Palin giving back tainted money from gov. campaign
Exactly how I would handle this situation. Nicely done.
Palin giving back tainted money from gov. campaign
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<span class="strong">Sarah Palin</span><br/> <span class="dgray f-10">Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin talks to reporters outside of Engine Company 10, Ladder Company 10 next to the World Trade Center site, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008, in New York. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)</span>
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<td class="alt"><a href="http://www.politicalbase.com/people/sarah-palin/13380/rivals/">Rivals</a></td>
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<p>Gov. <a href="http://www.politicalbase.com/people/sarah-palin/13380/">Sarah Palin</a>, touted by Republican presidential nominee <a href="http://www.politicalbase.com/people/john-mccain/3047/">John McCain</a> as a reformer when he picked her to be his running mate, will send $2,100 to three charities to account for tainted 2006 donations to her gubernatorial campaign.</p>
Palin said Friday she approved giving back money that came from two Alaska politicians implicated in a sweeping federal corruption probe, plus money donated from the wife of one of the two men.
A McCain campaign spokesman said Palin selected three Alaska-based charities: Abused Women's Aid in Crisis and Crisis Pregnancy Center, both in Anchorage, and Special Olympics Alaska.
The decision to donate money came Thursday evening, several hours after The Associated Press reported that Palin had accepted the funds during her run for governor in the weeks after the FBI raided the offices of the lawmakers.
"Gov. Palin has made a career of holding herself to the highest standards of ethics. As soon as the governor learned of the donations today, she immediately decided to donate them to charity," campaign spokesman Taylor Griffin said.
The two politicians in this case were snagged in a federal investigation revolving around an oil-field services company once known as VECO Corp. Executives from the company are at the center of the trial of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, that began this week in Washington.
Palin felt so strongly about the indictment of once-powerful Sen. John Cowdery that she urged him to resign. A year earlier, Palin questioned whether Cowdery should retain his post leading a powerful Senate committee after a government witness claimed in a VECO-related trial that he was part of the bribery scheme.
He was indicted in July on two federal bribery counts; the other donor, former Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch, is awaiting trial. Both are Republicans, and their contributions were to the joint campaign of Palin and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell. Neither had any obvious connection to Palin before she took office.
In the Stevens case, prosecutors say he lied on his financial disclosure forms about more than $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts he received from VECO. In Alaska, the government has leveled more serious charges: That the company and its bosses tried to corrupt lawmakers by plying them with money or gifts in exchange for their votes.
On Aug. 31, 2006, FBI agents searched the offices of six state lawmakers, including Cowdery and Weyhrauch.
By October 2006, Palin's campaign had received $30 from Weyhrauch in addition to Cowdery's $1,000. Separately, Cowdery's wife, Juanita, contributed $1,000; she is not accused of any wrongdoing.
Palin chose to donate $2,100 so each charity could receive $700, Griffin said Friday.
Justin Pritchard reported from Anchorage, Alaska. Associated Press writer Sharon Theimer in Washington contributed to this report.
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Pelosi pushes Texas lawmaker as Obama running mate
Political Base has pretty much no information on either of these guys. Cantor's website (http://cantor.house.gov/) is very vanilla. Edwards' (http://edwards.house.gov/) provides more information: he's pro-gun rights, wants to "fully fund" NCLB (as opposed to scrapping or reforming it), and opposes the death and marriage taxes. Other than that, I assume he adheres to the Democratic party line.
Pelosi pushes Texas lawmaker as Obama running mate
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<span class="strong">Barack Obama</span><br/> <span class="dgray f-10">Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a fundraiser in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2008. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)</span>
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<p>House Speaker <a href="http://www.politicalbase.com/people/nancy-pelosi/10215/">Nancy Pelosi</a> is behind on a dark horse in the Democratic veepstakes: Rep. <a href="http://www.politicalbase.com/people/chet-edwards/6482/">Chet Edwards</a> of Texas.</p>
"I hope he will be the nominee," Pelosi said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."
Edwards, first elected in 1990 and now in his ninth term, represents Texas' 17th District, which includes Waco, College Station, Fort Hood and the small town of Crawford, where President Bush has a ranch. He serves as a senior member on the House appropriations and budget committees and has guided funding measures for military veterans.
Pelosi said that amid all the talk about possible running mates from the Senate, she didn't want the House to be left out. Presumed nominee Barack Obama has not announced when he will make his pick.
"There's such a great array of people from whom Sen. Obama can choose," she said. "So, any one of them, I'm fine with. I just wanted people to be aware of the extraordinary credentials of Chet Edwards."
Pelosi's push for Edwards was reported by Newsweek in its issue set for release Monday.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., mentioned as a potential running mate, said Sunday she had not been asked for any documents as part of a vetting process.
Former Rep. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican and a former budget director under President Bush, said the campaign of Republican John McCain had not asked him for any personal records. He and McCaskill appeared on CNN's "Late Edition."
Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, on the other hand, has been asked by the McCain campaign for personal documents as part of its search for a running mate, The Associated Press reported Saturday. Cantor had no comment on the report.
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Protesters Ask Clinton to Iron Shirts
I'm not a big Clinton fan by any means, but come on. These people need to grow up. When will people learn that stupid protests only create positive publicity for the person you're protesting?
Protesters Ask Clinton to Iron Shirts
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<span class="strong">Hillary Clinton</span><br/> <span class="dgray f-10">Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., shakes hands as she arrives at a campaign event in Dover, N.H., Monday, Jan. 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)</span>
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<td class="alt"><a href="http://www.politicalbase.com/people/hillary-clinton/2297/rivals/">Rivals</a></td>
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<p><a href="http://www.politicalbase.com/people/hillary-clinton/2297/">Hillary Rodham Clinton</a>'s campaign stop was interrupted Monday when two men stood in the crowd and began screaming, "Iron my shirt!" during one of her final appearances before the New Hampshire primary.</p>
Clinton, a former first lady running to become the nation's first female president, laughed at the seemingly sexist protest that suggested a woman's place is doing the laundry and not running the country.
"Ah, the remnants of sexism alive and well," Clinton said to applause in a school auditorium.
The two men were removed from the hall after raising a pair of signs that said, "Iron my shirt!" They also shouted the same slogan.
"Can we turn the lights on? It's awfully dark," Clinton said, cueing the lights to come and police to come forward to take the men away.
The overflow crowd burst into applause and some began shouting, "Iron my shirt" as the two were taken from the hall.
"As I think has been abundantly demonstrated, I am also running to break through the highest and hardest glass ceiling," she said.
Clinton later joked about the incident as she invited questions.
"If there's anyone left in the auditorium who wants to learn how to iron a shirt, I'll talk about that," she said with a smile.
Clinton placed a disappointing third place in Iowa's caucuses last week and faces a tough challenge in Tuesday's primary from Barack Obama, who leads her with just one day remaining.
(This version CORRECTS SUBS last graf to correct to third place, sted second.)
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Well, If You Want to Be Like France,
All I have to say about this is, try making this work in Miami. You will fail.
"who should you vote for?" test
The test didn't work very well for me. Granted, this is not entirely the fault of the test, since my political views have always made it hard to find a candidate I really like. But just a suggestion, it would be really nice if we could "weight" some issues more heavily than others, and eliminate the issues we don't care about from the equation.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21359819/ Maybe we'll hear from him once it comes to governors and vice presidents. But as it currently stands, he's out for the count.
I see no point in legislating that schools must do the pledge of allegiance. Individual students will always have the right to opt out. Besides, doesn't our school system have more important issues? That minute saying the pledge wastes a precious moment that could have been used to teach to a standardized test. (Yes, that was sarcasm.)
How can anyone support the death penalty?
I oppose the death penalty for more practical reasons- when you take into account all the appeals and so on, keeping someone on death row actually costs taxpayers MORE than a regular life sentence.
Unanimity on the court: good or bad?
Roberts has been pushing for more unanimity on the SCOTUS. His argument is that 5-4 decisions do not provide a clear direction, which puts lower court judges in a difficult position. Critics contend that unanimity doesn't truly resolve controversial issues, but merely encourages the court to decide cases on the narrowest possible grounds.
I'm with Roberts on this one, just because the Supreme Court already has the tradition of deciding cases on very narrow grounds. Opinions?
