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2007 Noteworthy News History Archive
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2007 Noteworthy News:

20071231

Money - Politics - Federal - Housing - Legislation - New Jersey - Georgia - California - Texas - Utah - Maryland - Nevada- Oregon - Washington - 2004 Election - US - Netherlands - "Lender Lobbying Blitz Abetted Mortgage Mess: Ameriquest Pressed For Changes in Laws; A Battle in New Jersey." ... "During the housing boom, the subprime industry succeeded at more than just writing mortgages. It also shot down efforts by some states to curtail risky lending to borrowers with spotty credit." ... "Ameriquest Mortgage Co. [ACC Capital Holdings], until recently one of the nation's largest subprime lenders, was at the center of those battles. Working with a husband-and-wife team of Washington lobbyists, it handed out more than $20 million in political donations and played a big role in persuading legislators in New Jersey and Georgia to relax tough new laws. Those victories, in turn, helped blunt efforts by other states to crack down on reckless lending, critics of the industry contend." ... "Home loans made by Ameriquest and other subprime lenders are defaulting now in large numbers, roiling global credit markets and sparking debate about whether regulators and lawmakers should have anticipated the mess and taken action. A close look at Ameriquest's lobbying and political donations shows how the subprime industry maneuvered to defeat legislation that might have contained some of the damage." ... "Data from federal and state campaign-finance records, Internal Revenue Service filings, and the National Institute on Money in State Politics show that from 2002 through 2006, Ameriquest, its executives and their spouses and business associates donated at least $20.5 million to state and federal political groups. In comparison, over the same time period, Countrywide Financial, another large subprime lender, gave about $2 million in campaign gifts, and spent an additional $6.7 million lobbying in Washington, records indicate." ... "Some of the giving by Ameriquest executives and associates was high-profile. [Republican] President Bush received more than $200,000 for his 2004 re-election campaign, and Ameriquest founder Roland Arnall and his wife, Dawn, contributed more than $5 million to political organizations that backed the president. Last year, [Republican] President Bush appointed Mr. Arnall ambassador to the Netherlands, and his wife took over as chairman of Ameriquest's parent company. California [Republican Governor] Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaigns received at least $1.4 million, along with stacks of tickets to a Rolling Stones concert that were used to lure big donors." ... "Last year, ACC Capital, its [Ameriquest Mortgage Company] parent company, agreed to pay $325 million to settle regulators' claims that it charged excessively high mortgage rates and didn't adequately disclose loan risks. Some of the state attorneys general who signed the settlement, including Greg Abbott of Texas, received campaign donations from the firm. Utah's attorney general, Mark Shurtleff, received a $1,000 contribution and Rolling Stones tickets." ... "Ameriquest also handed out Rolling Stones tickets to state legislators in Georgia, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and California, according to ethics records and local news accounts." ... "Federal lawmakers didn't pose much of a threat to the subprime industry in recent years. Members of Congress received at least $645,000 in donations from Ameriquest and large sums from other big subprime lenders, Federal Election Commission records indicate." ... "ACC Capital, Ameriquest's parent company, and its executives gave more than $350,000 to Texas politicians in 2006, including $100,000 to [Republican Governor] Gov. Rick Perry, according to state records." -By Glenn R. Simpson -WSJ.com

20071227

Government - Corporations - Employee - Retirees - Health - Law - Politics - History - "U.S. Ruling Backs Benefit Cut at 65 in Retiree Plans." ... "The [Republican President Bush run] Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday that employers could reduce or eliminate health benefits for retirees when they turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare." ... "The policy, set forth in a new regulation, allows employers to establish two classes of retirees, with more comprehensive benefits for those under 65 and more limited benefits — or none at all — for those older." ... "More than 10 million retirees rely on employer-sponsored health plans as a primary source of coverage or as a supplement to Medicare, and Naomi C. Earp, the commission’s chairwoman, said, “This rule will help employers continue to voluntarily provide and maintain these critically important health benefits.”" ... "But AARP and other advocates for older Americans attacked the rule. “This rule gives employers free rein to use age as a basis for reducing or eliminating health care benefits for retirees 65 and older,” said Christopher G. Mackaronis, a lawyer for AARP, which represents millions of people age 50 or above and which had sued in an effort to block issuance of the final regulation. “Ten million people could be affected — adversely affected — by the rule.”" ... "The new policy creates an explicit exemption from age-discrimination laws for employers that scale back benefits of retirees 65 and over. Mr. Mackaronis asserted that the exemption was “in direct conflict” with the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967." ... "Under the new rule, employers may, if they choose, provide retiree health benefits “only to those retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare.” Likewise, the rule says, retiree health benefits can be “altered, reduced or eliminated” when a retiree becomes eligible for Medicare." ... "Further, employers will be able to reduce or eliminate health benefits provided to the spouse or dependents of a retired worker 65 or over, regardless of whether benefits for the retiree are changed." -By Robert Pear -NYTimes

20071220

Mitt Romney - Rudy Giuliani - Mike Huckabee - Tom Tancredo - Criminal - Illegal - Employer - Immigrants - Employees - Language - Terrorism - History - Colo - New York - Arkansas - US - Mexican - People - Noteworthy - 2008 Election - "GOP hopefuls run in a hypocrisy derby." ... "Everybody knows that [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney was running - as [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudy Giuliani put it - a "sanctuary mansion." But not many people know that he was not the only one." ... "No less an anti-immigrant zealot than [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Colorado Representative] Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.[Republican-Colorado]), the would-be President who built a failing campaign on the single issue of persecuting "criminal aliens" - as he is fond of calling undocumented immigrants - also has a few skeletons in his closet." ... "Listen to this: Five years ago, when Tancredo wanted to install a home theater and make other renovations in his house, he had no qualms hiring a contractor that - gasp! - also employed undocumented workers." ... "The man who had said, "[The face of illegal immigration] is the face of murder. It is the face of infiltration into the country of people who are coming to do us great harm," wasn't at all troubled by the fact that only two in the crew of five or six laborers spoke English." ... "[In 1994, then New York Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani said] "If you come here and you work hard, and you happen to be in an undocumented status, you're one of the people who we want in this city," he told The New York Times in 1994." ... "While in Arkansas, he [Arkansas Republican Governor and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee] was instrumental in bringing a Mexican Consulate to Little Rock [Arkansas's capital]. That consulate issued thousands of identification forms that now, after he has become a presidential hopeful, Huckabee has begun to call "illegal immigrant identification cards."" ... "And do not forget that if he is elected President, he has vowed to expel the nation's estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants within 120 days, which comes to deporting 100,000 people per day." -By Albor Ruiz -NYDailyNews.com

20071219

Stephen Johnson - Mary E Peters - Dick Cheney - Government - Political - Gas - Auto - Makers - Fuel - Economy - Laws - Environmental - Health - Safety - American - People - Transportation - California - History - Global - Climate - Clean Air Act - "EPA blocks California bid to limit greenhouse gases from cars." ... "The [Republican President] Bush administration blocked efforts by California and 16 other states Wednesday to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, setting up a political and legal fight over whether states can take a lead role in combatting global warming." ... "[Republican President Bush's] Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson rejected California's request for a waiver from the federal government to impose its tough tailpipe emissions standards. The other states were poised to adopt similar rules if California's request was granted." ... "The states represent nearly half the U.S. [United States] population, and their laws would effectively require automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions nationwide, despite [Republican] President Bush's rejection of mandatory national standards." ... "Johnson said Congress' passage of an energy bill this week that raises fuel economy standards for all cars and trucks to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 made the state laws unnecessary." ... "California officials said they believed Johnson had long ago decided to oppose the state's waiver, and said he was using the newly passed energy bill as an excuse. Nothing in the new law prevents states from taking stronger action, they said." ... ""I find this disgraceful," said [California Democratic Senator] Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.[Democratic-California], who helped write the fuel-economy law. "The passage of the energy bill does not give the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] a green light to shirk its responsibility to protect the health and safety of the American people from air pollution."" ... "It was the first time the EPA has flat-out denied a waiver request by California under the Clean Air Act. The law gives California special authority to set stronger standards because the state has a long history of smog and other air-quality problems." ... "California officials complained that EPA's decision-making process for the waiver was tainted months ago when documents revealed that Transportation Secretary Mary Peters led a lobbying campaign to urge lawmakers to call the EPA and oppose the waiver request." ... "Automakers have been meeting regularly at the White House to discuss the new fuel-economy standards. The Detroit News reported that [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney met with the CEOs [Chief Executive Officers] of Chrysler and Ford this fall to try to influence the policy." -By Zachary Coile -SFGate.com
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
Secret - Alberto R Gonzales - David S Addington - Dick Cheney - Harriet E Miers - Torture - War - Crimes - Tapes- Censorship - Law- Politics - Military - Government - Intelligence - Terrorism- History - US - Iraq - "Bush Lawyers Discussed Fate of C.I.A.Tapes." ... "At least four top [Republican President Bush] White House lawyers took part in discussions with the Central Intelligence Agency between 2003 and 2005 about whether to destroy videotapes showing the secret interrogations of two operatives from Al Qaeda, according to current and former administration and intelligence officials." ... "The accounts indicate that the involvement of White House officials in the discussions before the destruction of the tapes in November 2005 was more extensive than [Republican President] Bush administration officials have acknowledged." ... "Those who took part, the officials said, included Alberto R. Gonzales, who served as White House counsel until early 2005; David S. Addington, who was the counsel to [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney and is now his chief of staff; John B. Bellinger III, who until January 2005 was the senior lawyer at the National Security Council; and Harriet E. Miers, who succeeded Mr. Gonzales as White House counsel." ... "It was previously reported that some administration officials had advised against destroying the tapes, but the emerging picture of White House involvement is more complex. In interviews, several administration and intelligence officials provided conflicting accounts as to whether anyone at the White House expressed support for the idea that the tapes should be destroyed." ... "One former senior intelligence official with direct knowledge of the matter said there had been “vigorous sentiment” among some top White House officials to destroy the tapes. The former official did not specify which White House officials took this position, but he said that some believed in 2005 that any disclosure of the tapes could have been particularly damaging after revelations a year earlier of abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq." ... "The current and former officials also provided new details about the role played in November 2005 by Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., then the chief of the agency’s clandestine branch, who ultimately ordered the destruction of the tapes." ... "The officials said that before he issued a secret cable directing that the tapes be destroyed, Mr. Rodriguez received legal guidance from two C.I.A. [Central Intelligence Agency] lawyers, Steven Hermes and Robert Eatinger. The officials said that those lawyers gave written guidance to Mr. Rodriguez that he had the authority to destroy the tapes and that the destruction would violate no laws." ... "Current and former officials said the two lawyers informed the C.I.A.’s top lawyer, John A. Rizzo, about the legal advice they had provided." (1, 2) -By Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane with contributions by David Johnston -NYTimes

20071218

Kevin Jeffrey Martin

Corporate

Government

Politics

Media

Communications

Broadcast

Radio

"FCC Loosens Newspaper-Broadcast Cross-Ownership Limits: Federal Communications Commission Voted Along Party Lines; Copps Expects Rule to Be Overturned." ... "To cries of " unfair" and "this vote is a sham" from a handful of protesters, the Federal Communications Commission voted along strict party lines Tuesday to loosen its newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule." ... "Democratic commissioner Michael Copps was the first commissioner to weigh in with a public statement in advance of that vote, saying that the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] was "just inking up a rubber stamp for another round of consolidation."" ... "[Republican President Bush's] FCC chairman Kevin Martin called it a relatively minor change that may help to "forestall erosion of local news coverage" and only loosens the rules where there are many voices and competition." ... "The move sets up a showdown with mostly Democratic senators who have pledged to nullify that vote, and the deicison will likely be taken to court by media activists opposing any more consolidation, or even broadcasters arguing that it has not gone far enough -- no other ownership rule was loosened, in contrast to the 2003 rule rewrite, the remand of which by a court the FCC is wrapping up." ... "The commission will presume that newspaper-broadcast combinations in the top 20 markets are in the public interest so long as eight independent voices, including newspapers, remain and the stations are not among the top four in the market. It will also allow newspaper-radio combinations but require no voices test." ... "Newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership would also be presumed to be in the public interest in markets smaller than the top 20 so long as at least seven hours of local news is added to a station that did not do it before, or if the station or newspaper is in financial distress." ... "The latter is defined as a station or newspaper that has gone dark at least four months before a waiver is filed for, or a station that has less than 4% of the audience, where there has been negative cash flow for at least three years (newspaper or station) and where no out-of-market buyer wants it." ... "Copps called the ruling a shiny gift for big media and a lump of coal for the rest. "Happy holidays," he said, adding that the change won't pass muster with either Congress or the courts." ... "Citing the congressional pushback, Democratic commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said the FCC "has never attempted such a brazen act of defiance against Congress. Like the Titanic, we are steaming at full speed despite repeated warnings of danger ahead. It might yet sink. We should have slowed down rather than put everything at risk."" ... "Adelstein said three out of five unelected bureaucrats should not be able to overrule the American people, whom, he added, weighed in passionately in public hearings against consolidation. "They danced, they sang, they read us poems," he said, as well as providing expert opinions." ... "Both Adelstein and Copps said Martin made last-minute changes to the proposal late Monday night and they indicated that the commission was now granting waivers to 42 combinations in the dark of night." ... "Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, issued the following statement: "FCC chairman Kevin Martin is ignoring the public will and defying the [United States] U.S. Senate. His decision to gut longstanding ownership rules shows once again how the largest media companies -- with their campaign contributions and high-powered lobbyists -- are corrupting the policymaking process at the expense of local news coverage and independent voices."" ... "He continued, "Martin's FCC relied on slanted research and a rigged process to reach today's preordained outcome -- local media wrapped in a bow for Tribune, News Corp., Gannett and all the rest."" -By John Eggerton

-BroadcastingCable.com

Fed - Money - Politics - Investigate - Law - History - People's - Homes - Consumer - California - New York - Wyo - "Fed Shrugged as Subprime Crisis Spread." ... "Until the boom in subprime mortgages turned into a national nightmare this summer, the few people who tried to warn federal banking officials might as well have been talking to themselves." ... "Edward M. Gramlich, a Federal Reserve governor who died in September, warned nearly seven years ago that a fast-growing new breed of lenders was luring many people into risky mortgages they could not afford." ... "But when Mr. Gramlich privately urged Fed examiners to investigate mortgage lenders affiliated with national banks, he was rebuffed by Alan Greenspan, the Fed chairman." ... "In 2001, a senior Treasury official, Sheila C. Bair, tried to persuade subprime lenders to adopt a code of “best practices” and to let outside monitors verify their compliance. None of the lenders would agree to the monitors, and many rejected the code itself. Even those who did adopt those practices, Ms. Bair recalled recently, soon let them slip." ... "And leaders of a housing advocacy group in California, meeting with Mr. Greenspan in 2004, warned that deception was increasing and unscrupulous practices were spreading." ... "John C. Gamboa and Robert L. Gnaizda of the Greenlining Institute implored Mr. Greenspan to use his bully pulpit and press for a voluntary code of conduct." ... "“He never gave us a good reason, but he didn’t want to do it,” Mr. Gnaizda said last week. “He just wasn’t interested.”" ... "“The Federal Reserve could have stopped this problem dead in its tracks,” said Martin Eakes, chief executive of the center [Center for Responsible Lending]. “If the Fed had done its job, we would not have had the abusive lending and we would not have a [home] foreclosure crisis in virtually every community across America.”" ... "Mr. Greenspan and other Fed officials repeatedly dismissed warnings about a speculative bubble in housing prices. In December 2004, the New York Fed issued a report bluntly declaring that “no bubble exists.” Mr. Greenspan predicted several times — incorrectly, it turned out — that housing declines would be local but almost certainly not nationwide." ... " “Why are the most risky loan products sold to the least sophisticated borrowers?” Mr. Gramlich asked in a speech he prepared last August for the Fed’s symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo[Wyoming]. “The question answers itself — the least sophisticated borrowers are probably duped into taking these products.”" (1, 2, 3) -By Edmund L. Andrews with contributions by Gretchen Morgenson -NYTimes
Colorado - Electronic - Voting Machines - Technology - Hacking - Elections - Federal - Politics - 2008 Election - "Colo. Bans Most Electronic Voting Machines: Security Risks, Inaccuracy Cited; Federal Certification Process Called "Inadequate"." ... "Colorado's top election official decertified electronic voting machines used in many of the state's largest counties Monday, calling into question equipment used in past elections in a move he said could have national implications." ... "Electronic voting machines used in [Colorado counties:] Denver, Arapahoe, Pueblo, Mesa and Elbert counties cannot be used in the next [2008] election because of problems with accuracy or security, Secretary of State Mike Coffman said." ... "A number of electronic scanners used to count ballots were also decertified, including a type used by Boulder County as well as more than three dozen small to mid-size counties around the state." ... "His decision affects six of Colorado's 10 most populous counties and three of the four equipment manufacturers allowed in the state." ... "The four systems are manufactured by Hart InterCivic, Premier Election Solutions - formerly known as Diebold Election Systems - Sequoia Voting Systems and Election Systems and Software [ES&S]." -By George Merritt -AP via -CBSNews

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

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

20071207

US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - Families - Politics - Poll - "Bush loses ground with military families." ... "Families with ties to the military, long a reliable source of support for wartime presidents, disapprove of [Republican] President Bush and his handling of the war in Iraq, with a majority concluding the invasion was not worth it, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found." ... "The views of the military community, which includes active-duty service members, veterans and their family members, mirror those of the overall adult population, a sign that the strong military endorsement that the [Republican President Bush] administration often pointed to has dwindled in the war's fifth year." ... "Nearly six out of every 10 military families disapprove of Bush's job performance and the way he has run the war, rating him only slightly better than the general population does." ... "And among those families with soldiers, sailors and Marines who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, 60% say that the war in Iraq was not worth the cost, the same result as all adults surveyed." ... "Military families are only slightly more patient: 35% are willing to stay until victory; 58% want the troops home within a year or sooner." ... "When military families were asked which party could be trusted to do a better job of handling issues related to them, respondents divided almost evenly: 39% said Democrats and 35% chose Republicans." -By Faye Fiore -LAtimes

20071206

Secret - Porter J Goss - Michael V Hayden - Military - Government - Terrorism - Intelligence - Videotapes - Censorship - Officers - Safety - Prisoner - Torture - War Crimes - Law - Politics - "C.I.A. Destroyed Tapes of Interrogations." ... "The Central Intelligence Agency in 2005 destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Al Qaeda operatives in the agency’s custody, a step it took in the midst of Congressional and legal scrutiny about the C.I.A’s [Central Intelligence Agency] secret detention program, according to current and former government officials." ... "The videotapes showed agency operatives in 2002 subjecting terror suspects — including Abu Zubaydah, the first detainee in C.I.A. custody — to severe interrogation techniques. They were destroyed in part because officers were concerned that tapes documenting controversial interrogation methods could expose agency officials to greater risk of legal jeopardy, several officials said." ... "The C.I.A. said today that the decision to destroy the tapes had been made “within the C.I.A. itself,” and they were destroyed to protect the safety of undercover officers and because they no longer had intelligence value. The agency was headed at the time by Porter J. Goss. Through a spokeswoman, Mr. Goss declined this afternoon to comment on the destruction of the tapes." ... "The existence and subsequent destruction of the tapes are likely to reignite the debate over the use of severe interrogation techniques on terror suspects, and their destruction raises questions about whether C.I.A. officials withheld information about aspects of the program from the courts and from the Sept. 11 commission appointed by [Republican] President Bush and Congress. It was not clear who within the C.I.A. authorized the destruction of the tapes, but current and former government officials said it had been approved at the highest levels of the agency." ... "General [CIA Director, General Michael V Hayden] Hayden said in a statement that leaders of Congressional oversight committees were fully briefed on the matter, but some Congressional officials said notification to Congress had not been adequate." (1, 2) -By Mark Mazzetti with contributions by Eric Lichtblau and Scott Shane -NYTimes

20071205

US - Iran - Nuclear - Military - Intelligence - Politics - "Bush told in August that Iran nuke program 'may be suspended'." ... "[Republican] President Bush was told in August that Iran's nuclear weapons program "may be suspended," the White House said Wednesday, which seemingly contradicts the account of the meeting given by Bush Tuesday." ... "[Admiral] Adm. Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, told Bush the new information might cause intelligence officials to change their assessment of the Iranian program, but said analysts needed to review the new data before making a final judgment, White House press secretary Dana Perino said late Wednesday." ... ""Director McConnell said that the new information might cause the intelligence community to change its assessment of Iran's covert nuclear program, but the intelligence community was not prepared to draw any conclusions at that point in time, and it wouldn't be right to speculate until they had time to examine and analyze the new data," Perino said in a statement issued by the White House." ... "The new account from Perino seems to contradict the president's version of his August conversation with McConnell and raised new questions about why Bush continued to warn the American public about a threat from Iran two months after being told a new assessment was in the works." -By Ed Henry -CNN

20071204

Mike Huckabee - Women - Families - Law - Politics - History - Arkansas - Prison - Missouri - Crime - 2008 Election - "Mothers hold Huckabee partially responsible for daughters' murders." ... "[2008 Election Republican] Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said Tuesday that he is "heartbroken" over the pain suffered by the families of two women murdered in Kansas City [Missouri] more than six years ago." ... "Authorities say the two victims, Carol Shields and Sara Andrasek, were killed by the same man —Wayne DuMond, who was released from an Arkansas prison in 1999, a year before Shields' murder." ... "Their mothers say Huckabee is responsible, at least in part, for DuMond's release." ... ""What a fool," said Lois Davidson, Shields' mother. "Thinking he could rule the country when he couldn't even do a good job as governor of Arkansas."" ... "Janet Williams, Andrasek's mother: "Wayne DuMond should have never been on the streets in Missouri. ... When politics are involved, people get hurt, and Sara and Carol Shields paid the ultimate price with their lives."" ... "A jury sent DuMond to prison in 1985 for the rape of 17-year old Ashley Stevens, a distant relative of then-[Democratic Governor]Gov. Bill Clinton. While awaiting trial on the rape charge, DuMond was castrated — some say by assailants, other say he did the job himself." ... "But his conviction and imprisonment became a rallying point for Clinton critics and some Republicans in Arkansas, who said they believed DuMond was in prison because of the Clinton connection, and that he was actually innocent of the charges." ... "In 1996, then-[Republican Governor]Gov. Huckabee joined the discussion, saying he planned to commute DuMond's sentence to time served, in part because evidence in the case was "questionable."" ... "Some parole board members have since said they made the decision without pressure from Huckabee; others, though, said he had talked with them about his desire that DuMond be released." ... ""He made it obvious that he thought DuMond had gotten a raw deal and wanted us to take another look at it," former board member Charles Chastain said in 2001. "Some board members who were usually very tough about letting people out ... (later) voted in favor of him, and seemed eager to."" -By Dave Helling with contributions by DeAnn Smith -McClatchy
US - Iran - Nuclear - Military - Intelligence - Politics - Secret - History - "U.S. Finds Iran Halted Its Nuclear Arms Effort in 2003." ... "A new assessment by American intelligence agencies released Monday concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains frozen, contradicting a judgment two years ago that Tehran [Iran's capital] was working relentlessly toward building a nuclear bomb." ... "The conclusions of the new assessment are likely to reshape the final year of the [Republican President] Bush administration, which has made halting Iran’s nuclear program a cornerstone of its foreign policy." ... "The assessment, a National Intelligence Estimate that represents the consensus view of all 16 American spy agencies, states that Tehran is likely to keep its options open with respect to building a weapon, but that intelligence agencies “do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons.”" ... "Iran is continuing to produce enriched uranium, a program that the Tehran government has said is intended for civilian purposes. The new estimate says that the enrichment program could still provide Iran with enough raw material to produce a nuclear weapon sometime by the middle of next decade, a timetable essentially unchanged from previous estimates." ... "But the new report essentially disavows a judgment that the intelligence agencies issued in 2005, which concluded that Iran had an active secret arms program intended to transform the raw material into a nuclear weapon. The new estimate declares instead with “high confidence” that the military-run program was shut in 2003, and it concludes with “moderate confidence” that the program remains frozen. The report judges that the halt was imposed by Iran “primarily in response to increasing international scrutiny and pressure.”" (1, 2) -By Mark Mazzetti -NYTimes

20071203

United States - Debt -