Ohio Debate: Advantage Obama – Superdelegate’s Defer to Electability – Post No. 022808-1

Video| Ohio o8′ Democratic Debate
Democratic superdelegate Dwight Pelz, chairman of the Washington state party, one of many uncommitted superdelegates, has his fingers crossed that the party’s Presidential nominee will be decided well before the August national convention.
“God forbid should we go to August with a convention that’s still up in the air,” Pelz said. “I’m [...]

A primer on Ohio: before the debate – Post No. 022408-5

Video| Lost manufacturing jobs in Ohio
In Ohio the loss of 250,000 manufacturing jobs in the past four years will be key when voters go to the polls. The decline in US manufacturing is nowhere more evident than in parts of Ohio. As factories close, two-hundred and fifty thousand manufacturing jobs have been lost in the [...]

The Economy: China’s Rising Power Status – Post No. 022408-4

Video| Gallup on China
PRINCETON, NJ — Eighty-one percent of Americans think the U.S. economy is “getting worse,” according to Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Feb. 20 and Feb. 22-23, 2008, the highest since Jan. 24-26.

Thirty-five percent of Americans rate current economic conditions as “poor.” — Frank Newport

Methodology: Gallup is interviewing no fewer than 1,000 [...]

Obama hits Clinton on NAFTA support: the Economy, Experience…Day 1 in the Oval Office – Post No. 022408-3

Video| Texas 08′ Presidential Debate
(AP) — Barack Obama accused Democratic presidential rival Hillary Rodham Clinton today of trying to walk away from a long record of support for NAFTA, the free trade agreement that he said has cost 50,000 jobs in Ohio, site of next week’s primary.
At the same time, he said attempts to repeal [...]

Hilary Clinton: Adding Up Clinton’s 35-Year Claim – Post No. 022408-2

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton often boasts that she has a long resume – 35 years long, to be precise.
“I have 35 years’ experience making change,” she said in a TV ad.
“I’ve gotten up for 35 years every day and tried to figure out what I could do to help somebody else,” she said in a [...]

Ralph Nader: He’s Baaaaaack! – Post No. 022408-1

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ralph Nader today announced a fresh bid for the White House, criticizing the top contenders as too close to big business and dismissing the possibility that his third-party candidacy could tip the election to Republicans.
The longtime consumer advocate is still loathed by many Democrats who accuse him of costing Al Gore the [...]

SBA: House Committee Questions Contract for Former Bush Appointee – Post No. 022008-1

By ELIZABETH OLSON
WASHINGTON – The House Small Business Committee has asked for an investigation into how a newly retired Bush administration appointee with no experience in helping small businesses compete for government contracts received money from the Small Business Administration to do exactly that.
The $1.2 million contract – 90 percent of the agency’s budget to [...]

Wisconsin’s Feb. 19 Primaries Q and A – Post No. 021808-5

1. Why is Wisconsin significant in the presidential nominating process?
Wisconsin is a state with a reputation for breaking hearts. As John Nichols of the Madison Capital Times newspaper pointed out in a recent article, disappointing finishes in Wisconsin – one of the earliest states to adopt the primary to determine presidential preferences – have scuttled [...]

President’s Day 08′:Majority Still Favors Timetable for Troop Withdrawal – Post No. 021808-4

Roughly one year after the United States began increasing the number of troops it has in Iraq, Americans give the “surge” their most positive assessment to date. Nevertheless, basic attitudes about the war are largely unchanged, including views about setting a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal. The majority of Americans continue to favor a timetable [...]

President’s Day 08′: Ticket Building The Hard Way – Post No. 021808-3

By Shawn Zeller
Some Democrats hunger for a “dream ticket” of Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton to maximize their chances of winning the presidency this fall, while many Republicans think a team of their remaining front-runners, John McCain and Mike Huckabee, might unite their party and allow it to hold the White House. If history [...]

President’s Day 08′: EVEN IN TEXAS: ADVANTAGE OBAMA – Post No. 021808-2

By Dick Morris And Eileen McGann
While polls still show Hillary leading Obama in Texas and also in Ohio, her lead will likely fade and likely disappear by the time their primaries are held two weeks hence.
If Obama wins in Wisconsin, he’ll probably also carry Ohio, a state with very similar demographics. Neither state has much [...]

President’s Day 08′: Why Being the GOP’s No. 2 Isn’t So Bad – Post No. 021808-1

By Shankar Vedantam
Through much of the Republican presidential primary, Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney could barely restrain their contempt for each other. During one Republican debate in New Hampshire in early January, McCain landed a zinger that summed up Romney’s opportunistic positions on various issues: “I just want to say to [...]

Obama picks up another labor endorsement – Post No. 021608-1

(AP) — Gathering strength, Sen. Barack Obama collected a key labor endorsement and coaxed away one of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s delegates on Friday, at the same time he criticized his rival for supporting legislation harmful to workers.
“Her supporting NAFTA didn’t give jobs to the American people,” Obama said of the free trade agreement implemented [...]

Editors Choice: Federal government addicted to debt – Post No. 021508-4

Part One
Part Two
David Walker| GAO former – Comptroller
THE ISSUE: Brother, can you spare 530 trillion dimes to bail out the federal government?
$53,000,000,000,000.
That’s the federal government’s total liabilities and unfunded commitments, from Medicare, to Social Security, to public debt on pensions. That’s according to  David Walker, the now former U.S. comptroller general and head of the [...]

David Walker Resigns as U.S. Comptroller General – Post No. 021508-3

“US Government Debt Mounting”
“As comptroller general of the United States,” says David Walker, the federal government’s top accountant, “there are real limitations on what I can do and say in connection with key public policy issues, especially issues that directly relate to GAO’s client – the Congress.”
Despite the “very difficult” nature of [...]

President’s Budget Fails U.S. Small Businesses – Post No. 021508-2

News From the
Committee on Small Business
Nydia M. Velázquez, Chairwoman
FY2009 Proposal Amounts to 33% Decline in Funding Over Past Seven Years
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Americans are facing a worsening credit crunch, millions are in peril of losing their homes, and the economy continues to show clear signs of a looming recession.  The situation calls [...]

Veteran, Reservist Bill Signed Into Law – Post No. 021508-1

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, bipartisan legislation authored by Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) to aid veteran and reservist entrepreneurs was signed into law. Kerry’s bill, cosponsored by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), will increase loans and business training resources to veterans and help reservists keep their businesses afloat during deployment.
“Massachusetts’ 477,000 veterans, including the more than 28,000 who [...]

House Cites Administration Officials for Contempt of Congress – Post No. 021408-1

By Caitlin Webber
The House on Thursday voted to cite the White House chief of staff and a former counsel for contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas from the Judiciary Committee.
By 223-32, with one member voting present, the House approved a self-executing rule (H Res 982) that adopted two resolutions setting up a constitutional clash between [...]

Obama on SNL+Today on the presidential campaign trail – Post No. 021108-1

THE DEMOCRATS| Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton holds events in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Sen. Barack Obama campaigns in Maryland.
THE REPUBLICANS| Sen. John McCain holds events in Maryland and Virginia. Mike Huckabee campaigns in Virginia.
QUOTE OF THE DAY| “I may be skinny, but I’m tough, too.” – Democrat Barack Obama, dismissing rival Hillary [...]

How Mike Stands on the Issues – Post No. 021008-3

The War in Iraq
Senator Gravel’s position on Iraq remains clear and consistent: to commence an immediate and orderly withdrawal of all U.S. troops that will have them home within 120 days. The sooner U.S. troops are withdrawn, the sooner we can pursue aggressive diplomacy to bring an end to the civil [...]