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Tax revenue for state falls short by $69m
By Kevin Landrigan
Nashua Telegraph
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
CONCORD – Sluggish returns from state taxes on business, real
estate sales, cigarettes and lottery tickets contributed to
state government taking in $69 million less than Gov. John Lynch
and the Legislature had hoped for. Administrative Services
Commissioner Linda Hodgdon said the size of the state surplus or
deficit for the budget year that ended Monday won't be known
until September when auditors close the books. Despite the
shortage, it looks as if the state will end this budget year not
in the red but in the black thanks in part to budget-cutting
measures Lynch and the Legislature took last spring...
State revenues in line with lowered expectations
By Tom Fahey
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 2, 2008
CONCORD – State revenues in the fiscal year that ended Monday
fell nearly 3 percent short of initial projections, but were
about in line with what lawmakers came to expect as the economy
slowed. The state took in $2.346 billion over the 12 months that
ended June 30, compared with the $2.4 billion on which the
year's budget was based. The 2008 revenues represent a $58
million increase, or 2.5 percent over state revenues of $2.29
billion in fiscal 2007...
Update: Lynch confident on budget outlook
By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
July 1, 2008
Gov. John Lynch (D-Hopkinton) says that New Hampshire is on
track to have a balanced budget at the ending of this fiscal
year. Lynch said the state has taken "appropriate steps" to deal
with the budget crisis...
...Update: House Speaker Terie Norelli (D-Portsmouth) said the
budget shortfall was "expected." “We expected these to be
affected,” Norelli said. “The housing market is way down. People
are not eating out as much; people are putting money into their
gas tanks, not buying lottery tickets or liquor.”
Press Release: Gov. Lynch Statement Regarding End of Year
Revenues
Office of the Governor
July 1, 2008
“Working together over the last six months, we took important
steps to keep New Hampshire’s budget balanced in the face of the
national economic downturn. “We froze hiring, equipment
purchases and out-of-state travel, and reduced spending in the
fiscal year 2008 budget by $50 million, while protecting
essential services for citizens. Although the books on fiscal
year 2008 are not yet closed, I am confident we have taken
appropriate steps to put New Hampshire on track for a balanced
budget for this fiscal year and the biennium.” Gov. Lynch said.
State DOT head tells Chamber region needs fed highway act
re-enacted
By Charles McMahon
Foster's Daily Democrat
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
PORTSMOUTH — In the midst of Gov. John Lynch signing a 10-year
transportation plan into law Wednesday morning, the state's new
Department of Transportation commissioner, George Campbell,
spoke before the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce telling
members about his philosophy in attacking transportation
problems across the Granite State...
Ramp work to begin on I-93's Exit 5
By Terry Date
Lawrence Eagle-Tribune
July 2, 2008
LONDONDERRY — Construction is expected to start this month on
three Interstate 93 ramps at Exit 5, part of a larger
highway-widening project. The cost for the ramp work is $16.1
million. The work consists of the southbound on- and off-ramps
and the northbound on-ramp, according to the state Department of
Transportation...
COAST ridership sets record in May
Foster's Daily Democrat
Monday, June 23, 2008
Recent ridership reports of the Cooperative Alliance for
Seacoast Transportation (COAST) show that record numbers of
residents and visitors to the region are looking to public
transit to get them where they need to go without using
increasingly expensive gas in their own vehicle. In May,
ridership on COAST buses exceeded 35,700, a level never before
achieved...
NH reservoir, forestland protected
Associated Press
July 1, 2008
STODDARD, N.H. --Environmental groups have been hoping for more
than two decades to preserve a reservoir and surrounding
forestland in Stoddard, New Hampshire. Tuesday, their dream came
true. The Trust for Public Land announced it has completed a
project to conserve 1,670 acres in Stoddard, known as the Robb
Reservoir property...
Mill's closing drives nail in town's coffin
By John Curran
Associated Press
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
GROVETON – First, it was the orders coming into Wausau Paper
that dried up. Then it was the jobs. Now, the stream of
snowmobilers and ATV riders who stock up at Emerson Outdoor
Outfitters en route to New Hampshire's north woods is slowing
down, a victim of high fuel prices. Battered by economic forces
beyond its control, this village faces a bleak future in the
wake of rising gas prices and the paper mill's closing, which
threw 303 people out of work last December and drove a nail into
the coffin of what was once a vibrant place...
Chesterfield, NH, starts 4-day week
Associated Press
July 1, 2008
CHESTERFIELD, N.H. --Many town employees in Chesterfield, New
Hampshire, will be working four-day weeks for at least the rest
of the summer as the town looks for ways to cut costs. The
change goes into effect next week at the town offices, where
employees will work 8-4, Monday through Thursday...
PSNH rates rise 6.3%
Foster's Daily Democrat
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
DOVER — Beginning Tuesday Public Service of New Hampshire
increased its rates to keep up with higher energy costs. The
monthly bill for a PSNH residential customer consuming 500
kilowatt hours (kWh) of power will increase $4.39 to $81.80, an
increase of 5.7 percent. The company's average retail rate will
increase 6.3 percent. PSNH's new rates were approved June 27 by
the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission...
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People/Candidates
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SUNUNU
Doctors’ Lobby Targets GOP Senators Over Medicare Vote
By Alex Wayne
CQ Politics
July 1, 2008
The American Medical Association, the influential trade
association for doctors, began running television ads Tuesday
targeting 10 Republican senators who voted last week against a
bill that would reverse a scheduled cut in Medicare’s physician
payments. The AMA’s advertisements, which call out the 10
senators by name, are part of a campaign by Democrats, seniors
and doctors’ groups to pressure Republicans to change their
votes on the bill (HR 6331), which failed in the Senate last
week by a single vote. Democratic Senate candidates in the
states where the AMA is running ads are trying to make an issue
out of the vote in their campaigns, and Republicans find
themselves on the defensive, trying to explain their votes to
angry doctors and worried seniors...
The
ads name...John E. Sununu of New Hampshire...
Physicians Group Targets Republican Senators
By Sarah Lueck
Wall Street Journal Washington Wire
July 1, 2008
The main lobby group for physicians is targeting Republican
senators–including some in competitive re-election races–after
they voted to reject a bill that would increase Medicare
payments. The American Medical Association is planning a
television and radio ad campaign, initially in six states:
Mississippi, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and
Wyoming. The ads will name senators, such as Sen. John Sununu of
New Hampshire, who voted against advancing the legislation...
Swift, Sununu open GOP headquarters
By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
July 1, 2008
U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-Waterville Valley) and former
Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift (R-North Adams) helped open the
Victory '08 Manchester headquarters. Victory '08 is the
Republican National Committee program that is tasked with
coordinating Republican get-out-the-vote efforts. Sununu used
the occasion to draw contrasts between U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)...
SHAHEEN
Shaheen turns incumbent tables
This time, she plans to target Sununu's record
By Lauren R. Dorgan
Concord Monitor
July 2, 2008
During her 2002 Senate race against John Sununu, much of the
spotlight focused on her record as governor, Jeanne Shaheen said
this week. This year, Shaheen said, she hopes their rematch will
be a referendum on what Sununu did after he won. "This race is
going to be about Jeanne Shaheen, but it's going to be about
John Sununu," Shaheen, a former three-term Democratic governor,
said in a meeting with Monitor editors and reporters last week.
"This is about what he's done - or failed to do - over the last
six years"...
Key Race: New Hampshire
Shaheen Aims to Unseat First-term Senator Sununu
By Lea Winerman
PBS/The Oneline NewsHour
July 1, 2008
Jeanne Shaheen, the former governor of New Hampshire, is aiming
to cut short Republican John Sununu's Senate career after only
one term this fall. This time around, though, analysts say
Shaheen's position is stronger, mostly because the tide has
turned against Republicans in the state lately...
HODES
Hodes: Vets deserve mileage break
By Tom Fahey
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 2, 2008
CONCORD – New Hampshire veterans should get the same mileage
reimbursement as federal employees when they travel to medical
appointments, U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes said yesterday. Hodes, a
Democrat representing the state's 2nd District in Congress, said
veterans ought to get the 58.5 cents a mile that federal workers
get, rather than the 29 cents per mile they get now. Before
February, the rate was 11 cents a mile, set in 1978...
Hodes hopes to aid vets with mileage rate hike
By Kevin Landrigan
Nashua Telegraph
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
CONCORD – Congressman Paul Hodes got on board federal
legislation Tuesday to more than double the taxpayer-paid
mileage rate paid to veterans traveling to get their health
care. The proposed reimbursement would be 58.5 cents per mile,
the same paid to federal employees who use a private car or
truck to do government business...
Hodes wants vets mileage reimbursement increased
By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
July 1, 2008
U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes (D-Concord) is co-sponsoring legislation
that would increase the amount veterans traveling for health
care receive from the Veterans Affairs Administration.
The bill, Veterans Travel Equity Act, would allow veterans to
receive 50.5 cents per mile they travel to a VA hospital...
Hodes co-sponsoring move to raise vets gas payment
Associated Press
July 1, 2008
CONCORD, N.H. --New Hampshire Congressman Paul Hodes says if
veterans in the state have to drive farther for medical
treatment, at least they should get paid more for their gas.
Hodes is co-sponsoring a bill that would increase the mileage
reimbursement for veterans traveling to receive health care. He
says bill would increase the mileage payment to 50.5 cents a
mile, the same federal employees get...
ESTABROOK
As senator exits, education at fore
Estabrook cultivated decade of expertise
By Sarah Liebowitz
Concord Monitor
July 2, 2008
Iris Estabrook was a freshman House lawmaker when the state
Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that the state must define an
adequate education and find a uniform way to pay for it. It was
a decision that prompted years of wrangling over school funding
and that came to consume much of Estabrook's legislative career.
"That was the beginning of the journey of adequacy," said
Estabrook, a Durham Democrat who has served as a senator for the
past three terms...
SURGEON GENERAL GALSON
Fruits, veggies not the enemy, kids told
By John Whitson
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 2, 2008
Manchester – IN A SMALL vegetable garden off Pine Street in
Manchester, preschoolers toting water sprinklers proudly show
off the "fruits" of their labor to a man in a bright white
military uniform. The nation's top public health physician,
acting Surgeon General Steven Galson, seems especially taken
with pole beans...
AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY
Conservative tax group starts N.H. chapter
By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
July 1, 2008
CONCORD- A conservative tax group has launched a chapter in New
Hampshire. Americans for Prosperity announced at a press
conference on Tuesday that the group's aim is to promote
grassroots activism in the Granite State...
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NH Polls |
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Op Ed |
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Editorial: Potholes pock state plan for transportation
Portsmouth Herald
July 2, 2008
Perhaps the state's new and improved 10-year transportation
plan, signed by Gov. John Lynch last week, should be granted a
simple modifier — alleged. We say alleged because this plan
replaces a truly fanciful effort that crashed and burned over
the years through neglect, high hopes, questionable budget
priorities and legislative meddling. We say alleged because
recently sworn in Transportation Commissioner George Campbell
took pre-emptive action and warned the public — via a speech to
the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce — that the plan could
be undermined from the start because some $52 million of federal
highway spending is in jeopardy...
Editorial: C&J Trailways takes a big step toward better
transportation opportunities
Foster's Daily Democrat
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The move of C&J Trailways from the train station in downtown
Dover to the soon-to-be completed Park and Ride on Indian Brook
Drive is a logical step in the evolution of commuter
transportation in southeastern New Hampshire and parts of
southern Maine...
Editorial: Green's salary reflects trend in pay for CEOs
Concord Monitor
July 2, 2008
The salaries of people employed by government and of those who
earn more than $50,000 per year working for a nonprofit
organization are public, for good reason. The taxpayers who pay
their salaries - and pay extra taxes to offset those not paid by
nonprofits - deserve to know who they're paying, how much and
what they're getting for their money...
Two reforms to improve state governance
By Charles M. Arlinghaus
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 2, 2008
AT THE RISK of jeopardizing my status as a nattering nabob of
negativism, allow me to take a brief respite to mention some of
the positive highlights of the last two legislative sessions.
Hundreds of new laws are passed each year. In the past two
years, two bills in particular made important policy changes
that will have lasting effects...
Doctors Vs. Sununu
By Dean Barker
Blue Hampshire
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Looks like Sununu just
earned himself more ire from an trial lawyer Hollywood
George Soros extreme left-wing special interest group, er,
the major organization that represents doctors:...
Shaheen TV Advertisement Fails Freshman Economics!
By Marshall Cobleigh
July 1, 2008
Jeanne Shaheen's television Advertisement proves conclusively
that she does not propose a real world solution to high gas
prices. In that advertisement she places the blame for high gas
prices on commodities and financial market speculation...
John E. Gets a Promotion, Inter Alia
By Dean Barker
Blue Hampshire
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
*
Online NewsHour gives Sununu some (undoubtedly
unintentional) resume padding:...
* Speaking of distancing himself from Republican presidents,
does anyone else get the feeling that there is a story emerging
on Sununu and McCain keeping each other at arm's length?...
How come Shea-Porter can use the official State Seal?
By Skip
GraniteGrok
July 1, 2008
How come she can use it and NH Insider cannot? What is so
special about a Democrat politician's website? Oh yeah, she's a
Democrat politician in a Democrat State....and NH Insider is not
a Democrat site. (SMACK) D'uh! The
Story:...
Will the NH Sec. of State and NH AG Take Action?
By Bob DeMaura
NHInsider
July 1, 2008
NHInsider.com was told, after going back and forth a few times
that it is against the law to use the image of the State Seal on
our webpage. When we objected the State Attorney General issued
a cease and desist order or something to the effect that they
were going to prosceute us for using the seal. We took it off
our front page. Now congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter has a
website...
603 Forward
By Garth Corriveau
Blue Hampshire
Tuesday,
July
1, 2008
Yesterday, on behalf of the N.H. Young Democrats, I had the
privilege to officially unveil
"603 Forward." "603 Forward" is the NHYD campaign to elect
31 Young Democratic candidates for state rep in
2008, including Blue Hampshire's own Doug Lindner, Sean
Doyle and Andy Sylvia...
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Obama would overhaul Bush's faith-based initiatives
But in supporting religious charities, he runs the risk of
alienating some Democrats.
By Jane Lampman
Christian Science Monitor
July 2, 2008
In a campaign already strongly emphasizing faith, Democratic
presidential contender Barack Obama Tuesday announced his intent
to make federal funding of religiously based organizations a key
part of his push to help the needy. His plan would overhaul and
expand the controversial faith-based initiative that was an
early cornerstone of President Bush's domestic program, which
Obama said had "never fulfilled its promise"...
Obama Seeks Bigger Role for Religious Groups
By Jeff Zeleny and Michael Luo
New York Times
July 2, 2008
ZANESVILLE, Ohio — Senator Barack Obama said Tuesday that if
elected president he would expand the delivery of social
services through churches and other religious organizations,
vowing to achieve a goal he said President Bush had fallen short
on during his two terms. “The challenges we face today — from
saving our planet to ending poverty — are simply too big for
government to solve alone,” Mr. Obama said outside a community
center here. “We need an all-hands-on-deck approach.” Some
Democrats have previously backed similar efforts, but Mr. Bush’s
version, a centerpiece of his first-term agenda, has been a
lightning rod for criticism from those concerned about the
separation of church and state and those who argued that Mr.
Bush had used it to further a conservative political agenda...
Obama pledges to expand aid to religious charities
He embraces a core piece of President Bush's legacy as he tries
to win over Republican-leaning evangelical voters, but distances
himself from some aspects of the controversial program.
By Peter Wallsten and Peter Nicholas
Los Angeles Times
July 2, 2008
ZANESVILLE, OHIO — Barack Obama pledged Tuesday to expand a
controversial White House program that funnels federal money to
religious charities, embracing a core piece of President Bush's
legacy as he tries to win over Republican-leaning evangelical
voters...
Obama Proposes Expanding Faith-Based Program
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post
Wednesday, July 2, 2008; A03
ZANESVILLE, Ohio, July 1 -- Sen. Barack Obama, seeking to reach
out to religious voters, proposed strengthening the White House
program assisting faith-based social service organization
Tuesday, while insisting that those groups not discriminate
against aid recipients or aid workers. Obama's proposal for a
$500 million-a-year Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood
Partnerships would also create 1 million slots for summer jobs
and education programs...
First thoughts: Gotta have faith
By Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro
First Read / MSNBC
Tuesday, July 1, 2008 9:21 AM
*** 'Cause I Gotta Have Faith': Despite his past problems with
Jeremiah Wright and folks who think (incorrectly) that he’s a
Muslim, Obama believes he has a real opportunity to peel away
evangelical votes from McCain. So cue his event on faith today
from Zanesville, OH, which is located in a county Clinton easily
won in that state's primary...
Barack Obama Radio Spot Hits Christian Radio
By David Brody
CBC
July 1, 2007
Now playing on Christian radio: Barack Obama! The Brody File has
learned that the Matthew 25 Network which is a religious
political action committee supporting Obama has put together a
radio ad in which Obama's faith is highlighted. And get
this….they are airing it on Christian radio in Colorado Springs,
the home to James Dobson and Focus on the Family. You can listen
to the
radio ad here...
No peace for Obama on Israel
He's facing nervous Jewish voters in Florida, attacks by Joe
Lieberman and smear tactics in a political war that threatens
his campaign.
By Gregory Levey
Salon
July 2, 2008
In early June, the morning after he became the presumptive
Democratic nominee, Barack Obama gave a speech focused squarely
on the Middle East and Israel. While the timing was coincidental
-- his appearance at the annual gathering of the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee had been scheduled long before the
primary race played out -- the speech was fitting, headed into
the general election. U.S. dealings in the volatile region
promise to remain at the center of the race, and the next
presidency. On Israel in particular, Obama faces strategic
challenges in his bid for the White House: He has had to combat
long-running smear campaigns painting him as anti-Israel, while
his Republican opponent, John McCain, has mobilized powerful
conservative allies of Israel against him, including Senator Joe
Lieberman...
Obama Got Discount on Home Loan
Campaign Defends Lower Rate as Lender Competition for Business
By Joe Stephens
Washington Post
Wednesday, July 2, 2008; A03
Shortly after joining the U.S. Senate and while enjoying a surge
in income, Barack Obama bought a $1.65 million restored Georgian
mansion in an upscale Chicago neighborhood. To finance the
purchase, he secured a $1.32 million loan from Northern Trust in
Illinois. The freshman Democratic senator received a discount.
He locked in an interest rate of 5.625 percent on the 30-year
fixed-rate mortgage, below the average for such loans at the
time in Chicago. The loan was unusually large, known in banker
lingo as a "super super jumbo." Obama paid no origination fee or
discount points, as some consumers do to reduce their interest
rates...
Rezko: There was no Obama straw donor
By Kenneth P. Vogel
The Politico
July 2, 2008 6:22 AM EST
Lawyers for disgraced Chicago businessman Antoin “Tony” Rezko
accused the government of “recklessly” whipping up a “media
frenzy” by alleging that Rezko used a straw donor to contribute
to Barack Obama. In a filing unsealed this week, Rezko’s lawyers
asserted “there is no evidence whatsoever” that Rezko, an early
political patron of Obama’s, reimbursed an associate for a
$10,000 contribution to Obama’s 2004 U.S. Senate campaign...
Editorial: Obama's patriotism: Fair issue often unfairly raised
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 2, 2008
SEN. BARACK OBAMA gave a speech on Monday to counter the
persistent, mostly unfair, rumors that he is not patriotic. Sen.
Obama certainly loves his country, of that we have no doubt. Yet
the questions of his patriotism persist in large part because he
helped raise them...
Editorial: Bush's Third Term
Wall Street Journal
July 2, 2008; Page A12
We're beginning to understand why Barack Obama keeps protesting
so vigorously against the prospect of "George Bush's third
term." Maybe he's worried that someone will notice that he's the
candidate who's running for it. Most Presidential candidates
adapt their message after they win their party nomination, but
Mr. Obama isn't merely "running to the center." He's fleeing
from many of his primary positions so markedly and so rapidly
that he's embracing a sizable chunk of President Bush's policy.
Who would have thought that a Democrat would rehabilitate the
much-maligned Bush agenda?...
Obama not running as movement
By Roger Simon
The Politico
July 1, 2008 7:05 PM EST
Barack Obama is a different kind of Democrat. He is one who
actually intends to win. I don’t know if he will or not, but I
do know that he has made a key decision: He has decided to run
as a candidate for president and not as the leader of a
movement. Movement candidates often fail when the demands of the
movement come in conflict with the demands of politics. The most
recent example was Howard Dean’s (short-lived) campaign for
president in 2004...
The Audacity of Cynicism
By Michael Gerson
Washington Post
Wednesday, July 2, 2008; A15
It is a very conventional bit of political wisdom that
successful presidential candidates appeal to their base in the
primaries and sidle toward the center in the general election.
In fact, neither of the past two presidents won in this fashion.
In the Democratic wilderness years following Mondale and
Dukakis, Gov. Bill Clinton labored for the ideological
renovation of his party, emphasizing education reform and job
training, economic growth and expanded trade, reform to make
welfare "a second chance, not a way of life," law and order, and
mainstream moral values. From 1990 to 1991, Clinton was chairman
of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) -- the institution
most closely identified with pro-business, Democratic
centrism...
The Wrong Stuff
By Maureen Dowd
New York Times
July 2, 2008
On the way back from Unity, N.H., Friday evening, Barack Obama’s
plane got diverted by bad weather. Instead of landing at Reagan
airport, it landed farther out at Dulles. Before he got into his
S.U.V., Senator Obama walked hesitantly toward the press, who
were standing nearby. He looks wary at such spontaneous
sessions. He’s still getting used to being covered protectively
like a president, with journalists filing probing pool reports
about how he “reportedly showered and changed” after his morning
workout in Chicago...
CLARK
Obama On Clark's Remarks: "Inartful"
By Athena Jones
Hotline on Call
July 1, 2008
ZANESVILLE, OH – “Inartful” was the word Barack Obama used today
to characterize remarks Gen. Wes Clark made over the last few
days about John McCain’s military service. Obama also spoke
about the telephone conversation he had yesterday with former
President Clinton...
BIDEN
Could be Biden time
He's got experience, foreign relations chops, and a moving
personal story. Is Joe Biden near the top of Barack Obama's veep
list?
By Walter Shapiro
Salon
July 2, 2008
Fizzling in the Iowa caucuses with 1 percent support is an
unusual way to achieve liftoff on the national ticket. But six
months after Joe Biden ended his long-shot presidential
campaign, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
appears to be in serious competition to be Barack Obama's
running mate, or secretary of state, should the Democrats win in
November. While vice-presidential speculation should come with a
surgeon general's warning, the 65-year-old Biden has made a
stirring recovery for a politician who flat-lined in the Hawkeye
State...
CLINTON
Obama Leaving Primary Battle with Bill Clinton Behind
ABC News Political Radar
July 1, 2008 7:46 PM
ABC News' Sunlen Miller Reports: Describing their tiffs as the
nature of political campaigns, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told
reporters Tuesday that he wants Bill Clinton campaigning for
him, even though he had a reportedly tense relationship with the
former president during the primaries...
Clinton attacks against Obama vanish on Web
Ads show only positive images
By Christina Bellantoni
Washington Times
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has scrubbed all negative ads from
her campaign Web site and YouTube page, leaving visitors with
only the warm and fuzzy moments from her bid for the presidency.
Gone are the attack ads accusing Sen. Barack Obama of insulting
Pennsylvanians, ducking debates and making misleading assertions
about gas prices. In their place are some of the campaign's best
and most positive ads and multiple "Hillary I Know" testimonials
that have a shelf life should the former first lady ever run
again...
The Unity Ticket
By Dean Spilitotes
NHPoliticalCapital
July 1, 2008
Several people have asked me whether Friday’s rally in Unity,
New Hampshire increases the likelihood that Barack Obama will
choose Hillary Clinton to be his running mate later this summer.
Taking up this very same issue on Saturday, New York Daily News
columnist Michael Goodwin made the
case that Clinton’s vice presidential stock is now on the
rise as a result of the event...
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
McCain to return to N.H. in late July
By Brian Lawson
Politicker NH
July 1, 2008
Republican presidential candidate U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
will be returning to the Granite State in late July. McCain's
New Hampshire co-chair, Peter Spaulding announced at the opening
of the Republican Victory headquarters that McCain will be in
the state on July 22. However, the details of the trip have not
yet been figured out. McCain was last in New Hampshire on June
12.
Inside the echo chamber
By Dante Scala
Politicker NH
July 1, 2008
It's July, and let's face it, even we're having a hard time
paying much attention, especially with injuries plaguing the
fantasy baseball team. Nonetheless, presidential campaign are
poised to respond instantly to whatever arises. For instance,
let's take a look inside the "sent items" box of John McCain's
presidential campaign for the past few days. Last Friday
McCain's campaign offered the media former Massachusetts
Governor Jane Swift as a commenter on UnityFest 2008. That
inspired bit of counterprogramming merited no fewer than four
e-mails (two with exclamation points!) in a single afternoon...
OTHER
NEWS AND VIEWS
McCain Stressing Trade On Latin American Trip
By Juliet Eilperin and Michael D. Shear
Washington Post
Wednesday, July 2, 2008; A03
CARTAGENA, Colombia, July 1 -- Sen. John McCain arrived here
Tuesday night on his third foreign trip since clinching the
Republican presidential nomination, the latest attempt to
embellish his international credentials at a time when the
electorate is increasingly focused on domestic issues. McCain's
latest trip -- to Colombia and Mexico -- is designed to
highlight his positions on trade and, to a lesser degree,
immigration. Its value has been questioned by campaign
strategists in both parties, since neither issue seems a winner
for his campaign. His insistence on the virtues of free trade
remain suspect in Rust Belt swing states, and his position on
immigration continues to make many conservatives wary...
Improve Human Rights, McCain Tells Colombian President
By Elisabeth Bumiller and Simon Romero
New York Times
July 2, 2008
CARTAGENA, Colombia — Senator John McCain pressed President
Álvaro Uribe of Colombia to do more to improve human rights in a
meeting on Tuesday evening here. Earlier in the day, he
criticized his Democratic competitor, Senator Barack Obama, for
opposing a trade agreement between the United States and
Colombia...
McCain game plan worries insiders
By David Paul Kuhn
The Politico
July 1, 2008 7:34 PM EST
Four months have passed since John McCain effectively captured
the party nomination, and the insiders are getting restless. Top
GOP officials, frustrated by what they view as inconsistent
messaging, sluggish fundraising and an organization that is too
slow to take shape, are growing increasingly uneasy about the
direction of the McCain presidential campaign. While the
practice of second-guessing presidential campaign decisions is a
quadrennial routine, interviews with 16 Republican strategists
and state party chairmen — few of whom would agree to talk on
the record — reveal a striking level of discord and mounting
criticism about the McCain operation...
McCain not fundraising down-ballot
By Aaron Blake
The Hill
July 1, 2008
John McCain has begun to raise eyebrows in Republican circles
for his lack of fundraising help on behalf of his party’s House
and Senate campaign committees. The Arizona senator has yet to
send a fundraising appeal for those committees nearly four
months after becoming his party’s presumptive nominee, and he
skipped out on a major fundraising dinner for them in recent
weeks. The lack of help has come into focus since one of the
first things Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) did as his party’s
presidential candidate was send a fundraising e-mail for
Democrats’ House and Senate committees...
Cindy’s fortune: An asset and a liability
By Kenneth P. Vogel
The Politico
July 2, 2008 6:17 AM EST
In 2004, Republicans demanded fuller disclosure about the
considerable fortune of Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Democratic
presidential candidate John Kerry. Now, the GOP is reaping what
it sowed. Having established a recent precedent for increased
scrutiny of spousal finances, the party now finds its own
presumptive nominee, John McCain, under an unwanted spotlight
over his wife Cindy’s fortune...
The NRA's Endorsement Still Pending
By Jennifer Skalka
Hotline on Call
July 1, 2008
The National Rifle Association announced plans today for a $40M
campaign to paint Barack Obama as an opponent to Second
Amendment rights. But the effort, first reported by Politico,
doesn't include -- at least as far as the NRA is specifiying
publicly -- a firm pitch for the presumptive GOP nominee, John
McCain. The group is still withholding its endorsement, a vital
seal of approval for the party's conservative base and a nod
that matters to voters in rural swing states, such as New
Hampshire and Virginia...
Charlie Black's Cronies
By Thomas Frank
Wall Street Journal
July 2, 2008; Page A11
Doing some research in the Library of Congress recently, an
associate of mine came across a curious artifact of the Young
Americans for Freedom, the high-spirited conservative group of
the Vietnam era...Many YAFers later rose to positions of great
political influence. From direct mailers to congressmen to
campaign managers, the group put its stamp on our era in no
small way. This year's most prominent YAF graduate is Charlie
Black, who was an officer of the group in the period when it
sang fascist hymns and who now serves as a senior adviser to
Republican John McCain. Last week, Mr. Black triggered a media
storm by musing publicly on how a terrorist attack would improve
Mr. McCain's chances to win the presidential election in
November...
Playing the fear card
Republicans have long raised the spectre of terrorism in order
to win elections, and they're doing so again
By Dan Kennedy
The Guardian
July 1, 2008
Be afraid. It's not just a warning - it's a campaign slogan. For
Republicans, fear is a cudgel with which they've bludgeoned
their way to victory since the Reagan era, and it's acquired an
extra emotional wallop since 9/11. Will it work again?...
VEEP
The Case for Mitt Romney
By Chris Cillizza
Washington Post The Fix
July 2, 2008 5:00 AM
When former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney dropped out of
the presidential race on February 7, GOP insiders and observers
in the press figured he would be persona non grata in John
McCain's campaign. During the primary, the distaste that McCain
felt for Romney (and, to an extent, vice versa) was palpable,
surfacing quite clearly at times during debates. The two
campaign staffs battled daily for the better part of a year, a
bitter back and forth that furthered the storyline that the two
men could never share a GOP presidential ticket...
Jindal Dodges Potential Veepstakes Pitfall
By Chris Cillizza
Washington Post The Fix
July 1, 2008
One of the most fascinating elements of the quadrennial
Veepstakes is its changeability. Even as the presidential
candidate weighs his potential options, the politicians being
considered are mixed up in the nitty-gritty of their day jobs --
often veering into dangerous territory that could ultimately
jeopardize their chances at being picked. Gov. Bobby Jindal
(La.), who is the hot veep pick in some national Republican
circles, found that out the hard way over the last few weeks...
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Other Presidential
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First Primary |
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General
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POWELL
On Call Exclusive: Obama Met Privately With Powell At His
Office
By Jennifer Skalka
Hotline on Call
July 1, 2008
Sen. Barack Obama and retired Gen. Colin Powell met
privately two weeks ago in Powell's personal office in
Alexandria. Peggy Cifrino, Powell's spokeswoman, confirmed
that the presumptive Democratic nominee and the retired
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff chatted June 18,
one-on-one for about an hour at the Armed Forces Benefit
Association, where Powell rents space...Cifrino said that
Powell and Sen. John McCain met the week prior in
Arlington...
SAME SEX MARRIAGE
McCain, Obama quietly take opposing stands on California's
same-sex marriage ban measure
McCain comes out in favor, Obama opposed. Though the issue
is likely to have minimal bearing on the presidential race
in California, the ramifications beyond could be profound,
especially for the Repulicans
By Michael Finnegan and Cathleen Decker
Los Angeles Times
July 2, 2008
Presidential candidates can command instant national
attention when they want it. But John McCain and Barack
Obama each took a hushed approach to letting the world know
where they stand on the California ballot measure to ban
same-sex marriage. The muted announcements -- McCain
supports the proposed ban, Obama opposes it -- will have
little if any bearing on the presidential contest in a state
that strongly favors Democrats...
A tightrope on gay marriage
By Matthew E. Berger
First Read / MSNBC
Tuesday, July 1, 2008 2:01 PM
Where do the campaigns stand on the California initiative to
ban gay marriage? It can be hard to figure out. The McCain
campaign quietly released their support for the initiative
-- which declares marriage as a union between a man and a
woman -- last Thursday. (McCain voted against the federal
constitutional same-sex marriage ban.)....
Republicans, beware of marriage politics
By Patrick Sammon
The Politico
July 1, 2008 5:05 PM EST
In his Ideas piece for Tuesday’s Politico, “Can
gay marriage save the GOP again?” former presidential
candidate Gary Bauer makes misleading and inaccurate claims.
Bauer argues that the issue of gay marriage helped catapult
the GOP to electoral success in 2004 and directly led to
President Bush’s reelection. But that theory, long rumored
in the aftermath of the 2004 election, has been disproved.
Some analysts inaccurately credited Bush’s 2004 reelection
to his use of the marriage issue to improve the turnout of
his base...
OTHER VIEWS
What Latinos want from their president
Any candidate who wants to attract this crucial voting bloc
must address racial equality.
By Alberto R. Gonzales
Los Angeles Times
July 2, 2008
Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign has reignited an
examination of race relations in America. It has led some to
question how deep the divide is between black and white
Americans. From my perspective, the question ignores the
reality of our diverse society. We must also consider the
divide between the majority from another group, one that I
happen to belong to: Latinos...
When a Flip Isn't a Flop
By Ruth Marcus
Washington Post
Wednesday, July 2, 2008; A15
In footwear, flip-flops are what you slip on when you want
something comfortable and easy. In politics, flip-flops are
the sloppy intellectual equivalent: what you talk about when
you're looking for a comfortable and easy way to attack the
opposition. It's summer, it's hot. No one wants to wear
pointy toes and high heels; no one wants to talk about
calculating budget baselines or auctioning cap-and-trade
permits. How much easier for rival candidates -- and, truth
be told, for us in the media -- to fling accusations about
flip-flops: Who's got more? Whose are bigger?...
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National
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National Polls |
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War/Terror/Security
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U.S. Deaths Rise in Afghanistan
June Is Deadliest Month for Troops as Country Sees Taliban
Resurgence
By Josh White
Washington Post
Wednesday, July 2, 2008; A01
June was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan
since the war there began in late 2001, as resilient and
emboldened insurgents have stepped up attacks in an effort to
gain control of the embattled country. Defense officials and
Afghanistan experts said the toll of 28 U.S. combat deaths
recorded last month demonstrates a new resurgence of the
Taliban, the black-turbaned extremists who were driven from
power by U.S. forces almost seven years ago. Taliban units and
other insurgent fighters have reconstituted in the country's
south and east, aided by easy passage from mountain redoubts in
neighboring Pakistan's lawless tribal regions...
China Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo
By Scott Shane
New York Times
July 2, 2008
WASHINGTON — The military trainers who came to Guantánamo Bay in
December 2002 based an entire interrogation class on a chart
showing the effects of “coercive management techniques” for
possible use on prisoners, including “sleep deprivation,”
“prolonged constraint,” and “exposure.” What the trainers did
not say, and may not have known, was that their chart had been
copied verbatim from a 1957 Air Force study of Chinese Communist
techniques used during the Korean War to obtain confessions,
many of them false, from American prisoners...
Want to know if waterboarding is torture? Ask Christopher
Hitchens
By Jon Henley
The Guardian
Wednesday July 2, 2008
Late last year, the writer, polemicist and fierce proponent of
the US-led invasion of Iraq Christopher Hitchens attempted, in a
piece for the online magazine Slate, to draw a distinction
between what he called techniques of "extreme interrogation" and
"outright torture". From this, his foes inferred that since it
was Hitchens' belief that America did not stoop to the latter,
the practice of waterboarding - known to be perpetrated by US
forces against certain "high-value clients" in Iraq and
elsewhere - must fall under the former heading. Enraged by what
they saw as an exercise in elegant but offensive sophistry, some
of the writer's critics suggested that Hitchens give
waterboarding (which may sound like some kind of fun aquatic
pastime, but is probably best summarised as enforced partial
drowning) a whirl, just to see what it was like. Did the
experience feel like torture? And amazingly, he has done just
that. In August's edition of Vanity Fair...
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Other News |
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Shaheen TV Advertisement Fails Freshman Economics!
By Marshall Cobleigh, former NH Energy Chief
July 1, 2008
Jeanne Shaheen's television Advertisement proves conclusively
that she does not propose a real world solution to high gas
prices. In that advertisement she places the blame for high gas
prices on commodities and financial market speculation.
Perhaps Jeanne Shaheen should read what noted liberal economist
Robert J. Samuelson said July 1, 2008 in the nor very
conservative Washington Post. Samuelson said "Speculator
bashing is another exercise in scapegating and grandstanding.
He points out that steel which is not traded on the commodities
futures Market rose 117% during the same time frame. "The better
explanation is basic supply and demand" Samuelson explains.
The Harvard trained Samuelson points out "That financial trading
does not directly affect the physical supplies of raw materials.
Politicians (like Shaheen) promise to tighten regulations of
futures markets, but futures markets are not the main problem.
Scarcities are. Restrictions on oil production in the
U.S.
have limited global production and put upward pressure on
prices. If politicians wish to point the finger of blame, they
should start with themselves," the noted Harvard trained
Samuelson concludes.
Jeanne Shaheen may have had a term at the School for defeated
politicians at Harvard, but is crystal clear that she does not
understand freshman economics. Her demagoging about gas prices
in her TV advertisement without providing real world solutions
proves that Jeanne Shaheen is unqualified to serve in the U.S.
Senate.
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