 general election, a report commissioned by the state’s top elections official has found." ... "“It was worse than I anticipated,” the official, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, said of the report. “I had hoped that perhaps one system would test superior to the others.”" ... "At polling stations, teams working on the study were able to pick locks to access memory cards and use hand-held devices to plug false vote counts into machines. At boards of election, they were able to introduce malignant software into servers." ... "Ms. Brunner proposed replacing all of the state’s voting machines, including the touch-screen ones used in more than 50 of Ohio’s 88 counties. She wants all counties to use optical scan machines that read and electronically record paper ballots that are filled in manually by voters." ... "The study released Friday found that voting machines and central servers made by Elections Systems and Software; Premier Election Solutions, formerly Diebold; and Hart InterCivic; were easily corrupted." -By Bob Driehaus

-NYTimes

20071214

John Edwards

Online

Finance

Law

Politics

History

North Carolina

2008 Election

"FEC Rules Against Online Fundraiser ActBlue and John Edwards." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and] Former North Carolina senator John Edwards can't match up the more than $4 million he's raised from thousands of individuals through an innovative online raising hub because of an outdated 1971 campaign finance law." ... "The Federal Election Commission [FEC] on Friday decided that the more than $4.2 million raised for the Democratic presidential candidate by ActBlue doesn't conform to what's defined as individual contributions under federal regulations, and thus can't be eligible for matching funds under the public financing system that the candidate opted for earlier this year." ... ""A matchable contribution consists of 'a gift of money made by a written instrument which identifies the person making the contribution by full name and mailing address,'" wrote FEC attorneys in an opinion that the commission approved Friday afternoon. "The Matching Payment Act specifically excludes from the definition of matchable contribution 'funds received by a political committee which are transferred to that committee from another committee.'"" ... "ActBlue is registered as a political action committee." ... "The problem is that the money that ActBlue sent along to John Edwards was sent as a weekly agglomerated check rather than funneled along marked from individuals." -By Sarah Lai Stirland

-Wired

20071213

Noteworthy -

Industrial -

Government -

Accounting -

Environmental -

Health -

Safety -

Politics -

Air -

Water -

Ground

"EPA was pressured to weaken toxic report rules." ... "The [Republican President Bush] White House pressured the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] to weaken requirements that companies annually disclose releases of toxic chemicals, congressional auditors say." ... "In a study scheduled to be released next week, the Government Accountability Office says the changes mean that industry will have to file 22,000 fewer reports each year, reducing an important public monitoring tool on industrial emissions." ... "The EPA rushed to complete the changes because of "pressure" from the White House Office of Management and Budget to reduce the regulatory burdens on industry, says the report obtained by The Associated Press. The White House overstated the cost-savings to industry of making the changes, it added." ... "For more than two decades, industries and businesses have had to disclose to the EPA the amount of toxic chemicals they produce, store and discharge into the air, water and ground." ... "Last December, the EPA reduced the amount of information that needed to be disclosed in the Toxic Release Inventory Report, or TRI, process." -By H. Josef Hebert

-AP via -Chron

20071212

Mitt Romney -

Mike Huckabee -

Religion -

2008 Election

"Romney hits Huckabee on remark on Mormonism." ... ""Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?" [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mike] Huckabee asks, according to a preview of the article posted on the Times website. He made the comment after being asked whether he believes Mormonism is a cult, as some evangelical Christians do." ... "On morning news shows today, he [Mitt Romney, 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] said the comments amounted to an attack that was un-American." ... ""I think attacking someone's religion is really going too far," Romney said on the "Today" show. It's just not the American way, and I think people will reject that."" ... "On MSNBC, he called the comment "an old attack. I was sad to see it come out again....Attacking someone's faith is simply un-American." " -By Foon Rhee

-BostonGlobe

20071211

US -

Iraq -

Military -

Police -

Terrorism -

Politics -

Christmas

"Christians in Basra told not to celebrate to protest 2 deaths." ... "The Christian archbishop of Basra on Tuesday canceled the celebration of Christmas in that southern city to protest the deaths of a brother and sister, both Christians, as bombings and mayhem struck at cities throughout Iraq." ... "Archbishop Imad al Banna said Christians in Basra should still pray to mark Christmas, but should forgo such celebratory trappings as trees, gift-swapping and family gatherings to protest the deaths of Maysoon Farid, a 30-year-old cashier at a local pharmacy, and her brother Osama, 33. The two were found dead Monday night, dumped in a neighborhood controlled by the Shiite Muslim Mahdi Army militia." ... "Meanwhile, two police officers in Baghdad [Iraq's capital] were killed by a car bomb that struck near the homes of two prominent politicians, while south of Fallujah, in the west, family members mourned a 9-year-old girl who they said was killed by U.S. troops." -By Leila Fadel and Ali al Basri with contributions by Hussein Kadhim in Baghdad and Jamal al Dulaimy

-McClatchy

20071210

Rudy Giuliani

Federal

Energy

Legislation

Politics

Wind

Technology

Environment

2008 Election

Massachusetts

Georgia

Ohio

"Giuliani Firm, Utilities Team Up to Fight Renewable-Energy Plan." ... "A lobbying blitz by some of the U.S.'s biggest utility companies is likely to strangle the most potent provision in energy legislation that's making its way through Congress." ... "[Atlanta, Georgia-based] Southern Co., [Ohio based] American Electric Power Co. and other producers hired top Washington lobbyists, including [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudy Giuliani's firm, to help defeat a measure that would force them to boost electricity generated by wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy to 15 percent of the U.S. total by 2020. That's up from less than 2 percent today, and is a move the industry says would cost at least $67 billion." ... "The Senate failed on Dec. 7 to get the 60 votes needed to move the legislation, a day after the House of Representatives approved it. To get the bill to [Republican] President George W. Bush's desk this year and steer clear of a White House veto threat, the Senate will probably have to pass a weakened measure." ... "``The lobbying effort led by Southern Co. is the principal obstacle to America unleashing a renewable-electricity revolution,'' says Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat[ic Representative] who has led the fight for a federal standard on the new energy sources." ... "The legislation pits the utilities and oil companies against wind and solar-electricity producers, as well as venture-capital firms such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, where former [Democratic] Vice President Al Gore is a partner. Those firms have made billions of dollars in clean-energy-technology investments, which would pay off if the bill becomes law." -By Daniel Whitten and Tina Seeley

-Bloomberg

20071209

Joe Biden -

Investigate -

Military -

Government -

Intelligence -

Terrorism -

Videotapes -

Censorship -

Politics -

Delaware - 2008 Election

"Biden calls for Special Counsel to investigate CIA." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Delaware Senator] Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, says the Justice Department needs to go further than it has, by calling for the appointment of Special Counsel to investigate the CIA's destruction of videotapes that included the interrogation of terrorism suspects." ... "“Under federal law, the Attorney General may appoint a Special Counsel to prosecute matters when he or she determines that an investigation by the Department itself would present a conflict of interest, or there are other extraordinary circumstances and it would be in the public interest to do so. I believe these conditions are met," the Democratic presidential hopeful said in a news release Sunday." ... "“This is a White House that has sanctioned and pushed for the kind of interrogation techniques captured on those video tapes," Biden said. "This is a White House that was informed of the CIA’s desire to destroy those tapes. Thus, it is possible this investigation could lead to the [Republican President Bush] White House."" -By Jamie Crawford

-CNN

20071208

John Edwards -

United States -

Canada -

Mexico -

Working -

Families -

Multinational -

Corporate -

Media -

Government -

2008 Election -

New Hampshire

"Edwards Condemns NAFTA." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said Saturday he wants to replace the empty promise that NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement] would create millions of jobs with his own promise to be a tough negotiator on trade deals." ... "On the 14th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Edwards condemned the deal that lowered trade barriers between the United States and Canada and Mexico, arguing that it has paved the way for a series of deals that put the interests of multinational corporations ahead of working families." ... ""NAFTA was sold to the American people with promises that it would grow the economy and create millions of new jobs. But today, we know those promises were empty," he said. "In all three countries, it has hurt workers and families while helping corporate insiders."" ... "He also told voters in Derry [New Hamshire] that those corporate powers are in danger not only of controlling what comes out of government but the election process itself. Responding to a woman who said she resented media conglomerates trying to dictate the outcome of the presidential campaign, Edwards said the concentration of media ownership has become unhealthy for democracy." ... ""This all goes back to the same problem. Are the big corporate interests in Washington going to decide what's going to happen with your democracy and what's going to happen with your government? You can't let them decide what's going to happen with your elections," he said. "Then, they're not only controlling your democracy, they're controlling your elections.""

-AP via -CBSNews

20071207

Iraq