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"Thursday, November 5, 2009Congressmen ask for Obama's birth certificate - U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal and "several colleagues" to ask Obama to release birth certificate U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, now a Republican candidate for governor, this morning declared himself in sympathy with those questioning whether President Barack Obama was born in the U.S.A. The occasion was an online chat the congressman had with supporters this morning. And the question came from Tom Crawford of Capitol Impact. Do you believe that Barack Obama is a native-born American citizen who is eligible to serve as president? I am asking because your comments on...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe has shown throughout her career that when it comes to voting, it's her principles and constituents that guide her, not her party. Sen. Olympia Snowe has received overwhelming support from her constituents in past elections. Those principles, analysts note, are guiding her to find a compromise on health care reform currently stalemated in Congress. Jennifer Duffy, who follows the Senate for the Cook Political Report, said Snowe's independent streak is "not new behavior for her." "I think they [Republicans] also realize that the only reason that the state of Maine has two Republican...

The Energy and Commerce Committee will resume its markup of healthcare legislation Wednesday afternoon under a deal between Blue Dogs and House leaders, but there will be no floor vote on the legislation before August. Delaying a vote until August was a key demand of the Blue Dogs, along with reducing the cost of the bill by $100 billion and allowing states to create health "co-ops" that would compete with the government-run "public option" and private insurers.

Reporting from Sacramento -- The state budget deal negotiated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders would reduce the population of California prisons by nearly 27,000 inmates in the current fiscal year. That would be done with a combination of new measures, including allowing some inmates to finish their sentences on home detention, creating new incentives for completion of rehabilitation programs and scaling back parole supervision for the least serious offenders.

Just five days before his inauguration, President Obama quietly signed a lucrative $500,000 deal for a children’s book. Terms of the deal were revealed in Senate financial disclosure forms on Tuesday. Although there’s nothing “illegal” about the deal, observers say it unusual. And others say its unseemly. No other incoming or sitting president has ever signed a similar publishing deal. Here’s what the Washington Times says:....

Former US Secretary of State, Ms Condoleezza Rice, has reportedly signed a $2.5-million deal to write a trilogy that will chart her rise from a segregated neighbourhood in Alabama to the top ranks of the White House. The 54-year-old Ms Rice's yet untitled first book will be a memoir of her years in the Bush administration, reported Telegraph.co.uk. “Ms Rice will combine candid narrative and acute analysis to tell the story of her time in the White House and as top di plomat of US and her role in protecting American security and shaping foreign policy during the extraordinary period...

Once again, the California taxpayer is being asked to bail out government. Over the last 5 years, we have been promised year after year that our budget problems would be fixed – but they have not been fixed. There are a variety of reasons why – but no one need look farther than the growth of government. At every level, in every civilization, over the last 6 thousand years government has incessantly grown – often dramatically. The US government has gone from a $3 billion budget under Coolidge to a $4 trillion dollar budget today – and we have had...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. congressional negotiators said on Wednesday they had reached a deal on a $789 billion package of spending and tax cuts, handing a big victory to President Barack Obama in his effort to pull the economy out of a tailspin. But in a possible last-minute snag, negotiators delayed a meeting to vote on the compromise so lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives could be briefed. The compromise followed earlier approval of separate House and Senate bills whose differences needed reconciling. One congressional aide said there was no deal yet on money for school construction and...

Legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have reached a tentative deal to close the state's projected $40 billion budget gap, according to sources close to the negotiations. Staff members are working out some drafting issues, one source said, but a vote is scheduled for Friday. Details of the pact are still emerging, but the plan involves tax increases, cuts and borrowing. The state also stands to receive billions in federal stimulus money as the package approaches closure in Washington. Sources said Tuesday the plan would raise sales taxes by one cent on the dollar, increase income taxes across the board...

more as it becomes available...

New Mexico's Economic Development Department has signed a memorandum of understanding with the city government of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to coordinate business-building efforts along the border. Each agency has agreed to share information about industry sectors that hold the greatest promise of joint success for each side, such as trade leads and joint venture opportunities. Another part of the agreement calls for each side to include the other, when appropriate, in cross-border site visits when the region is under consideration by potential maquiladora supplier leads.

Also, here's Carl Cameron on the issue: Fox News' Carl Cameron: "No. There wasn't a deal. You have to first accept a predicate that there was an arrangement agreed to by all the necessary lawmakers and authorities -- that was essentially a piece of paper and a proposal that had been discussed and agreed to by one senate committee -- that's not the same as a deal. A deal in budget parlance and bailout parlance requires the White House, the regulators, the House and Senate Republicans and Democrats. And because House Republicans were not given an adequate seat at the...

If McCain can work a deal that House Republicans can live with, he may have wrapped the election up.

The whole timing of this seems like a setup to me, that this thing blows up 2 weeks before the 1st Presidential Debate. I think a lot of left wing financier types from US and around the world like George Soros create this to get the election result they want and get cash to support their left wing causes and can blame it on so called Conservative Capitalism and Bush. Your Thoughts. Wouldn't you like to know who the short sellers and that set off this latest market chaos.

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders have reached a deal that would avert the governor's planned Friday veto of the state budget and allow California to begin paying its bills again.

Israel is reportedly attempting to block a $400 million arms deal between the United States and Lebanon that would reportedly include hundreds of anti-tank missiles. Israeli authorities have stated that recent events in Lebanon, including Hezbollah's resurgence in the south, have led them to believe that the arms transfer could pose a security threat, namely if future clashes cause government forces to splinter, possibly causing the arms to fall into the hands of the Lebanese Shi'ite militia Hezbollah. The Head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau.Amos Gilad has reportedly held talks recently with officials from the Pentagon, in order to...

According to the well-informed Israeli army radio, Israel has said it is willing to hand over five Lebanese prisoners for the return of Goldwasser and Regev. Israel would also be willing to release the bodies of 10 Hezbollah fighters, it added. The low numbers of prisoners being mentioned in the deal has raised eyebrows in Israel. Many take it to mean that the two soldiers are no longer alive. From the very moment of the abduction, the Israeli army was convinced that the two men were badly hurt because of the blood stains they found at the site of the...

London's new mayor said on Sunday he was scrapping an agreement with Venezuela that helped fund half-price bus and tram fares for Londoners on low incomes. Under the deal struck by former mayor Ken Livingstone, London provided Venezuela with advice and expertise in public transport and urban planning in return for cash covering a fifth of the fuel bill for it's bus fleet. The Conservatives have long criticised the deal signed by Labour's Livingstone, saying a rich city such as London should not be exploiting a poorer country nor doing business with a man they call a "South American dictator"....

NAIROBI, Kenya - Officials say President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga have reached deal on a coalition Cabinet. The officials say Kibaki and Odinga agreed on a coalition Cabinet following seven hours of talks and will announce the new ministers Sunday afternoon. The officials, who requested not to be further identified, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. Isaiya Kabira, spokesman for Kibaki, told The Associated Press that there is a "good chance" a coalition Cabinet will be announced Sunday.

According to a report floating around Capitol Hill, the Democratic House leadership may have made a deal with Republicans to get the FISA reform bill passed — with telecom immunity intact. Instead of bringing the bipartisan Senate deal to the floor in one piece, Nancy Pelosi will schedule votes on its component parts. Both will pass, but it will allow some members to cast nays against the immunity to protect themselves from the netroots activists opposed to the immunity: To break an impasse over legislation overhauling the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, House Democratic leaders are considering the option of taking...

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the most prominent surviving member of the Kennedy family, has agreed to sell his memoirs for an advance of more than $8 million, people with knowledge of the negotiations say.

U.S. Diplomat Is Residing in North Korean Capital, Chosun Says By Heejin Koo Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- A U.S. diplomat has been residing in North Korea since mid-November, acting as a liaison between the governments of Washington and Pyongyang, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing an unidentified official in Washington.The presence of the unidentified U.S. envoy, who is staying at the Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang, is an indication of improved relations between the two nations since North Korea pledged to disable its Yongbyon nuclear plant by the end of this year, the Seoul-based daily said. The U.S. plans...

Canadian Autoworkers chief Buzz Hargrove lauds his no-strike agreement with car-part giant Magna International as path-breaking. "Trade unions have been abolished as being an antagonism to employers and brought into one organization, and all parts having a share in government of industry," he wrote approvingly in his diary. "This is virtually advocated in Industry and Humanity; the state appoints referees and in this way strikes are ended. I confess that what one sees here of the (National) Socialist state causes one to see many merits in the system."

WASHINGTON - Some small Internet radio broadcasters are rejecting a new offer from a music industry group to pay discounted royalty rates for streaming music online through 2010. SoundExchange, the music industry group that collects royalties from webcasters and distributes them to artists and record labels, said its offer was aimed at resolving a dispute over higher fees due July 15. Smaller providers said the higher royalties would be too big a financial burden. Under the latest SoundExchange offer, qualified webcasters — those earning $1.25 million or less in annual gross revenue and with a certain size audience — could...

Analysts: Jefferson family members could be used in deal attempt05:53 PM CDT on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 WWLTV.com Congressman William Jefferson (D-La) The 94-page indictment against Congressman William Jefferson refers to his wife, daughters and two brothers only as family members, but the indictment contends that at least two of them played major roles in the scheme the government describes. A few legal analysts who talked to Eyewitness News have raised the possibility that the threat of legal action against the family members could be used in an attempt to compel Jefferson into a plea bargain. “There’s no doubt that...

Baghdad | Talks between the United States and Iran this month will be an opportunity for Tehran to enter a "whole new era" in relations with Iraq, but first it has to stop aiding Iraqi insurgent groups, the U.S. envoy leading the discussions said Thursday. Both Iranian and American officials said Thursday that the talks, beginning May 28 in Baghdad, will be limited to the security situation in Baghdad and will not delve into the diplomatic deadlock between the two countries over Iran's nuclear program.

WASHINGTON - Severe farmworker shortages that have left tons of fruits and vegetables unplanted or unpicked would get a fix under an immigration reform deal reached by senators Thursday. The immigration agreement includes a pilot legalization program for agriculture workers, said Scott Gerber, spokesman for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif. Farmers say that as immigration enforcement has tightened in recent years, worker shortages have ranged from 10 percent to 30 percent across the labor-intensive produce industry and have also struck dairy farms and nurseries. In some cases crops have gone unharvested. In others, farmers have chosen not...

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan group of senators reached agreement with the White House Thursday on an immigration overhaul to grant quick legal status to millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S. and fortify the border against new ones. One of the key negotiators, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said he expects President Bush to endorse it. The deal came after weeks of painstaking closed-door negotiations that brought the most liberal Democrats and the most conservative Republicans together with Bush's Cabinet officers to produce a highly complex measure that carries heavy political consequences. It set the stage for what promises...

Bloomberg articles are available via link only, per FR policy. Read story here.

Sarkozy 'has secret deal with Le Pen' By Henry Samuel in Paris Last Updated: 1:46am BST 14/04/2007 Nicolas Sarkozy, the French presidential front-runner, fended off allegations yesterday that he was plotting to form a secret pact with Jean-Marie Le Pen, the far-Right leader. The latest polls put Mr Sarkozy firmly in the lead With the first round of presidential polls looming a week tomorrow, Mr Sarkozy has been accused of seeking the votes of Mr Le Pen's supporters in the second round next month. The veteran National Front leader is not expected to get beyond the first round and his...

A major US weapons deal to Saudi Arabia and other regional allies has been delayed due to Israeli objections, the New York Times reported.

The final piece has been put into place to secure Joe Mauer's status as the new face of the Twins and one of baseball's bona fide young superstars. By agreeing to terms on a four-year, $33 million contract over the weekend, the humble hometown hero will stay home for at least the rest of the decade and lead the Twins into their proposed new ballpark in 2010. Mauer said the opportunity to remain home for several years has been a high priority, and the St. Paul native has dreamed of playing in the Twins' outdoor ballpark for a long time.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. President George W. Bush will sign into law on Monday a civil nuclear cooperation deal that allows the United States to sell nuclear technology to India, the White House said. Congress gave final approval on Saturday to the legislation which the Bush administration and its allies say will expand ties with the world's largest democracy and open up billions of dollars in trade for U.S. companies. Critics say the legislation, which helps clear the way for India to buy U.S. nuclear reactors and fuel, will undermine efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons. But congressional...

West Allis - Union workers at Harley-Davidson Inc. Tuesday approved concessions that will result in a $120 million expansion and creation of at least 100 new jobs in the Milwaukee area. The 943 to 536 vote came after a sustained campaign by union leadership to reverse a rejection of similar concessions last month. The proposal that won approval includes lower wages for workers hired after the first of the year, as well as a decrease in health insurance, pensions and cost-of-living adjustments for all workers. However, the gap between the two wage tiers is smaller in the deal agreed to...

Iran 'blocks Israel soldier deal' Cpl Shalit was captured by Palestinian militants in late June Israel's ambassador to the UN has accused Iran of paying Hamas $50m to block the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants. The ambassador in New York, Dan Gillerman, made the claim without giving any further evidence or details. The payment, which Iran denies making, allegedly went to the head of Hamas' political bureau Khaled Meshaal. The soldier, Cpl Gilad Shalit, was captured in June in a cross-border raid from Gaza by Palestinian militants. Israel intensified its military campaign in Gaza following his...

Corruption claimed in Harry Reid dealSenate Minority Leader hung up phone when queried about $1 million windfall Posted: October 11, 2006 3:02 p.m. Eastern © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid hung up the phone when questioned by the Associated Press about a $1.1 million windfall on land he had not owned for three years, the wire service is reporting. Reid collected on the Las Vegas land sale in a deal engineered by a longtime friend and former casino lawyer, Jay Brown, whose name has surfaced in organized crime investigations, the AP said. According to...

Agreement was meant to tame the extremists but it has boosted them insteadTHE bullet-riddled body lay on a roadside in the tribal region of North Waziristan, an accompanying note giving warning that anyone else suspected of spying for US forces across the border in Afghanistan would meet the same fate. Khan Malang, a 45-year-old Afghan refugee who disappeared from his home on Wednesday, had, according to Islamic militants, used a satellite phone to contact American military personnel. He became the third person killed on suspicion of spying since the Pakistani Government signed a peace deal with the militants three weeks...

HONOLULU - TV bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman hopes to work out a deal to avoid extradition to Mexico to faces charges of illegal detention and conspiracy in his capture of a cosmetics company heir there three years ago, his lawyer said. Bounty hunting is a crime in Mexico. Chapman and his two co-stars on the show "Dog The Bounty Hunter," were arrested and jailed in Hawaii last week. The U.S. Attorney's Office has until Oct. 16 to file papers in support of their extradition, but Chapman's attorney, Brook Hart, hopes to resolve the issue before then. Chapman is said...

FORT HUACHUCA — The terms of a proposed lease for the World War II Colored Officers Club on this Southeastern Arizona Army post have been approved by the Army Corps of Engineers, said one of the organizers trying to save the facility. It still has to be signed by all parties. “It’s another milestone. Now there is some light at the end of the tunnel, like a flashlight (beam),” said Tom Stoney Sr., president of the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers. More than three years ago, the association signed a memorandum with the fort to halt the wrecking ball that...

Pakistan 'Taleban' in peace deal The agreement aims to end cross-border attacks Pakistan has signed a deal with pro-Taleban militants on the Afghan border aimed at ending years of unrest. The North Waziristan accord calls on tribesmen to expel foreign militants and end cross-border attacks in return for a reduced military presence. Tens of thousands of Pakistani troops are fighting foreign Islamic militants and their local supporters in the country's restive tribal belt. Hundreds of people have been killed in violence in North Waziristan this year. The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says some observers believe the deal offers the...

SACRAMENTO – After a partisan battle over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's failed “Year of Reform” initiatives last fall, the Republican governor and Democratic legislators yesterday wrapped up what could be called the “Year of the Deal.” They addressed long-neglected infrastructure by putting a record $37.3 billion bond package on the November ballot, produced a rare on-time budget and helped average Californians through a higher minimum wage and cheaper prescription drugs. They also increased school spending by 10 percent, moving a lagging California closer to the national average spent per pupil, and directed $3 billion in new spending over the next seven...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to cap California's greenhouse gas emissions is just the latest in a string of recent deals with the Democrats that could help him win back the moderate voters so vital to his re-election bid this fall. The deal announced Wednesday between the Republican governor and leaders of the Democratic-controlled Legislature would make California the first state to limit carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases from factories and other industrial sites. Earlier in the week, the two sides agreed to raise the state's minimum wage and create a prescription drug discount program. Democrats have...

LOS ANGELES Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger settled a libel lawsuit Friday with a former late-night British TV personality who claimed she was groped by the Hollywood actor during a 2000 interview and later defamed by his aides during his 2003 campaign for governor. "The parties are content to put this matter behind them and are pleased that this legal dispute has now been settled," said a two-sentence statement issued jointly in London by lawyers for Schwarzenegger and Anna Richardson. No details were released. The statement said Richardson and the three people she sued the governor and two top aides, Sean Walsh...

SACRAMENTO - Giving an election-year boost to millions of lower-income Californians, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative Democrats reached a deal Thursday that will require prescription drug companies to offer set discounts for medications or face possible sanctions. The California Prescription Drug Initiative will give discounts of about 40 percent for name-brand drugs and 60 percent for generics to people who otherwise would have to pay full retail price. The enrollment fee will be $10 a year. The plan, announced earlier this week but formally approved Thursday, will affect more than 5 million uninsured, lower-income individuals, Schwarzenegger said in a statement....

Peace deal on hold as 20 die in bitter fighting By Colin Freeman in Beirut and Harry De Quetteville on the Lebanon-Israel border (Filed: 13/08/2006) At least 20 people were killed in southern Lebanon yesterday as Israel made the deepest incursion of its month-long campaign into Hezbollah-controlled areas, even as both sides indicated a willingness to accept a freshly minted United Nations peace deal. Within hours of the UN Security Council's unanimous approval of a ceasefire resolution on Friday night, Israel launched fresh air strikes across Lebanon. More than 20,000 Israeli soldiers crossed the border in a race for the...

SAN FRANCISCO Google Inc. is paying The Associated Press for stories and photographs, settling a dispute with a major provider of the copyrighted news that the online search engine finds and displays on its popular Web site. Both Mountain View-based Google and New York-based AP disclosed the business relationship Wednesday. But neither would divulge financial terms or other details because of a nondisclosure agreement. Google indicated AP's content will serve as the foundation for a new product that will be introduced in the coming months as complement to its popular Google News service. That aspect of the deal could be...

SACRAMENTO The union representing California Highway Patrol officers has agreed to a new four-year contract that will cost the state more than $30 million a year, the state Department of Personnel Administration said Tuesday. By law, salaries for the 6,400 officers are tied to what is paid to local police in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego and San Francisco, said department spokeswoman Lynelle Jolley. CHP salaries currently are in line with police in those cities, so the officers will get no increases to their base salaries this year, Jolley said. But they will likely see raises in future years as...

Palestinian groups agree deal for return of Israeli Hamas leaders in Damascus are last obstacle to Gaza ceasefire Conal Urquhart in Ramallah Tuesday July 25, 2006 The Guardian (UK) Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have agreed to stop firing rockets at Israel and to free a captured Israeli soldier in a deal brokered by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president. The deal, agreed on Sunday, is to halt the rocket attacks in return for a cessation of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, and to release Corporal Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured on June 25, in exchange for...

SAN DIEGO - A former military intelligence officer was sentenced Monday to a year in federal prison for helping a convicted arms trafficker export parts for jet fighters and other aircraft that were ultimately destined for Iran. George Charles Budenz II, a retired Navy commander, pleaded guilty in November to three counts of illegally exporting engine parts for F-5 fighters, T-38 military trainers and Chinook helicopters to Malaysia and Belgium on behalf of Pakistani arms dealer Arif Ali Durrani. In court, Budenz called Durrani a "lying snake" who took advantage of him at a time of personal and financial distress....

SACRAMENTO — Hoping to resurrect an idea voters rejected in last year's special election, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to offer lawmakers a deal: He'll support an easing of term limits if they'll agree to change the way California draws voting districts. Schwarzenegger said in an interview Thursday he does not believe term limits have improved Sacramento's political culture. Allowing legislators to stay in office longer would be worthwhile, he said, if it induced them to put a proposal on the ballot that would strip them of the power to carve political boundaries. The governor reasons that lawmakers may not want...