The Washington Post reports this morning that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), who endorsed Sen. Barack Obama on Friday despite his ties to the Clinton family, yesterday said that "the people around" Sen. Hillary Clinton "practice 'gutter' politics and that they feel entitled to the presidency, a day after an informal adviser to her campaign compared Richardson to Judas for endorsing" Obama. James Carville "told the New York Times that Richardson, who was in Bill Clinton's Cabinet, had committed 'an act of betrayal,' adding that it 'came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out [Jesus] for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic.'" The Politico adds that Richardson's "sharp criticism of the Clintons is especially striking because he often defended Hillary Clinton while he was still in the race -- even in the face of sharp attacks from the other presidential contenders."
Sen. John McCain's ties to lobbyists are again making front page news today. USA Today reports that McCain "has condemned the influence of 'special interest lobbyists,' yet dozens of lobbyists have political and financial ties to his presidential campaign - particularly from telecommunications companies, an industry he helps oversee in the Senate." Of the 66 "current or former lobbyists working for" McCain "or raising money for his presidential campaign, 23 have lobbied for telecommunications companies in the past decade." And McCain "has netted about $765,000 in political donations from those telecom lobbyists, their spouses, colleagues at their firms and their telecom clients during the past decade, a USA TODAY analysis of campaign-finance records shows." McCain's "efforts to eliminate taxes and regulations on telecommunications services" have "won him praise from industry executives."
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The New York Times reports that on the campaign, Sen. John McCain "never fails to call himself a conservative Republican," and "often adds that he was a 'foot soldier' in the Reagan revolution." The Times adds, "What Mr. McCain almost never mentions are two extraordinary moments in his political past that are at odds with the candidate of the present: His discussions in 2001 with Democrats about leaving the" GOP, "and his conversations in 2004 with Senator John Kerry about becoming Mr. Kerry's running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket." The Times says "the episodes shed light on a bitter period in Mr. McCain's life after the 2000 presidential election, when he was, at least in policy terms, drifting away from his own party."
Bloomberg News reports on the worsening perception of the economy, writing, "Even if a recovery begins this summer, Americans won't feel the difference until much later. That's why when the polls open Nov. 4, the Republicans, who have controlled the White House since 2001 and Congress for much of that time, will have ceded a key advantage to the Democrats. Recessions shaped four presidential elections in the past half-century -- in 1960, 1976, 1980 and 1992. Each time, the candidate from the party trying to retake the White House won."
In the Washington Post today, all three candidates' economics advisers lay out their economic plans. Hillary Clinton calls for a "timeout" for foreclosures, cracking down on "predatory" lenders, and a $30 billion "emergency housing fund" to aid localities in combating the mortgage crisis. Barack Obama calls for "substantial" tax relief for "seniors and working people," plans to buy out troubled mortgages, and extending unemployment benefits to "get money to hard-pressed states" so they don't have to cut services. Obama would also crack down on the lending industry. John McCain would oppose "Democrats' plans to impose damaging tax increases" and enact market reforms to health care to improve care and reduce costs. On the housing front, McCain would limit loans by companies with too little capital and mortgages to those who could put too little down, and would also require "financial sacrifices" of "lenders and homeowners" who seek government assistance.
The Washington Times reports this morning that Sen. Barack Obama, "whose campaign has sharply criticized the role of outside political groups in the presidential race, has benefited more than any other candidate from millions of dollars in independent political expenditures, records show." That "increasing support for Mr. Obama has given him a boost from the same sort of political activity his campaign has railed against, especially when millions of dollars in union and other special-interest money backed his opponents." The Times says the political arm of the Service Employees International Union "and other independent groups have spent more than $7.1 million directly supporting the Illinois Democrat's bid for the presidential nomination, campaign records show. By contrast, similar outside groups have spent about $5.1 million backing" Sen. Hillary Clinton.
In an analysis piece, the Christian Science Monitor calls the recently released White House schedules from Sen. Hillary Clinton's tenure as First Lady "the record of the drudgery that comes with high public life -- endless photo ops, hospital and school visits, and commemorations planned out to the minute," adding that they consist of "only schedules, not transcripts, or talking points, or notes, or in any way an indication of what Senator Clinton thought or learned or expressed during her husband's two terms in office. They may have little bearing on whether she would make a good president. But the daily entries are revealing about the nature of White House life itself."
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According to the AP tally, more than 4,000 Americans have now been killed in Iraq since the US invasion five years ago. This story was reported by virtually every major news outlet. As the AP reports, "the grim milestone" came after "a roadside bomb killed four US soldiers in Baghdad on Sunday." Major newspapers run the AP story this morning among them are USA Today, New York Times and the Washington Times. In its own report on the milestone, the Los Angeles Times says "at least 27 US personnel have been killed so far in March, down from more than a hundred a month in April, May and June, according to the independent website icasualties.org. Dozens more have been wounded, including one in Sunday night's fatal attack."
The news comes on a markedly violent day in Iraq. The Washington Post notes "mortar and rocket attacks early Sunday pounded the Green Zone, the heavily fortified US-Iraqi military complex, on a day in which at least 58 people were killed in violence across the country." Of the Green Zone attack, the Post says, "No group asserted responsibility, but similar attacks in the past have been tied to Shiite extremist groups." The New York Times says "the intensity of the violence added to the sense that insurgent and sectarian attacks had been on the rise in recent weeks. ... Recent statistics compiled by the Pentagon suggest that after dropping significantly last fall, the number of daily attacks remained static from November through January, the last month for which official figures were available. And the relative calm has been pierced by a flare-up of violence in recent weeks." The Washington Times and Christian Science Monitor run similar reports.
Iraq: What Do To? Once again, discussion of Iraq particularly US troop levels there were a major topic of discussion in the Sunday political shows. Opinions fell mainly along party lines. Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden said on CNN's Late Edition, "It seems to me that the surge with a very lengthy pause on troop withdrawals is pretty much a blank check to the Iraqis. We're already seeing that there has been foot-dragging on key governance questions in Iraq, particularly the passage of the oil law." Sen. Jack Reed, also a Democrat, said on CBS' Face The Nation, "I think we have to have a thorough, thoughtful and deliberate path out of the country. ... We have got to send a signal that they can't keep going [on a] treadmill in and out of Iraq."
GOP Sen. Arlen Specter said on CNN's Late Edition, "I think there has been a lot of reliance on troop withdrawals. If we had known that Saddam did not have weapons of mass destruction, we never would have gone in. Once we are there, we don't want to leave it destabilized." Asked on CBS' Face The Nation if the US has "turned the corner in Iraq," Sen. Lindsay Graham a key supporter of Sen. John McCain -- said, "I think so. A long way to go. There's a big battle brewing in Mosul, and the south in Iraq is very unsettled. There Shia militias basically running the show, and Iran is stepping up its efforts to destabilize Iraq because I think they see us winning. But the big picture for me is, I'm incredibly pleased with the performance of our troops and Gen. Petraeus. ... Oil revenues are up by 50 percent. Oil production has doubled. Inflation has gone from 66 [percent] to five [percent]. Sectarian violence is down by 90 percent. Our casualties are way down. We've got a long way to go, but I believe the surge has worked on all fronts."
Sen. Chuck Hagel, a GOP maverick who opposed Bush policies in Iraq, said on ABC's This Week, "I think we've got to look at the reality that we have before us, and we're in a mess right now. We're not going to go back and unwind every bad decision we've made. ... I've said from the beginning that the whole context of judging our involvement and success in Iraq is not a win or lose prospect. The future of Iraq will be judged and decided by the Iraqi people."
Ben Bernanke is getting praise this week for his handling of the financial crisis facing the nation. In a Time commentary, Justin Fox analyzes the Fed's intervention in the purchase of the beleaguered investment bank, Bear Stearns, by JP Morgan Chase for $2 per share. It was "a truly extraordinary use of the central bank's powers and an indication that the subprime-mortgage crisis that erupted last summer has evolved into something bigger and more ominous -- possibly the greatest challenge to the American way of financial capitalism since the Depression." The "general feeling in Washington seems to be that the Bear deal 'threads the needle in the right way,' as Democratic Senator Charles Schumer put it. But if Fed-arranged fire sales become a regular event, questions will inevitably arise about moral hazard and playing favorites."
Newsweek says Bear Stearns "failed in large measure because counterparties -- other banks, hedge funds and financial institutions -- no longer wanted to extend credit to it, no longer felt comfortable trading with the company or leaving their assets in its custody." Newsweek also interviewed a number of prominent economists and business leaders on solutions for the credit crisis. Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin said, "On the whole, the Fed has done a good job. The stimulus package was the right thing to do. But we should also see what further measures we might take in the mortgage area. There is a risk of rapid declines in housing prices, more large losses on mortgages for financial institutions and widespread foreclosures that would damage neighborhoods." Carly Fiorina, Chairperson of Republican Victory '08, said, "We ought to do what we can to help those families and small businesses -- which are the engine of growth in this country -- and let the chips fall where they may for the investors and speculators."
The Wall Street Journal reports, "Slumping commodity prices and a Federal Reserve that has begun to exhibit restraint in cutting interest rates may allow the dollar's modest rally to continue this week. Investors believe the dollar may have finally found a champion in the Fed." An editorial, also in the Wall Street Journal says that "amid last week's market tumult, there was one glimmer of good news: The first break in weeks in the commodity price bubble that had been building since the Federal Reserve signaled that price stability was well down its list of priorities. On Tuesday, two members of the Fed's Open Market Committee formally dissented from the decision to cut the fed funds rate by another 75 basis points, to 2.25%. ... Even that new and mild Fed caution about inflation seems to have taken the edge off speculators who had been betting that the dollar would continue falling to new lows amid U.S. malign neglect. ... All of this is good news for consumers ... This is further evidence that the commodity price boom is rooted in the Fed's weak dollar policy, and not in a change in 'relative prices' due to rising global demand."
JPMorgan Negotiates Bigger Bid The New York Times reports, "JPMorgan Chase was in talks on Sunday night for a deal that would quintuple its offer for Bear Stearns. ... The sweetened offer is intended to win over stockholders who vowed to fight the original fire-sale deal. ... The Fed, which must approve any new deal, was balking at the new offer price on Sunday night after several days of frantic, secret negotiations," sources said.
Booming Exports A Bright Side For The Economy The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that "as the dollar skids, dropping earlier this month to a 12-year low against the yen and another record low against the euro, U.S. exports are surging. That is providing a lone bright spot in an otherwise-gloomy economy and distinguishing this downturn from the last recession. ... Exports have already helped to counteract the impact of the beleaguered housing market."
In a slow news Easter day, Vice President Cheney's comments about the Mideast peace process are getting significant media play. ABC World News, the only network newscast to air last night, noted Cheney "spent this weekend trying to mediate the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians." Cheney was shown saying: "Achieving that vision will require tremendous effort at the negotiating table and painful concessions on both sides." The Financial Times and the AP remark on that same Cheney comment, with the AP adding Palestinian officials asked Cheney "to pressure Israel to halt settlement construction and voiced other complaints that deflated Cheney's hopeful words about Mideast peace." The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, notes Cheney declared that "an independent Palestinian state was 'long overdue'" a comment that also led the Washington Post coverage. The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Times run similar stories.
The Hill reports House Minority Leader John Boehner also led a delegation to Israel over the weekend, and "sought to tie the ever-present threats to the Jewish state to the need for the US to take a firm stand against terrorism and rogue states." Said Boehner, "The rise of Islamic fundamentalism around the world has real security implications, not only for Israel, but also for the United States." Boehner "is accompanied on the trip by GOP Reps. Pete Hoekstra (Mich.), the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, John Carter (Texas), Peter Roskam (Ill.) and Jeff Miller (Fla.)."
This week's U.S. News and World Report reports, "Talk is increasingly turning to a troop surge for Afghanistan. The conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank, which was instrumental in designing the current surge strategy in Iraq, in January convened an 'Afghanistan Planning Group' that will shortly announce recommendations for an influx of troops into Afghanistan as well." AEI fellow Frederick Kagan said, "It's clear to everyone who looks at it that more troops are necessary in Afghanistan." US News adds it is "clear to U.S. military officials that efforts in Afghanistan are faltering and that more troops could help turn the tide. Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and now the deputy chairman of NATO's military committee, says that there is currently a shortage of maneuver and infantry forces in the country."
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Jay Leno: "Winter officially ended this week. So that's good news. Yeah, yeah. Today, Al Gore blamed the end of winter on global warming."
Jay Leno: "To give you an idea how bad the Democrats are doing, in a stunning reversal, John McCain now 10% ahead of Hillary Clinton and 7% ahead of Barack Obama. And this is after Iraq, a recession, and no healthcare. Imagine how far ahead he'd be if the Republicans had actually done something."
Jay Leno: "Osama bin Laden has released another anti-American speech. And out of force of habit, Barack Obama has denounced the remarks and said he wasn't even in the room at the time the things were being made."
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