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Israel's Yitzhak Rabin Center is charging $100,000 a pop for supporters who want to bask in the aura of former and possibly future first couple Bill and Hillary Clinton, who will be attending the center's opening next week. A fundraising letter obtained by the New York Post asks for donations to the center - saying seating will be determined "according to the size of the contribution." "Priority, of course, will be given to the highest contributions," the letter adds. The Clintons will seated at a 10-person table with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who apparently won't be charged for the...

AUSTIN (AP) - Democrats can't be afraid to talk about hot-button issues, including abortion, and should fight back against personal attacks from conservatives if they want to regain power in Washington, former President Bill Clinton said Saturday. "You can't say 'Please don't be mean to me. Please let me win sometimes.' Give me a break here," Clinton said. "If you don't want to fight for the future and you can't figure out how to beat these people then find something else to do." Clinton, whose 2004 memoir "My Life" was a best seller, drew roaring applause during his speech from...

Ex-president Bill Clinton is predicting that the U.S. will lose the war in Iraq, saying "the odds are not great of our prevailing there." In an interview with the Ladies Home Journal due out next month, Clinton calls the Iraq war "a quagmire" and warns "it could go wrong." He reminded: "Since the end of World War II, the only major foreign power that succeeded in putting down an insurgency was the British putting down the Malay insurgency, but the British stayed 15 years." "So you can say for historical reasons, the odds are not great of our prevailing there,"...

Where were John Gosek’s friends? by Vincent R. Caravan Shades of Bill Clinton! Who would ever believe Oswego County would have a sexual scandal to equal — or surpass — the escapades of our recent president, whose extra-marital sexual experiences would be aired for the whole world to know. The recent arrest of Oswego Mayor John Gosek and his ultimate resignation — on a proportionate basis — received as much notoriety as Clinton’s indiscretions. Mr. Gosek’s accusers were not as forgiving, however. The most notable difference is in the outcome. Mr. Clinton was allowed to stay in office and outlast...

From the Maha - CLINTON: I think handling the aftermath of a natural disaster is different than preventing a terrorist attack. I actually believe that the federal government has been quite good about that, in spite of the breakdowns that led up to 9/11. There were any number of terrorist attacks prevented in the 1990s and there have been a lot of terrorist cells broken up -- CLINTON: Well, I would repeal the tax cuts for upper income people. I myself have gotten four tax cuts while young Americans have gone off to risk their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan,...

Democrats led by Sen. Hillary Clinton are blaming the Federal Emergency Management Agency for failing to respond adequately to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. But FEMA didn't do much better under much less taxing conditions, when the floods that followed Hurricane Floyd left tens of thousands stranded up and down the Eastern seaboard, wondering what happened to federal rescuers. New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida were hit hard when Floyd slammed the coast on Sept. 16, 1999. It was the worst storm to hit the U.S. in 25 years - yet it killed only 61 people. That death toll expected...

Ex-Ark. Governor Loses Bid to Change Plea By KELLY P. KISSEL Associated Press Writer Jim Guy Tucker LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A federal appeals court rejected former Gov. Jim Guy Tucker's bid to withdraw his guilty plea in a tax fraud case that arose during the Whitewater investigation of his predecessor, Bill Clinton. Tucker admitted in 1998 that he conspired to impede the Internal Revenue Service by hiding the sale of a cable television business. The plea came two years after he was convicted of fraud in a case also brought by Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr. Tucker resigned but was...

Clinton CD on way By Tom Baldwin in Washington August 17, 2005 Bill Clinton / Reuters YOU'VE read the book and you've seen the interviews but if you were thinking that there is no more juice to be squeezed out of the Bill Clinton experience, think again. The former president is producing a CD, The Bill Clinton Collection: Selections from the Clinton Music Room. The 11-track compilation goes on sale next month. Mr Clinton is so taken with the album that he is reported to have been blasting it through the open windows of his people-carrier as he drives. The...

BRASILIA, Brazil - Impeachment proceedings began Wednesday against a federal legislator — a former top Cabinet official — in connection with a bribery scandal that has rocked President Luiz Inacio da Silva's Workers' Party, which prided itself on its ethical behavior. Rep. Jose Dirceu, who stepped down as Silva's chief of staff and returned to his seat in Congress in June, stands accused of overseeing an alleged scheme where the government paid lawmakers for their support on key votes. Dirceu again proclaimed his innocence Wednesday, saying "I'm going to defend myself, because I committed no crime." Dirceu has a week...

Popularity of Clinton, Reagan, pave way for new stamp DAVID HAMMER Associated Press Posted on Thu, Aug. 04, 2005 Former President Bill Clinton sits near a representation of the U.S. Postal Service's presidential library stamp Thursday, Aug. 4, 2005, during dedication ceremonies at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Ark. The design for the stamp was unveiled Thursday at each of the 12 presidential libraries and museums across the country. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston) LITTLE ROCK, Lit. - The U.S. Postal Service's Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee received 50,000 suggestions for stamps every year and of all of them, a Little...

Dems weigh how Roberts vote will play By Geoff Earle As new information emerges about Judge John Roberts’s conservative writing, Republicans are bracing for a more contentious confirmation process than previously anticipated. But the tougher grilling could also provide those Democrats mulling a run for the White House with a golden opportunity to build constituencies and raise their national profiles. The Roberts vote, slated for late September, could have a high enough profile that Democratic primary voters will remember it in 2006 and 2007, particularly if Roberts is confirmed and the Supreme Court hands down a major ruling on...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi wants Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings, who was impeached as a federal judge in 1989, to be vice chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Time magazine's Joe Klein reported on Sunday. "There's an ugly fight brewing in the House among Democrats about the House Intelligence Committee, which may have larger implications about the Democrats and national security," Klein told NBC's "Chris Matthews Show." "Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader, wants to dump Jane Harman, the ranking Democrat who is a moderate, and replace her with Alcee Hastings," Klein said. Appointed to the bench by President Carter in...

Hillary Clinton Schedule To Be In Ohio Monday POSTED: 4:13 p.m. EDT July 23, 2005 COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman will get a boost for his campaign for governor when he shares the spotlight with Senator Hillary Clinton and other Democrat heavyweights Monday. Coleman is playing host to a meeting of the Democratic Leadership Council in Columbus. The mayor's only Democratic opponent so far in the 2006 governor's race is staying away from the meeting. U.S. Representative Ted Strickland disagrees with the Democrat centrists on trade policies. Many influential party leaders have been invited to the conference, including...

Clinton Library's universal appeal seen in its 365,000 visitors By DAVID HAMMER Associated Press Writer July 15, 2005, 7:07 PM EDT LITTLE ROCK -- The everyman appeal that Bill Clinton peddled in his political campaigns lives on at his presidential library. Among the more than 365,000 visitors who have passed through the library since November, no single demographic stands out. "I just think he is the only president I'll ever see who will really understand me as a person, and that's why I wanted to see more," said Ava Carter, 48, a black Democrat traveling with James D. Stearns, 55,...

Paula's jonesing for Clinton library Paula Jones wants to go to a library - but she isn't looking for a book. The woman who claimed that former President Bill Clinton exposed himself to her thinks it's time she visited the $165 million study center dedicated to his administration. "My house is about 17 miles from it," says Jones, who lives just north of Little Rock, Ark. "I pass by [the Clinton Presidential Center] all the time. I kept saying, 'I ought to go in there.' My friends and I talked about putting on wigs - just in case they won't...

Bill Clinton's memoir joins 'Harry Potter' as a bestseller in Iranian bookshops By Agence France Presse (AFP) Friday, July 01, 2005 TEHRAN: Iranians may shout "Death to America" and burn the Stars and Stripes in demonstrations, but the memoir of former U.S. President Bill Clinton is on its way to becoming a runaway bestseller in the country. According to publisher Farhang Fattemi, who has just released the book, "many Iranians like the United States and want to hear history straight from the horse's mouth." First published in the U.S. last summer, "My Life" has hit the shelves in Iran in...

President George W. Bush insisted that 'war on terror' prisoners at the Guantanamo detention camp are treated humanely after former president Bill Clinton, seen here in May 2005, called for the prison to be 'closed down or cleaned up'(AFP/File/Sena Vidanagama) Former U.S. president Bill Clinton gestures as he addresses an audience in Mexico City June 21, 2005. Clinton spoke on how countries should try to benefit from globalisation, interdependence, the power of people and non-governmental organisations to influence politics and help combat poverty. REUTERS/Henry Romero Former U.S. President Bill Clinton addresses a business leadership conference Tuesday June 21, 2005, in...

Is the U.S. ready for a woman president? JULIE HINDS Knight Ridder Newspapers Posted on Thu, Jun. 23, 2005 There's something in the political air, and it's not testosterone. The possibility of a female president is heating up the Internet, not to mention bookshelves and TV schedules. Turning up the volume Several grassroots Web sites are working to draft Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for the Republican nomination in 2008, even though she denies any intention to run. Other sites are equally devoted to ensuring the next Democratic ticket is led by U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, who hasn't thrown her...

Right wing stepping up war on Hillary Clinton Monday, June 20, 2005 By DICK POLMAN PHILADELPHIA - These are dark days for the conservative activists who despise Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and they're itching to brighten their mood by taking her down. Much to their horror, she appears to be shedding her 1990s image as a leftist Lady Macbeth, winning plaudits as a hawkish senator who talks about God and breaking bread with many of the same Republicans who impeached her husband. It's gotten to the point where a Fox News poll last week found that her national favorability rating...

Bringing this one back from the archives for Father's Day MIDI - TEENAGER IN LOVE It's really not my fault 'cause Our parents we can't choose But I have made a plan and I don't have much to lose Each day I find a world that's gone mad I'm hoping Webster Hubbell's really my dad The man whom I've called daddy Is quite a loony tune And if he gets his way He'll rape four in June Each day I find a world that's gone mad I'm hoping Webster Hubbell's really my dad I'm scraping the rugs…I'll find his DNA...