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POPSDemocrat tied to Obama wins special election in Mississippi More: The special election was held to fill the seat of former Rep. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who was appointed to serve out the remainder of Sen. Trent Lott’s term last December. Wicker had never faced a competitive race since first elected in 1994, and the district gave President Bush 62 percent of the vote in 2004. The results amount to a rebuke of the Republican strategy of trying nationalize the race by tying Childers to Sen. Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Obama held low approval ratings in the district, but the nearly $2 million that GOP groups poured into northern Mississippi failed to make the race a referendum on the national political landscape. A GOP House leadership aide told Politico last week that “if we don’t win in Mississippi, I think you are going to see a lot of people running around here looking for windows to jump out of.”
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POPSMcCain's Treasury Sec. pick tied to Subprime Meltdown More: For his work, Gramm and two other lobbyists collected $750,000 in fees from UBS’s American subsidiary. Wall Street firms are increasingly under scrutiny for contributing to the economic downturn by packaging and selling risky mortgage securities. When the home loans tied to the mortgages defaulted, investors and the banks lost billions, contributing to a widespread credit crunch. UBS has written down more then $18 billion in exposure to subprime loans and other risky securities and is considering cutting as many as 8,000 job Now, some housing experts and economists see Gramm’s thinking in the recent housing proposal from McCain, the Republican Party’s presumed presidential nominee. Gramm is often a surrogate for the Arizona senator, particularly in meetings focused on the economy. And McCain has hinted he’d consider the former Texas senator for Treasury secretary in a McCain administration.
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POPSJohn McCain's Money Troubles Continue More: Virtually every campaign observer agrees that the Arizona senator, who alluded to his lackluster and unenthusiastic fundraising efforts last spring, is going to have to at least double his $11 million monthly take to hopefully stay competitive. Me: Looks like tepid support in the republican base for McCain. A devout republican cousin of mine called my Dad to discuss Obama as my cousin thinks he is going to vote for Obama. Cousin says he doesn't believe another 100 years of war in Iraq is in our country's best interest. So people are answering poll questions but they aren't reaching into their pockets to pony up the cash.
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POPSPelosi's Delegate Stance Boosts Obama More: "But what if one candidate has won the popular vote and the other candidate has won the delegates?" asked Stephanopoulos. "But it's a delegate race," Pelosi replied. "The way the system works is that the delegates choose the nominee."
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POPSFeminist's Take On Hillary Clinton
More: "I just don't think it's true. When she had a big job in government, she blew it," said the British-based Greer, referring to Hillary Clinton's work on health issues during her husband's administration Greer, who has made headlines with provocative attacks on the likes of Diana, Princess of Wales and the late Australian "crocodile hunter" Steve Irwin, said she knew the Clintons personally. She attacked the former first couple's marital style, saying the pair enjoyed a "confederacy" or business partnership, rather than an emotional relationship. "They give me the creeps, from that point of view," Greer said. But Greer said that while she did not like Hillary, who is battling fellow Democrat Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for the presidency, she was a fan of the US president who was in power from 1993-2001. "Everybody loves Bill. Bill is adorable and Bill is always flattering me and inviting me to stuff in Britain and we're buddy-buddy, and I like him," s
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POPSLobby Money: Hillary #1, McCain #2 More: Even as they pledge to rein in special interests, the leading Democratic and Republican candidates are relying on lobbyists to bring in campaign cash by raising money from other donors, a technique known as bundling. Heather Podesta, a Washington lobbyist, donated $4,600 to Clinton, FEC records show. She's raised more than $250,000 for Clinton by tapping her network of contacts and holding fundraisers. Like Podesta, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Steve Ricchetti has also signed on to be a so-called Hillraiser. Ricchetti's firm was paid $1.7 million during the first six months of 2007 to lobby on behalf of Amgen Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio, among others. McCain, 71, an Arizona Republican who led the successful 2002 effort to ban corporate and union donations to the political parties, counts as campaign co-chairman former Representative Tom Loeffler of Texas. Loeffler was paid $2.5 million by such clients as AT&T Inc. and Southwest Airlines.
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POPSDemocratic Voters' Fervor Worries Republicans More: So far, Iowans who have donated $200 or more to the presidential race have given Democrats a total of more than $503,000, compared with $376,000 to Republicans. That's a sharp reversal from 2000 when Iowa residents had given $205,000 in $200-or-more donations to Republican candidates and just $51,000 to Democrats. Behind Republican's uneasiness are voters like Wes Von Schlotterback of Des Moines. Mr. Von Schlotterback served twice in past elections as a county chairman for Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes. But this time he says he plans to stay home the night of the caucuses for lack of any good choices. He says he sees the same lack of enthusiasm among many of his Republican friends. "For the first time ever I'm thinking of voting for a Democrat -- for Obama," he says. He describes the Illinois senator as "genuine."
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POPSDemocrat Obama Leads all Republicans for President More: Among Republicans, McCain performs the best among moderates in the general election match–ups, with Huckabee running a close second. Romney and Thompson run worst – in prospective contests against Obama, the Democrat leads Thompson 59% to 27%, and leads Romney by a 62% to 23% margin. Obama leads all five Republicans among moderates. Against Clinton, McCain and Huckabee lead among moderates, while the Democrat leads the other three Republicans. For a detailed methodological statement on this poll, please visit: http://www.zogby.com/methodology/readmeth.dbm?ID=1241
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POPSRevealed: W knew Saddam was Willing to Bargain for Exile W is suppose to be our first MBA President but he can not even conduct a cost benefit analysis. Cost: Whatever minuscule amount compared to what we have spent that Saddam would settle for; and any bogus information his generals had convinced him existed. Benefits: 28,000 soldiers not wounded; 3800 soldiers not killed; 600,000 to 1,000,000 Iraqis not killed; $600 Billion to $1 Trillion dollars not wasted; standing and trust within the world community preserved. Ultimate cost to Bush: not looking tough; not having Iraqi oil under the control of US oil producers.
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POPSSubsidies still flow as Corn Farmers Prosper Hhhmmm, an African-American or Latino seeking public assistance is denigrated as a taxpayer's burden. A midwest Anglo republican voting farmer receiving public assistance......pure apple pie americana.
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POPSSCOOP: Bush Promises Iraq Invasion Congress should never subjugate themselves to the ambitions of one individual ever again. The Founding Fathers foresaw this and wrote the Constitution with checks and balances giving Congress the responsibility of making declarations of war. Anybody, (1) who knew George Bush, (2) witnessed his pathetic address to the UN that showed it was a cursory walk-through before launching the invasion, knew he was lying all the time. I expect to hear the rightwing lunatic mythology that there was widespread support for this war but in fact the US was for the war only if Bush would secure a UN resolution and obtain a strong coalition mimicking the coalition in Kuwait in 1991. The Founding Fathers didn't want us to be ruled by Kings and Bush and Cheney are no exception. IMPEACH!
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POPSRightwing A*Hole: Bill O'Reilly - "M-Fer, I want more iced tea." As Media Matters for America has documented, O'Reilly has made a number of provocative statements about race. In a February 27, 2006, conversation with a caller about the disproportionately few jobs and contracts that have gone to locals in the rebuilding of New Orleans, O'Reilly said: " he homies, you know ... I mean, they're just not going to get the job."
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POPSGas Guzzlers fund Mid East Acquisitions More: Officials representing Qatar said the country is looking for long-term investments in a variety of industries. Three Delta, a fund backed by the Qatar Investment Authority, says it is principally focused on acquiring companies in the United Kingdom, and it aims to support existing management at the companies it buys. The Qatari investment fund has also offered to pay $21 billion for British supermarket chain J. Sainsbury PLC. The fund has hired Tony Campbell, the former deputy chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s British division, to become nonexecutive chairman of Sainsbury if its takeover is successful. Other big sovereign funds from the Middle East and Asia have said they are looking for undervalued brand-name businesses. A Dubai investment firm bought a big stake in DaimlerChrysler AG when the big German auto maker was suffering from quality problems at its Mercedes-Benz division. It sold the stake after a year, doubling its money.
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POPS40% rise in Hate Groups since 2000: Southern Poverty Law Center More: "The defendants are members and high-ranking officials of one of the most violent white supremacist groups in America," said SPLC President Richard Cohen. "They promote violence and intimidation and call for the death of racial and ethnic minorities, homosexuals and so-called 'race traitors.' They targeted and viciously beat our client solely because he has brown skin." The IKA's compound in Dawson Springs, Ky., is situated on 28 acres owned by Ron Edwards. It is the site of Nordic Fest, a music festival that brings together Klansmen, skinheads and members of other violent hate groups each year in May.
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POPSIraq Criminal Investigation: $6 Billion Pentagon Contracts More: Representative John Kline, a Minnesota Republican and retired Marine colonel, said he was “doubly, triply, quadruply appalled” at the “clear breakdown in leadership” that allowed some Army contracting officers to corrupt the procurement system. He said it was inexcusable that it took so long for the Army to put adequate checks in place.
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POPSPlant based plastic - No more Wars for Oil. More: Plant based plastics provide an alternative to conventional plastics, especially for polyvinyl chloride (PVC), that relies heavily on extremely toxic feedstocks and additives that have devastating impacts on our health and environment through their production, use and disposal. Many of the chemicals used in PVC production are linked to cancer, birth defects, reproductive harm, and a host of other health problems. In contrast, biobased plastics are generated using renewable materials by converting plants such as corn into plastic. The production of bioplastics can help contribute to rural economic development, providing a steady income for farmers. It also uses fewer fossil fuels compared to petrochemical plastics, even after accounting for the fuel needed to plant and harvest the corn or other feedstocks.
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POPSBanned from Iraq: Blackwater Mercenaries More: Blackwater is one of many security firms contracted by the U.S. government during the Iraq war. An estimated 25,000-plus employees of private security firms are working in Iraq, guarding diplomats, reconstruction workers and government officials. As many as 200 are believed to have been killed on the job, according to U.S. congressional reports. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee estimated in February that nearly $4 billion had been spent on security contracts amid the insurgency that followed the U.S. invasion in 2003 -- costs that have forced the delay, cancellation or scaling back of some reconstruction projects. Sunday's incident highlighted concerns in the U.S. Congress about a subject that one lawmaker, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois, has called "one of the biggest gray areas of the entire war effort" -- the legal status of private security firms in Iraq.
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POPSFormer GOP Senator Quits Republican Party No room for moderates in the Republican Party. Good job Karl Rove. More: Chafee himself laid out some of the ways he disagreed with his party, notably as one of only 23 senators and the only Republican to oppose the resolution supporting the invasion of Iraq. He went on to criticize the “permanent deficits” caused by Republican tax cuts. Chafee referred yesterday to the broad-based, bipartisan Iraq Study Group that Congress created, a process Chafee approved of. The study group recommended a gradual pullback of American forces, and insistence that the Iraqi government take more responsibility for security. But he said that since the study group made its recommendations, which he agreed with, “no one’s paid any attention to them.”
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POPSMore Bush Lies from National Address: Grand Coalition More: The most substantial non-U.S. troop contribution, from the UK, pulled back from Basra earlier this month to assume the non-combat "overwatch" role that General Petraeus believes that the U.S. can adopt at some as-yet-undefined point in the (far) future. Others are pulling out: the Danes, proud contributors of 470 troops in Iraq, have said they would withdraw in August, but that seems not to have happened yet. South Korea is expected to get out at the end of the year. Then there's Fiji, which devotes 150 troops to helping secure the United Nations' assistance mission in Iraq -- a job mostly done from outside of the country, but with a new mandate approved by the Security Council last month, it may soon have a more substantial presence inside Iraq. Go Fijans!
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POPSPetraeus Political Ambitions Guide Decision Making More: Mr Khadim is sceptical that the "surge" is working. Commenting on the US military alliance with the Sunni tribes in Anbar province, he said: "They will take your money, but when the money runs out they will change sides again."
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POPSIRAQ: 2 of 7 soldiers writing in NYT against the war are Dead. More: The Daily News in Galveston interviewed Mora's mother, who confirmed his death and that he was one of the co-authors of the Times piece. The article today relates: "Olga Capetillo said that by the time Mora submitted the editorial, he had grown increasingly depressed. 'I told him God is going to take care of him and take him home,' she said. 'But yesterday is the darkest day for me.'”
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POPSIraqis disagree with Bush/Petraeus Propaganda Spin More: Meanwhile, the level of satisfaction in other quality-of-life categories -- including the availability of jobs, supply of clean water and freedom of movement -- has decreased since March. The poll reveals a disconnect between U.S. commanders' view of a steadily improving situation in Iraq and a bleaker outlook among Iraqis.
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POPSUS Farmers: "Adios USA, Viva Mexico" Precise statistics are not readily available on American farming in Mexico, because growers seek to maintain a low profile for their operations abroad. But Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, displayed a map on the Senate floor in July locating more than 46,000 acres that American growers were cultivating in just two Mexican states, Guanajuato and Baja California. “Farmers are renting land in Mexico,” Ms. Feinstein said. “They don’t want us to know that.” She predicted that more American farmers would move to Mexico for the ready work force and lower wages. Ms. Feinstein favored a measure in the failed immigration bill that would have created a new guest worker program for agriculture and a special legal status for illegal immigrant farm workers.
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