113 Days
Until Election Day

July 14,
2008

MORNING UPDATE:

GREEN PARTY… The U.S. Green Partychose former Democratic
Rep. Cynthia McKinney as its 2008 presidential candidate on
Saturday.
McKinney, 53, will be joined on the ticket for the November
election by vice presidential candidate Rosa Clemente, a hip-hop
artist and activist.

TODAY!!!…McCAIN
HEADQUATERS & VICTORY CENTER GRAND OPENING…we will
officially open our headquarters TODAY, Monday, July 14th at 5pm
and would be honored if you all would join us and also invite your
own organizations.  Governor Mitt Romney will be among our
special guests who will be there to help kick off our grassroots
campaign here in Michigan. 
 
When:  Monday, July 14, 2008 at 5 PM
 
Where:  McCain Great Lakes Regional HQ and Michigan Victory
Center
31440 Northwestern Hwy, Suite 100
Farmington Hills, MI  48344

JACK HOOGENDYK FOR U.S. SENATE…to follow the latest on Jack’s
campaign to defeat Carl Levin go to: http://www.jackformichigan.org/media.htm

SLATECARD…AN EASY
WAY TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR FRIENDS…Slatecard was designed to allow
easy, online way to contribute and support our candidates for
federal office. Please take a minute to check it out…and
hopefully help.

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THE LATEST NEWS, COMMENTARY &
INFORMATION:

Check…out…our…online Articles of Interest………News…you…can…use………

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 THE REST OF
THE STORY:
No further commentary today.

 

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

The following
stories and more are available at my Articles of Interest online.

Offshore Drilling
Backed as Remedy for Oil Prices

By
Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer

On Jan.
28, 1969, a blowout on a Unocal rig six miles off the coast of
California spilled 3 million gallons of oil into the waters off
Santa Barbara. The blackened beaches and oil-soaked birds and seals
became icons for the environmental movement and eventually brought
oil exploration off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United
States to a halt.

The issue has become a dividing line for the presidential
candidates. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) reversed his position last
month and endorsed expanded offshore drilling, while Sen. Barack
Obama (D-Ill.) wants to maintain the moratorium on offshore
drilling, which he says would do nothing to immediately lower
gasoline prices. In the past week, congressional Republicans have
issued a blizzard of statements pushing for action before summer
recess, and some Democrats may be leaning their way.

Obama’s
Enigma 

By
David S. Broder 

John
McCain is the candidate who actually had experience as a wartime
flier, but Barack Obama is the one who has most successfully
adapted a favorite tactic of those intrepid aviators. When the
pilots were over a target heavily defended by antiaircraft guns,
they would release a cloud of fine metal scraps, hoping to confuse
the aim of the shells or missiles being fired in their
direction.

In the weeks since he effectively clinched the Democratic
presidential nomination, the Illinois senator has done a similar
trick, throwing out verbal hints of altered positions on any number
of issues. This is creating quandaries for the Republicans who
can’t figure out where to aim.

In
their effort to embarrass him, Republicans ask: Who is the real
Barack Obama? Is he, as he claims, a fresh face, heralding a new
era of post-partisan politics, or a cynical old-style pol making
poll-driven adjustments with scant regard for principles? A
protectionist or a free-trader? A corporate-basher or an ally of
interest-group contributors? Is he a doctrinaire liberal,
disguising himself as a late-blooming centrist? 
 

EDITORIAL:
Obama’s Fairness is not equality

By WILLIAM
KRISTOL

The late Tony Snow
— how odd it is to write “late” before
Tony’s name, and how sad — was an editorial writer and
columnist, the host of “Fox News Sunday” for seven
years and of a radio talk show for three, and a speechwriter in the
White House of the first president Bush and press secretary for the
second. We were twice colleagues (at the first Bush White House and
at Fox), and throughout our two decades together in Washington
compatriots and friends.

But I’ll remember Tony Snow more for his character than his
career. I’ll especially remember the calm courage and
cheerful optimism he displayed in his last three years, in the face
of his fatal illness.

Obama dismays backers
by lurching on issues

Bob
Herbert

Back in January,
when Sen. Barack Obama pulled off his stunning win in the Iowa
caucuses, and people were lining up in the cold and snow for hours
just to get a glimpse of him, there was a wide and growing belief
– encouraged to the max by the candidate — that something new in
American politics had arrived.

Only an idiot would
think or hope that a politician going through the crucible of a
presidential campaign could hold fast to every position, steer
clear of the stumbling blocks of nuance and never make a mistake.
But Obama went out of his way to create the impression that he was
a new kind of political leader — more honest, less cynical and
less relentlessly calculating than most.

This is why so many
of Obama’s strongest supporters are uneasy, upset, dismayed and
even angry at the candidate who is emerging in the bright light of
summer.

Government will
lend to Fannie, Freddie

Patrice
Hill

The Treasury and
Federal Reserve moved Sunday to bolster the finances of Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac to ensure that the mortgage giants do not succumb
to mounting market pressures this week.

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., who worked on the plan
through the weekend with Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and other top
regulators and legislators, said he will seek emergency authority
from Congress for a temporary increase on the amount that the
mortgage agencies can borrow from the Treasury and enable the
Treasury to purchase some of their stock.

Analysts Say More
Banks Will Fail

By LOUISE
STORY

As home prices
continue to decline and loan defaults mount, federal regulators are
bracing for dozens of American banks to fail over the next
year.

The nation’s banks are in far less danger than they were in
the late 1980s and early 1990s, when more than 1,000 federally
insured institutions went under during the savings-and-loan crisis.
The debacle, the greatest collapse of American financial
institutions since the Depression, prompted a government bailout
that cost taxpayers about $125 billion.

District judge to rule
on prosecution motion to release 200 messages in Kilpatrick’s
criminal case

Doug Guthrie / The
Detroit News

DETROIT — Hundreds
more text messages in the criminal case of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
could be released today if prosecutors get their wish.
Although a hearing isn’t scheduled until Sept. 2 on whether the
messages can be used as evidence in trial, 36th District Judge
Ronald Giles said he’ll rule today on a controversial motion by
prosecutors to unveil some 200 text messages in the case.
The content and authors of the messages aren’t publicly known, but
assistant prosecutor Robert Moran said they "go to the heart" of
perjury, conspiracy, misconduct in office and obstruction of
justice charges against Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff,
Christine Beatty.

Talk of Manoogian
Mansion bash is still just a rumor

BY BILL MCGRAW
• FREE PRESS COLUMNIST 

For decades, the
Manoogian Mansion was simply the city-owned home on the Detroit
River where the mayor and his family lived.

As in all stories about the party, it is necessary to use those
qualifiers. Because despite half a decade of gossip, investigations
and speculation, the Manoogian party remains a myth.

State smoking ban
looms; bar owners aren’t happy

By
ANDREW LERSTEN
H-P South Haven Bureau

WATERVLIET — To those in the know, The Elite Bar in
downtown Watervliet is that small town bar with some of the best
olive burgers around.It’s also that familiar, cozy place
where peo ple go to have a drink or two, dance to the live rock
bands on the week ends, pop a dollar in the jukebox – and
smoke cig arettes.

Elite
bartender Susan John son estimates that 75 percent of the clients
are smokers.
In other words, they like that smoky atmo sphere.She is worried
that when an anticipated statewide smoking ban takes effect it will
have a devastating economic impact on the business and on the many
small bars in Southwest Michigan. “Most of the people
aren’t going to go out side for a smoke and then come back in
for an other drink,” Johnson said. “That isn’t
going to happen. It’s going to be awful for business.
It’s going to hurt people like me, and the business
owners.”

Remembering Tony
Snow: The Character of Optimism

By
WILLIAM KRISTOL

The
late Tony Snow — how odd it is to write “late”
before Tony’s name, and how sad — was an editorial
writer and columnist, the host of “Fox News Sunday” for
seven years and of a radio talk show for three, and a speechwriter
in the White House of the first president Bush and press secretary
for the second. We were twice colleagues (at the first Bush White
House and at Fox), and throughout our two decades together in
Washington compatriots and friends.

But I’ll remember Tony Snow more for his character than his
career. I’ll especially remember the calm courage and
cheerful optimism he displayed in his last three years, in the face
of his fatal illness.

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