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If, as predicted, Barack Obama (B.O.) picks Hillary Clinton (H.C.)as his prospective Vice President, the two of them could combine their initals to (almost) form the classic military acronym: BOHICA!

After adjusting his immigration stance when his comprehensive immigration bill died last summer, John McCain, now with the Republican nomination in hand, has once again ruffled conservaive feathers on the immigration issue by returning to the position that almost stopped his campaign dead in its tracks. Last week McCain joined California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in supporting a "comprehensive" immigration plan. "Sen. Kennedy and I tried very hard to get a comprehensive immigration plan through Congress. We must make it a top agenda item," McCain said. But the Arizona senator's staunch defense of such a comprehensive package at the expense of...

Cesar Mojica Carmona could be eligible for parole in about 30 years. Friday, May 09, 2008 SAN MARCOS — Cesar Mojica Carmona took a deep breath and swallowed hard Thursday morning as he heard the sentence a Hays County jury had given him: fourteen concurrent life sentences and a $140,000 fine for what officials say was the worst case of child abuse in county history. Mojica Carmona, 24, was convicted last week on 14 counts of injury to a child for starving, biting and otherwise abusing his three children. Hewill be eligible for parole after about 30 years. Mojica Carmona...

Shake-up gives Fed a boost Last Updated: 2:02am BST 30/03/2008 AMBROSE EVANS-PRITCHARD SOPHIE BRODIE THE US government will tomorrow unveil a radical overhaul of financial regulation that would give the Federal Reserve greater powers to oversee market stability. The proposals are part of a wider effort to simplify labyrinthine US regulation, consolidate regulators and make the market more competitive. The review began last year, but has become increasingly critical as the Fed struggled to restore confidence in markets shattered by the credit crunch and bail-out of Bear Stearns. advertisement While the plans would allow the Fed to scrutinise more closely...

Good morning. Disinclined as I am to wade into state politics, this one is teed up like a Titleist: The governor's proposed "surcharge" on property insurance premiums is more accurately described as a tax increase. That doesn't make it a bad thing. That makes it a tax increase. ...[snip]

WASHINGTON - Talk about an inconvenient truth. l Gore finally won his place in the Oval Office on Monday — right next to George W. Bush. Forever linked by the closest and craziest presidential race in history, the two men were reunited by, of all things, White House tradition. Gore was among the 2007 Nobel Prize winners who were invited in for a photo and some chatter with the president; Gore got the recognition for his work on global warming. The two men stood next to other, sharing uncomfortable grins for photographers and reporters, who were quickly ushered in and...

It’s not a smoking gun, but it’s smoking-related, and it’s there in bright medical images: evidence of microscopic structural damage deep in the lungs, caused by secondhand cigarette smoke. For the first time, researchers have identified lung injury to nonsmokers that was long suspected, but not previously detectable with medical imaging tools. The researchers suggest that their findings may strengthen public health efforts to restrict secondhand smoke. “We used a special type of magnetic resonance imaging to find these structural changes in the lungs,” said study leader Chengbo Wang, Ph.D., a magnetic resonance physicist in the Department of Radiology at...

MERIMACK, N.H. (AP) — Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday called for a national broadband Internet system and permanent research tax credits and took a swipe at the Bush administration quoting comedian Stephen Colbert for the second time in a week. The Democratic front-runner and New York senator said high-tech jobs can't be sustained without investment in the high-tech fields, and if elected she would chart "a new course to create new jobs, grow the economy and strengthen the middle class." "The nation that invented the Internet is now ranked about 25th in access to it," Clinton said in...

WASHINGTON - Offering federal aid for strapped mortgage holders, the White House outlined proposals Friday to help borrowers hard hit by credit problems and the housing slump. The initiatives, to be formally unveiled by President Bush, were intended to help homeowners with risky mortgages keep their homes. Bush also was to discuss efforts to prevent these kinds of problems from arising in the future. It was the administration's first efforts to deal with an expected wave of mortgage defaults fueled by the subprime-mortgage crisis. White House press secretary Tony Snow said he could not provide an estimate of how much...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 — President Bush, in his first response to low-income families hit by the subprime mortgage crisis, plans to announce several steps Friday aimed at helping Americans with credit difficulties to meet the rising cost of their housing loans, administration officials said Thursday.

Senator to assure that farm legislation is a priority in today's Fresno appearance. WASHINGTON -- Get ready for another ride on the immigration roller coaster. Today, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein will be assuring a San Joaquin Valley audience that Congress will once more take up a big agricultural guest-worker bill. A top priority for Valley farmers, the bill soon could resurface on Capitol Hill. "Agriculture is going to push this thing," Manuel Cunha, president of the Fresno-based Nisei Farmers League, said Wednesday. The agricultural guest-worker package is getting its second wind two months after comprehensive immigration reform collapsed in the...

DES MOINES --- Democratic presidential hopeful Chris Dodd on Monday criticized the Federal Reserve Board for failing to respond quickly enough to the mortgage crisis that has rocked Wall Street. [snip] Dodd said the government should be working to provide relief to people who will be losing their homes. "People are saying, is this a deep crisis or not? If it's your home, it’s a deep crisis. If you get thrown out of your house, believe me, it's a major crisis, here," Dodd said.

Another blow for the poverty theory of "radicalization." "Two Terror Suspects Are Hospital doctors," from Sky News: Two of the five terror suspects being held in the wake of the failed car bombings in London and Glasgow are believed to be hospital doctors working in the UK. The majority of the five terror suspects being held in police custody in connection with bomb attacks in London and Glasgow are not British and at least one is still at large, according to Sky sources. Sky sources believe one of the men arrested at Glasgow airport and a 26- year-old man arrested...

LONDON - Some now call London the "Muslim capital of Europe." No Western city has more mosques. And now London could be home to the largest Mosque outside of the Middle East.

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today made the following statement on the agreement to bring the immigration reform bill back to the floor. The Senate will resume debate on immigration possibly as soon as next week. Graham said: “After 9-11 immigration reform is not just a social and economic problem, but also a national security issue of the highest importance. I am pleased that the Senate leadership is going to bring the immigration reform bill back to the floor for further debate and amendment. This is a great opportunity for the Senate, in a bipartisan fashion, to reform...

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany - Group of Eight leaders including President Bush agreed Thursday to call for substantial global emissions reductions to fight global warming and cited a goal of a 50 percent cut by 2050. European leaders hailed the deal as progress in the wrangling between Europe and the United States over global warming, with the Europeans pushing mandatory cuts and the U.S. resisting. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who shepherded the deal as chair of the G-8 summit in this seaside resort in northern Germany, called it "very great progress and an excellent result." With Bush resisting concrete cuts, it had...

I've been hearing rumors for a couple of weeks now that New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin is considering running for Governor. I finally found a news outlet that confirms this rumor, thanks to freelance journalist Jason Berry, who appeared on Informed Sources last night to predict that Nagin will run for Governor. Hat tip to Library Chronicles. As an aside, is this Jason Berry the author of Amazing Grace, an account of Charles Evers' run for Governor in Mississippi back in 1972? But back to the issue at hand - Ray Nagin running for Governor of Louisiana. This makes...

The Bush administration insisted on a little-noticed change in the bipartisan Senate immigration bill that would enable 12 million undocumented residents to avoid paying back taxes or associated fines to the Internal Revenue Service, officials said. An independent analyst estimated the decision could cost the IRS tens of billions of dollars. A provision requiring payment of back taxes had been in the initial version of a bill proposed by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat. But the administration called for the provision to be removed due to concern that it would be too difficult to figure out which illegal...

COLUMBIA — Republican National Committee Chairman Mel Martinez on Friday urged GOP leaders from around the nation to back immigration legislation that some critics contend is too soft on illegal aliens. "If we don't pass this bill, nobody that is in the shadows today will come out of the shadows and be accounted for," Martinez, a U.S. senator from Florida, told about 60 state party leaders wrapping up a three-day RNC meeting here. The bill, a compromise reached by liberals and conservatives, would offer citizenship to some 12 million immigrants now in the United States illegally. It also would mandate...

WASHINGTON - Republican and Democratic senators huddled Thursday trying to close in on an immigration compromise to grant quick legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants while fortifying U.S. borders against new ones. A group of lawmakers that has been haggling over the terms of agreement for weeks were reviewing language negotiated Wednesday night to determine if there is a "deal or no deal." But two of the lead negotiators, Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., booked time for Thursday afternoon in the Senate's radio-TV gallery for an announcement. Kennedy earlier described Thursday...

WASHINGTON -- Republicans and Democrats were nearing a deal Tuesday on a sweeping immigration overhaul that would give millions of illegal immigrants a chance at legal status but strictly limit future arrivals from staying in the U.S. Senators and White House officials negotiating through the afternoon and into the evening said an elusive compromise was in sight. With details changing rapidly, it was unclear whether the talks would result in a breakthrough or a meltdown. "Eighty-twenty!" said an upbeat Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of the key players in the talks, giving strong odds of a deal he said could...

The United States and the European Union have signed up to a new transatlantic economic partnership at a summit in Washington. The pact is designed to boost trade and investment by harmonising regulatory standards, laying the basis for a US-EU single market. The two sides also signed an Open Skies deal, designed to reduce fares and boost traffic on transatlantic flights. But little of substance was agreed on climate change. However, EU leaders were pleased that the US acknowledged human activity was a major cause. Richest regions Economics rather than the environment or politics was the focus of the summit,...

Remember the public debate last year over whether the state should raise the gasoline tax or tolls to pay for the rotten roads around here? Well, the debate’s over. There’s been a compromise. We’re going to raise both the tolls and the gasoline tax. Or so says the Mass. Transportation Finance Commission. They haven’t officially come out and said they want higher gas taxes and tolls. First they’re going to have the traditional “public hearings.” Of course it’s all a complete bag job. Just look at the tell-tale phrases in the news stories about the “shocking” conditions of the state’s...

WASHINGTON - Four years into the Iraq war, all sides in the bitter debate agree that President Bush’s “troop surge” plan represents the final drop of American patience for the war. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has steadfastly supported the mission, said Republicans’ patience is nearly exhausted, too. “This is the last chance for the Iraqis,” the Kentucky Republican said in an interview with The Examiner. “The last chance for them to step up and demonstrate that they can do their part to save their country.”

State’s attorney general says there’s no reason to deny them recognition. PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch says his state should recognize the gay marriages of state employees performed in Massachusetts. A letter dated yesterday from Lynch says Rhode Island prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and also extends benefits such as health insurance to domestic partners of state employees. And because there’s no Rhode Island law banning gay marriage — Lynch says there’s no reason to deny recognition of same-sex unions performed in Massachusetts. Massachusetts is the only state where gay marriage is legal.

ANNAPOLIS -- Gov. Martin O'Malley called for more spending on public schools, health care and the environment yesterday in his first State of the State address, but acknowledged that Maryland will need new sources of revenue to make his plan work. "We will never be able to multiply bread and fishes to cover the multitude of needs without new revenue," said Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat. "It's a big, big challenge that we have for our future."

The Transportation Security Administration – created after 9/11 to safeguard America's airports – is providing Islamic sensitivity training to 45,000 airport security officers so they'll know what to expect when Muslims fly from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia to participate in the annual "hajj," or pilgrimage to Mecca. "We put out information telling everyone that hajj is coming; this is the time frame; individuals are going to be traveling with these types of items," TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser told the State Department's USINFO Web site Tuesday. Calling it "cultural sensitivity training," Kayser added that airport security officials need "just to...

'Don't Tell Mama I'm for Obama,' Ill. Senator's Aides Say Heightens Presidential Prospects  By JAKE TAPPER, with ANNE-MARIE DORNING and MARK REEVES Dec. 11 - After a rocking visit to N.H. this weekend, an appearance tonight on Monday Night Football is the latest sign that Barak Obama is running for president. Adoring, standing-room-only crowds giddily awaited Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., at his first stop this morning, at a book signing in Portsmouth, N.H. But it didn't sound like the freshman senator was selling just books. "We've got a series of very important decisions to make, and we have the...

Durbin Asks Bush To Put Partisanship Behind Him Bob Roberts Reporting CHICAGO (WBBM) -- The Democrats are talking co-operation with President Bush, but already there is evidence that controversial legislation backed by the Bush administration won't move forward. WBBM's Bob Roberts reports. President Bush has asked the lame-duck Congress to give him legislation that would specifically authorize the wiretapping of foreign phone calls and computer traffic of suspected terrorists. The issue came up Friday during a meeting hosted by the President with Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). Instead, Durbin told WBBM Saturday, he is asking Mr. Bush...

per britt, democrats clinch the house

Leaders fear those disillusioned with the Republican-led Congress could stay home on Election Day, giving victory to the Democrats. For all those glum conservatives out there, Terry Jeffries has a message: Yes, the Republican-led Congress has failed to plug the leaks in the nation’s borders. Yes, federal spending is out of control, despite pledges by Republican leaders to temper it. And, yes, Congress has failed to pass key social measures once thought all but assured, considering Congress and the White House are in Republican hands. But Jeffries, the editor of Human Events, a respected conservative newsweekly, also wants readers to...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California would become the first state to impose a limit on all greenhouse gas emissions, including those from industrial plants, under a landmark deal reached Wednesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative Democrats. The agreement marks a clear break with the Bush administration and puts California on a path to reducing its emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by an estimated 25 percent by 2020. The bill still needs lawmakers' approval, but that appears likely, given that Democrats control the Legislature. The deal gives Schwarzenegger a key environmental victory as he seeks re-election this fall....

President George W Bush has announced that the US is to boost its aid package to Lebanon to $230m. The money would be used to help rebuild Lebanese homes and infrastructure, he told reporters at the White House. He also called for the quick deployment of a peacekeeping force for Lebanon. "The need is urgent," he said. The international community must designate the leadership of the force and give it a "robust mandate" as soon as possible, he said. A UN resolution calls for 15,000 troops to uphold the week-old ceasefire. Mr Bush said he hoped France would send more...

Sexual orientation should not define us, say gay politicians CanWest News Service; Montreal Gazette Published: Saturday, July 29, 2006 MONTREAL -- Openly gay politicians want to be known for their competence and not just for being gay. This was one of the observations made by seven elected officials during workshop Friday at an international conference on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender human rights being held in Montreal in conjunction with the first World Outgames. The challenges, pitfalls and pluses of being a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender politician were discussed, as was the decision making process on when to come...

Gov. Corzine to address full legislature Wednesday Trenton -WABC, July 4, 2006) - Despite an all day effort by sequestered New Jersey lawmakers, there's still no budget agreement. Now, Governor Jon Corzine will address the Legislature on Wednesday morning. New Jersey lawmakers opposed to Governor Jon Corzine's sales tax hike rejected a compromise sought by the governor on Tuesday. They are now working on their own plan that could increase income taxes. Even after an emergency closed door session, lawmakers failed to come up with a budget agreement. Talks will continue through the night. And if a deal isn't met...

Last update - 22:22 01/07/2006 U.S. to pay $48 million to cover damages to Gaza power station By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service United States officials said they expect that U.S. funds will be used to pay for the damages caused by an Israel Air Force strike Tuesday on a Palestinian power station in the Gaza Strip. The power station was insured by a U.S. government agency, according to The Boston Globe. The Foreign and Defense Ministry departments that oversee foreign relations were unaware of the decision to target civilian facilities in the Strip, or the decision to...

One of the top House negotiators on immigration said yesterday the only way a final compromise bill can pass is if the Senate drops its path to citizenship for current illegal aliens, even as Sen. John McCain announced plans to try to broker a deal. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he is willing to accept a temporary-worker program for future workers, but citizenship for illegal aliens -- which he said definitely constitutes "amnesty" -- is out. "A guest-worker program I think can be on the table if it does not contain an amnesty,...

<p>I searched but did not see a thread already open for tonights speech. I think this is the most important speech the President will probably make for the remainder of his term.</p>

WASHINGTON - President Bush plans to address the nation Monday night on the immigration debate, trying to build momentum for legislation that could provide millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become American citizens. The White House said it was seeking time from television networks for the president's remarks. "This is crunch time," Tony Snow, the new White House press secretary said Friday at his first off-camera, or informal, briefing. On Thursday, Senate leaders reached a deal to revive a broad immigration bill that had appeared doomed just several weeks ago. Key to the agreement is who will be negotiating...

Just announced on Fox News that President Bush is to address the nation at 8pm Eastern on Monday May 15th to speak on immigration.

U.S. Senate leaders clear path for immigration bill Thu May 11, 2006 12:32 PM ET WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - Republican and Democratic Senate leaders agreed on Thursday on a plan to revive a bill that would give millions of illegal immigrants a chance to earn U.S. citizenship. The sweeping immigration overhaul, which has triggered rallies by millions of immigrants and their supporters across the country, is expected to be considered by the Senate next week. Despite the agreement between Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, the outcome of the legislation remains in doubt....

WASHINGTON -- Senate leaders reached a deal today on reviving a broad immigration bill that could provide millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become American citizens and said they'll try to pass it before Memorial Day. The agreement brokered by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Minority Harry Reid, D-Nev., breaks a political stalemate that has lingered for weeks while immigrants and their supporters held rallies, boycotts and protests to push for action. Key to the agreement is who will be negotiating a compromise with the House, which last December passed an enforcement-only bill that would subject the...

House Bill 1046 started out as a joke to just about everyone but Bob Mathis. And now it’s his turn to laugh. The Hot Springs Democrat and reformed smoker spent much of this week in strong opposition to a bill to ban smoking in most workplaces. It was a Mathis amendment that came close to killing that bill, says Gov. Mike Huckabee, the primary supporter of the measure. So when Mathis filed a bill Wednesday evening to ban smoking in cars carrying young children who are restrained in car seats, a lot of people laughed. They didn’t take him or...

For the last few years, a coalition of technology companies, academics and computer programmers has been trying to persuade Congress to scale back the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Now Congress is preparing to do precisely the opposite. A proposed copyright law seen by CNET News.com would expand the DMCA's restrictions on software that can bypass copy protections and grant federal police more wiretapping and enforcement powers. ~ snip ~ The proposed law scheduled to be introduced by Rep. Smith also does the following: • Permits wiretaps in investigations of copyright crimes, trade secret theft and economic espionage. It would...

An East Bay assemblyman is proposing to give all nine Bay Area counties the ability to increase vehicle registration fees to pay for local transportation projects and environmental mitigation. The money, up to $30.5 million a year, would be spent on local roads and transit systems and for water and air quality projects.It might not seem like much, sitting as it does in the shadow of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $68 billion public-works bond proposal, but the money is vital to the health of local streets and bus lines, said Assemblyman Johan Klehs, D-Hayward."For one thing, there is no guarantee the...

In Congress today is a tax reform bill called “The FairTax.” I want to tell you a little about it and then tell you why it is important for the immigration debate. The FairTax would institute a national retail sales tax and eliminate the personal income tax, the payroll tax, and the taxes hidden in business but paid by the consumer. It replaces all of these taxes with a 23% tax on personal consumption, meaning that out of every dollar spent by consumers, 23 cents will go to the tax man and 77 cents will go to the merchant. This...

Lott re-emerges as Republicans' go-to guy in the Senate BY JILL ZUCKMAN Chicago Tribune WASHINGTON - As the Senate struggled recently to resolve an impasse over immigration reform, Sen. John Cornyn needed advice from an expert. He did not turn to President Bush nor to Majority Leader Bill Frist. "I said, `Trent, how do we get out of this mess?''' said Cornyn, R-Texas, meaning Sen. Trent Lott, the former Senate Republican leader from Mississippi whose knack for legislative strategy remains undiminished, if newly appreciated. Lott was forced from his leadership post in 2002 after he praised then-Sen. Strom Thurmond's segregationist...

Big Oil seen trimming Venezuela risksChavez push to retool contracts cools investment climate By Jasmina Kelemen, MarketWatch Last Update: 8:56 PM ET Apr 5, 2006 HOUSTON (MarketWatch) -- Major oil companies are likely to trim their exposure to Venezuela and spend their development money elsewhere as the oil producing giant embarks on an increasingly rancorous course with foreign investors, said analysts Wednesday. In recent days, Venezuela has taken control of oil fields operated by companies opposed to President Hugo Chavez's efforts to wrest more money from the industry and assert more national control over its activities. Historically high oil prices...

<p>Thanks to John McCain, Free Republic will shut down tomorrow at high noon for 30 days. No non government approved electioneering messages may be transmitted over the internet for the 30 days immediately preceding a primary election.</p> <p>That is all.</p>

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Under pressure to produce broad immigration reform legislation by the end of the month, a U.S. Senate panel on Thursday neared agreement on a proposal that would give some of the 12 million illegal aliens living in the country an opportunity to earn citizenship. Although no vote will be held until after a weeklong congressional recess, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday appeared ready to back a proposal by panel member Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, who has worked on the issue with his Republican colleague John McCain of Arizona. The panel, which is working on...