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Bush Set To Ease Endangered Species Rules

admin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:46:14 +0000

Policy Would Exclude Input Of Scientists; Rush To Enact It To Prevent Obama ReversalWASHINGTON, Nov. 19. 2008
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President Bush is seeking to change Department of the Interior rules protecting endangered species, like this Kirtland’s warbler, found in Michigan. The new rules would exclude the input of wildlife scientists in approving federal highway and dam projects. (AP)RelatedPhoto EssayEndangered MacawsScarlet and gold birds nurtured, taught to adapt to the wildStoriesBeluga Whale Added To Endangered ListEntire Ecosystem Proposed For Protection
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(AP) Animals and plants in danger of becoming extinct could lose the protection of government experts who make sure that dams, highways and other projects don’t pose a threat, under regulations the Bush administration is set to put in place before President-elect Obama can reverse them.
The rules must be published Friday to take effect before Obama is sworn in Jan. 20. Otherwise, he can undo them with the stroke of a pen.
The Interior Department rushed to complete the rules in three months over the objections of lawmakers and environmentalists who argued that they would weaken how a landmark conservation law is applied.
A Nov. 12 version of the final rules obtained by the Associated Press has changed little from the original proposal, despite the more than 250,000 comments received since it was first proposed in August.
The rules eliminate the input of federal wildlife scientists in some endangered species cases, allowing the federal agency in charge of building, authorizing or funding a project to determine for itself if it is likely to harm endangered wildlife and plants.
Current regulations require independent wildlife biologists to sign off on these decisions before a project can go forward, at times modifying the design to better protect species.
The regulations also bar federal agencies from assessing emissions of the gases blamed for global warming on species and habitats, a tactic environmentalists have tried to use to block new coal-fired power plants.
Tina Kreisher, an Interior Department spokeswoman, could not confirm whether the rule would be published before the deadline, saying only that the White House was still reviewing it. But she said changes were being made based on the comments received.
“We started this; we want to finish this,” said Kreisher.
If the rules go into effect before Obama takes office, they will be difficult to overturn since it would require the new administration to restart the rule-making process. Congress, however, could reverse the rules through the Congressional Review Act - a law that allows review of new federal regulations.
It’s been used once in the last 12 years, but some Democratic lawmakers have said they may employ it to block the endangered species rules and other midnight regulations by the Bush administration.
Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said Wednesday that he and other Democrats were committed to “the change that is needed.”
Drew Hammill, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the House will be looking at ways to overturn the endangered species rules and other midnight regulations.
[We] will review what oversight tools are at our disposal regarding this and other last minute attempts to inflict severe damage to the law in the waning moments of the Bush administration
Drew Hammill, spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
“The House, in consultation with the incoming administration and relevant committees, will review what oversight tools are at our disposal regarding this and other last minute attempts to inflict severe damage to the law in the waning moments of the Bush administration,” Hammill said.
The Bush administration has made no secret of its intent to complete the endangered species changes quickly.
When the proposal was first announced in August, the public was initially given 30 days to comment. That period was later doubled after Democratic lawmakers pressed for more time.
Then, last month, the head of the endangered species program corralled 15 experts in Washington to sort through 200,000 comments in 32 hours.
“This is definitely lightning quick,” said John Kostyack, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Conservation and Global Warming initiative. “I would be surprised that they spent all this time rushing it through if it wasn’t greased.”
If successful, the Bush administration will accomplish through rules what conservative Republicans have been unable to achieve in Congress: ending some environmental reviews that developers and other federal agencies blame for delays and cost increases on many projects.
Supporters of the changes also expected it to be finalized later this week.
The Pacific Legal Foundation, which advocates for property rights, urged that the rules be approved.
“Litigious activists have used the Endangered Species Act to fight projects,” Reed Hopper, the foundation’s principal attorney, said in a statement. “The administration’s current proposal is a step toward curbing these abuses.”
TIMELINE:
In one of the quickest turnarounds for rewriting federal regulations, the Bush administration is changing a rule to cut out government wildlife experts in some endangered species decisions. The new rule has to be published by Friday to deny President-elect Barack Obama the ability to reverse it when he takes office.
Aug. 15: Proposed rule appears in the Federal Register with 30-day public comment period.
Sept. 11: Interior Department announces 30-day extension of public comment period.
Oct. 15: Public comment period ends. Interior receives about 300,000 comments.
Oct. 16: Bryan Arroyo, the chief of the endangered species program, sends e-mail asking for help to review comments in 32 hours.
Oct. 27: Department releases draft analysis of rule’s environmental impacts, giving public 10 days to comment.
Nov. 6: Comment period on draft environmental impact statement ends.
Nov. 13: Rule submitted to White House Office of Management and Budget for final review.
Sources: Interior Department, Office of Management and Budget

Boehner To Stay House Minority Leader

admin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:01:20 +0000

Republican Leader Beats Back Challenge From Rep. Dan LungrenWASHINGTON, Nov. 11, 2008
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House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio survived a challenge from Rep. Dan Lungren of California. (Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla)RelatedBlogEnter The CryptRead the latest behind-the-scenes news from Capitol Hill in this blog provided by our partner The Politico.StoriesHouse GOP Leader Faces ChallengeWill Republicans Learn From 2008 Defeat?
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(AP) Rep. John Boehner of Ohio was re-elected Wednesday as House Republican leader, tasked with reviving a party diminished in numbers and fighting to stay relevant as Democrats take over the White House and strengthen their majorities in Congress.
Boehner, 59, won a second term over a late challenger, Rep. Dan Lungren of California.
But while Republicans retained the generally popular Boehner, they also were endorsing some shake-ups at the top, reflecting pressure for change following another election defeat.
Two members of the party’s conservative wing ran unopposed for two other top spots in the leadership. Eric Cantor of Virginia, currently the chief deputy whip, was taking over as Republican whip, while Mike Pence of Indiana will be the next chairman of the Republican Conference.
They succeed Roy Blunt of Missouri and Adam Putnam of Florida, who stepped down after the election.
Pence was former head of the Republican Study Committee, the conservative faction that now makes up more than half of House Republicans. With a few seats still undecided, the GOP will lose at least 20 seats in the next session of Congress. They will go into the new Congress with fewer than 180 seats in the 435-seat body.
Boehner, first elected to Congress in 1990, is a conservative who aligned himself with Newt Gingrich as Republicans fought their way back into power in 1995.
In remarks to his colleagues before Wednesday’s vote, Boehner said the GOP now has a unique chance to renew its fight for “smaller, more accountable government.”
“From the Northeast to the Deep South, there is a distrust of big government that will only intensify in the months ahead. This is an opportunity we haven’t had in years. We have to seize it - together,” Boehner told them, according to excerpts released by his office.
While a staunch supporter of the Bush administration on such issues as Iraq and the benefits of tax cuts, Boehner has also worked closely with Democrats. As former chairman of the committee in charge of education and labor issues, he was a key player in moving the No Child Left Behind act and major pension reform.
Boehner narrowly defeated Blunt in January 2006 to become Republican Majority Leader after Tom DeLay of Texas left that post. A year later, after Republicans lost their majority in the fall election and Illinois’ Dennis Hastert gave up the speakership, Boehner assumed leadership of the party.
While there was no major opposition to Boehner’s re-election, Lungren stepped in as a candidate last week, saying lawmakers should be given a chance to air their thoughts after the election defeat.
“It’s clear Republicans must find new ways to reconnect with the American people and address their priorities,” Boehner and Lungren wrote in a joint letter to their colleagues.

D.C. Mayor Expects 3M For Inauguration

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:46:11 +0000

Unprecedented Turnout For Obama Could Eclipse LBJ’s 1965 Swearing-In That Drew 1.2MWASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2008
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Many plans are contingent on President-elect Barack Obama’s Inaugural Committee, which organizes the parade and is still being formed. (AP)RelatedPhoto EssayBarack ObamaA look at the life and meteoric rise of the president-elect.
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(CBS/ AP) President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration has officials in the nation’s capital bracing for an unprecedented turnout of possibly 3 million people or more, District of Columbia Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said Tuesday.
Such a turnout would easily eclipse the current record set in 1965, when 1.2 million people attended Lyndon B. Johnson’s inauguration.
“I think you could have an inauguration that could be in the 3 to 5 million viewership … either on the Mall or on the parade route,” Fenty said.
National Park Service organizers said they’re expecting a large crowd but stopped short of echoing Fenty’s projection.
“That’s a bigger number than we had seen,” said Park Service spokesman David Barna.
Still, he said the National Mall could handle such a crowd on the two-mile span between the Capitol and Lincoln Memorial, as well as the parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue.
“We’re blessed to have this large, public, open space that will accommodate millions of people,” Barna said.
He cautioned, though, that it’s difficult to project how many people will attend because of weather factors and the daunting prospect of overwhelming crowds.
“Remember what those big numbers do is scare a lot of people away,” he said. “It can have a reverse impact.”
Fenty said the crowd estimate is based in part on briefings city officials have received from officials involved in the transition, who want to open up as much space as possible along the National Mall and parade route for people to watch the ceremonies. He also pointed to the size of the crowds that Obama attracted at campaign rallies across the country and his election night acceptance speech in Chicago.
On Monday, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is overseeing Obama’s swearing-in ceremony, said on the Senate floor that more than 1.5 million people could descend on the nation’s capital.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said the department is tailoring its security plans for the “maximum” number of attendees, but when pressed would not give any estimate.
Lanier said the city is ready for the crowds given its experience with large events in the past, such as the Million Man March and Fourth of July celebrations. Her entire force will be on duty, along with 4,000 officers from 93 agencies around the country. There also will be hundreds of firefighters and paramedics on duty.
Many plans are contingent on Obama’s Presidential Inaugural Committee, which organizes the parade and is still being formed.
The federal government has provided local authorities $15 million for the event, but Fenty said the city’s expenses likely will top that amount. He said D.C. officials will ask federal agencies to cover any extra costs.
In addition, city officials are working to legally accommodate the hundreds or thousands of people who want to rent out their homes to visitors. In D.C., those wanting to offer a short-term rental must obtain a basic business license. However, officials are exploring a way to suspend that requirement. Fenty said he expects to announce the plan later this week.
Some Congressional offices claim upwards of 50,000 requests for tickets, but with only a couple hundred allotted to each member of Congress more and more offices are forced to turn away constituents, reports CBS News correspondent Thalia Assuras.
Also, people claiming they have a ticket for sale are not telling the truth, Assuras reports. If legislation introduced Monday gets passed, scalping a ticket later will be illegal.

Washington Churches Woo The Obamas

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:01:11 +0000

President-Elect’s Choice Of Church In Nation’s Capital Likely To Be ScrutinizedNov. 18, 2008
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President-elect Barack Obama’s former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright talks at the Kingdom Life Christian Church in Milford, Conn., Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008. (AP Photo/Douglas Healey)RelatedTimelineObama And Rev. WrightKey dates in the relationship between Barack Obama and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.Photo EssayCelebrating HistorySupporters cheer victorious candidate at huge Chicago gathering.StoriesElection Shows Race Gap Between ChristiansPriest: Obama Voters Must Do Penance
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(AP) Churches in the nation’s capital have started extending invitations to President-elect Barack Obama and his family, touting their African-American roots, their ties to presidents past and to Mr. Obama himself.
The choices are abundant. Numerous, thriving congregations are an easy walk from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Just across Lafayette Square from the White House is St. John’s Church, an Episcopal parish known as the “Church of the Presidents,” where presidents as far back as James Madison have worshipped. St. John’s has a standing invitation: Pew 54 is the President’s Pew, reserved for the nation’s leader.
Or he could choose, as many presidents have done, not to attend services at all. President Bush, for instance, has only infrequently attended services in Washington, occasionally going to St. John’s.
Whatever choice the Obamas make, it is sure to be analyzed through the prism of Mr. Obama’s relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who was Mr. Obama’s pastor for 20 years at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
Mr. Obama resigned from Trinity during the presidential campaign after inflammatory comments by Wright from the pulpit became a campaign issue.
Nick Shapiro, a spokesman for Mr. Obama’s transition, declined to discuss which church the Obamas might attend.
Mr. Obama has spoken frequently about the importance of his Christian faith. In his 2006 book, “The Audacity of Hope,” he wrote that “the historically black church offered me a second insight: that faith doesn’t mean that you don’t have doubts, or that you relinquish your hold on this world. … You needed to come to church precisely because you were of this world, not apart from it.”
Despite those words, Mr. Obama has attended church sparingly in the past several months. Since winning the election, he has spent Sunday mornings at the gym. Many Washington-area churches hope that will change after he is inaugurated.
At Metropolitan AME Church, a historic, predominantly black congregation six blocks from the White House, senior pastor Ronald Braxton says parishioners have been buzzing about the possibility that the incoming president, his wife, Michelle, and their daughters, - 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha - might attend services with them.
Braxton said it would be good if Mr. Obama resumed worshipping at a congregation rooted in the black community.
“He’s familiar with African-American worship traditions,” Braxton said, referring to Mr. Obama’s membership at Wright’s church in Chicago. “Metropolitan AME would be a wise a choice and a safe haven in which to worship.”
Metropolitan AME has about 2,000 members, including former Clinton administration insider Vernon Jordan and former Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, Braxton said. The church has a long history as well - Frederick Douglass worshipped and was eulogized there. Bill Clinton attended inaugural prayer services there in 1993 and 1997.
Braxton said the AME denominational leadership is interested in where the Obamas will worship, and is developing plans to extend a formal invitation.
Church member Michael Horton said the congregation could provide the Obamas a base of moral support.
“Our current congregation is full of ‘agents-for-change,”‘ he said, playing on one of Obama’s campaign themes. “I believe there is no better place for the Obamas to worship and feel comfortable.”
The Clintons regularly attended Foundry United Methodist Church, about a mile from the White House, during their White House years, but never formally became members.
Senior pastor Dean Snyder said the congregation generally remembers the Clintons’ time there fondly, with sporadic complaints about security lines and metal detectors.
Snyder, whose congregation has staked out a strong position supporting gay rights and gay marriage, said the congregation has outreach plans to all new arrivals associated with the change in administration, including efforts to get the word out to the First Family “that Foundry is a welcoming church.”
The United Church of Christ, the denomination from which Obama resigned when he left Wright’s church, issued a written invitation to join a UCC denomination in Washington and resume his connections to the church.
The UCC is mostly white, a descendant of New England Puritanism. But the denomination is diverse racially and culturally, stemming in part from the church’s extensive involvement in the abolitionist movement.
“It would be an honor for the Obamas to attend a UCC church,” said Nathan Harris, pastor at Lincoln Congregational Temple, a small UCC congregation in Washington. “Hopefully he and his family will pray and find a place that works for them.”
Randall Balmer, a professor of American religious history at Columbia University who wrote “God in the White House: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush,” said there is no obvious choice for Obama as he searches for a congregation.
And while he said Americans generally like to know that their president goes to church on Sunday, they tend not to be concerned about the particular denomination. He hopes that same deference will be extended to the Obamas’ choice.
“I’m sure he’s going to be careful. He got burned,” Balmer said, referring to the Wright controversy. “He probably will be a little bit cautious with whom he associates.”
Pastors at D.C. congregations said they understand that their own words would be scrutinized more closely if the First Family were sitting in the pews, but universally said they wouldn’t change what they preach.
“I hope that I am deliberate and thoughtful about what I say every Sunday,” Snyder said.

Obama: U.S. Will Lead Climate Change Fight

admin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:16:18 +0000

President-Elect Promises Quick Action In Message To Los Angeles SummitWASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2008
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President-elect Barack Obama smiles during his meeting with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., not shown, Monday, Nov. 17, 2008, at Obama’s transition office in downtown Chicago. (AP)RelatedInteractiveGlobal WarmingThe greenhouse effect, a look at the Kyoto Protocol and a history of the Earth’s climate.StoriesGreenhouse Gas Emissions Rose In 2000-06The New Congress And Technology
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(AP) Calling climate change an urgent challenge, President-elect Barack Obama promised Tuesday that Washington would take a leading role in combating it in the United States and throughout the world.
“My presidency will mark a new chapter in America’s leadership on climate change,” Mr. Obama said in a video message to governors and others attending a Los Angeles summit on the issue.
In the roughly four-minute message, Mr. Obama reiterated his support for a cap-and-trade system approach to cutting green house gases. He would establish annual targets to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them another 80 percent by 2050. Mr. Obama also promoted anew his proposal to invest $15 billion each year to support private sector efforts toward clean energy.
President Bush has been criticized for failing to do enough to combat climate change and Mr. Obama has promised quick action to address the issue. He may have to start tackling the issue through administrative actions, given that leaders in the Democratic-controlled Congress have indicated that they aren’t likely to act until 2010 on a bill to limit the heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming.
At a news conference Tuesday, a coalition called the U.S. Climate Action Partnership — made up of 32 leading corporations, including electric utilities and oil companies, and environmental groups — urged Mr. Obama to press Congress to approve legislation next year for a mandatory cap-and-trade system to limit the release of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels and other greenhouse gases. Opponents of such action argue controls on carbon dioxide emissions will increase energy costs.
Under a cap-and-trade program, the government would establish a ceiling on the amount of carbon dioxide that can be released into the air from burning fossil fuels. A utility or industrial plant would have to purchase emission allowances for every ton of pollution released. Anyone who exceeds the cap must either make pollution reductions or buy additional allowances, while those who cut emissions below the cap would be able to sell allowances. Initially the cap would be relatively high and then be lowered gradually to achieve the targeted pollution reductions.
Mr. Obama favors auctioning off all of the allowances and using the proceeds to invest in energy efficiency and alternative, non-fossil energy that does not add to global warming. Others argue the allowances should be provided for free to reduce the economic costs and then be freely bought and sold in the market place.
Several environmental groups praised Mr. Obama’s focus on global warming, including Environmental Defense president Fred Krupp. He said Mr. Obama is “clearly rejecting the timid, business-as-usual approach” to dealing with climate and energy problems. “His plan to reduce emissions …will jump-start job creation in new energy industries, and take a huge step toward solving climate change.”
In his remarks to the summit, Mr. Obama criticized Washington for failing to lead on the issue in the past.
Said Mr. Obama: “I promise you this: When I am president, any governor who’s willing to promote clean energy will have a partner in the White House. Any company that’s willing to invest in clean energy will have an ally in Washington. And any nation that’s willing to join the cause of combating climate change will have an ally in the United States of America.”
Scientists, environmentalists and government and industry officials were attending the two-day Governors’ Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles, held ahead of a U.N. gathering in Poland next month.
Mr. Obama said he won’t attend that conference but that he has asked Congress members who will to report back to him. “Once I take office, you can be sure that the United States will once again engage vigorously in these negotiations, and help lead the world toward a new era of global cooperation on climate change,” Mr. Obama said.

Bush’s “Fire Sale” For Oil, Gas Industries

admin — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:16:21 +0000

Administration Will Lease 50,000 Acres Near National Parks For Drilling | Page 1 of 2SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 16, 2008
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Late on Election Day, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced a Dec. 19 auction of more than 50,000 acres of oil and gas parcels alongside or within view of Arches National Park. (AP)RelatedState Fast FactsUtah Learn about the people, economy and geography.InteractiveOil and Gas:Fossil FuelsLearn more about energy costs and usage in your state and get the latest prices for gasoline.StoriesSex Scandal Taints Oil Drilling DebateOil Companies Bid Millions To Tap Gulf
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(AP) The view of Delicate Arch natural bridge - an unspoiled landmark so iconic it’s on Utah’s license plates - could one day include a drilling platform under a proposal that environmentalists call a Bush administration “fire sale” for the oil and gas industry.
Late on Election Day, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced a Dec. 19 auction of more than 50,000 acres of oil and gas parcels alongside or within view of Arches National Park and two other redrock national parks in Utah: Dinosaur and Canyonlands.
The National Park Service’s top official in the state calls it “shocking and disturbing” and says his agency wasn’t properly notified. Environmentalists call it a “fire sale” for the oil and gas industry by a departing administration.
Officials of the BLM, which oversees millions of acres of public land in the West, say the sale is nothing unusual, and one is “puzzled” that the Park Service is upset.
“We find it shocking and disturbing,” said Cordell Roy, the chief Park Service administrator in Utah. “They added 51,000 acres of tracts near Arches, Dinosaur and Canyonlands without telling us about it. That’s 40 tracts within four miles of these parks.”
Top aides to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne stepped into the fray, ordering the sister agencies to make amends. His press secretary, Shane Wolfe, told The Associated Press that deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett “resolved the dispute within 24 hours” last week.
A compromise ordered by the Interior Department requires the BLM to “take quite seriously” the Park Service’s objections, said Wolfe.
However, the BLM didn’t promise to pull any parcels from the sale, and in an interview after the supposed truce, BLM state director Selma Sierra was defiant, saying she saw nothing wrong with drilling near national parks.
“I’m puzzled the Park Service has been as upset as they are,” said Sierra.
“There are already many parcels leased around the parks. It’s not like they’ve never been leased,” she said. “I don’t see it as something we are doing to undermine the Park Service.”
Roy and conservation groups dispute that, saying never before has the bureau bunched drilling parcels on the fence lines of national parks.
“This is the fire sale, the Bush administration’s last great gift to the oil and gas industry,” said Stephen Bloch, a staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
“The tracts of land offered here, next to Arches National Park or above Desolation Canyon, these are the crown jewels of America’s lands that the BLM is offering to the highest bidder,” he said.Continued 1  |
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Sen. Stevens Falls Further Behind In Count

admin — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:30:58 +0000

As Alaska Continues To Tally Ballots In Tight Race, Dem. Challenger Pads LeadANCHORAGE, Alaska, Nov. 15, 2008
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With thousands of absentee and provisional ballots still being counted in their tight Senate race, Republican Ted Stevens (right) has fallen further behind his Democratic challenger, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (left). (AP)RelatedState Fast FactsAlaskaLearn about the people, economy and geography.StoriesDem Takes Lead In Alaska Senate RaceGOP May Boot Stevens From Committee Posts
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(AP) Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, a stalwart of Alaska politics who was convicted of felony charges last month, fell further behind his Democratic rival Friday, and most remaining ballots come from parts of the state that have favored the challenger.
Mark Begich, the two-term mayor of Anchorage, increased his lead from 814 votes to 1,022 as state election workers counted 17,100 ballots. Begich had 47.4 percent of the vote to Stevens’ 47.0 percent.
“With the gap widening slightly in our favor today, I feel even more optimistic that when all the ballots are counted next week, we’ll see Alaskans came out to vote for new leadership in Washington, D.C.,” Begich said in a news release.
The 25,000 remaining votes will be counted Tuesday. They come mostly from Anchorage and the surrounding area, where Begich is leading, and from the state’s southeastern panhandle, where he was doing even better.
Stevens, 84, is seeking his seventh term in the Senate, where he has served since 1968. He’s renowned for bringing federal funding home to Alaska - as well as for wearing his Incredible Hulk tie when the going gets rough in Congress.
But last month he was convicted by a federal jury in Washington, D.C., of lying on Senate disclosure forms to conceal more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations from an oil field services company.
About 5,000 of the votes tallied Friday came from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough north of Anchorage, a conservative area home to Gov. Sarah Palin. Stevens has been leading in that area by a margin of 2-to-1. Also counted were votes from the interior city of Fairbanks and surrounding areas, where Stevens has a slight lead, and the vast Alaska Bush, where Begich is winning easily.
Even David Dittman, a pollster who has worked for Stevens, said his friend’s chances were extremely slim. He said many of the votes now being counted were cast before Stevens returned from his trial and began to campaign personally, which helped him in the polls.
“That doesn’t change anything for all those votes that were cast earlier,” he said.
Absentee ballots went out Oct. 14; Stevens was convicted Oct. 27.
Statewide, about 8,500 of the remaining votes are questioned ballots (known elsewhere as provisional ballots). They are most commonly cast by people who are voting away from their home polling places.
Ivan Moore, an Anchorage pollster who has worked for Democrats, said those voters tend to be younger, single and more likely to vote Democratic.
“I just don’t see a significant bloc of votes that’s remaining for Ted to get him back into this,” Moore said.
Stevens’ campaign didn’t return calls seeking comment.
For results visit the Alaska Division of Elections Web site.

Obama Wants Applicants’ Web-Posting Past

admin — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 04:46:03 +0000

CNET: 9-Page Questionnaire Asks Job Applicants To Document Blog Posts, Comments, Facebook Profiles And MoreNov. 14, 2008
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(CBS/ AP)RelatedPhoto EssayBarack ObamaA look at the young senator from Illinois and his pursuit of the presidency.StoriesThe Obama Team’s Online TransitionObama Plans Gone From Transition Web Site
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(CNET) If you want a job in an Obama administration, be prepared to disclose every blog post or comment you’ve ever written.
A nine-page questionnaire requires applicants to list — and if possible, provide copies of — all “posts or comments on blogs or other Web sites” they have ever made. Also required are “aliases” or nicknames used on those sites.
Translated into English, this means that President-elect Obama wants to know far more about you than his predecessors did. That requirement would force applicants to disclose information about Facebook and MySpace pages, profiles posted on dating Web sites, and even what was posted on Web sites like CNET and YouTube that allow readers to append comments.
Note that question doesn’t only ask for potentially embarrassing or incendiary posts. It wants a list of “each” one.
It also asks for the URLs of “any Web sites that feature you in either a personal or professional capacity,” and suggests MySpace and Facebook by name as examples. Dating sites like Match.com would be included, too.
Perhaps this won’t be a problem for older Democrats vying for senior positions like treasury secretary or attorney general. But for today’s Facebook-and-YouTube generation, requesting a list (and, “if readily available,” a copy) of all Web site posts and comments the applicant ever made is not a trivial task to complete — and means that the Obama administration may not be quite as tech-savvy as its reputation would indicate.
These and other questions seem to represent Obama’s plan to avoid the the Lani Guinier Effect. President Clinton appointed Guinier as assistant attorney general, and then was forced to withdraw her nomination in the face of severe criticism. Clinton claimed at the time that he had not read her writings favoring racial quotas.
Clinton also was forced to withdraw the nominations of Zoe Baird and Judge Kimba Wood for attorney general because of questions about whether they paid employment taxes for their nannies. President George W. Bush had the same problem with former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, appointed to be Homeland Security secretary.
Obama’s questionnaire seeks to remedy that problem. It asks four questions about domestic help, including housekeepers, babysitters, nannies, and gardeners. It asks about child support payments, information about enemies that may “criticize” your nomination, tax returns, loans, jobs held abroad, and so on.
One question asks: “Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide complete ownership and registration information.”
That’s raised eyebrows among gun owners — and drawn fire from the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action–because there is no general federal requirement that guns be registered. Under federal law, it’s possible to be given a firearm by a family member or purchase one from a private party without your name being included in a federal database. (Laws in a handful of states, including California, are more restrictive.)
In a 1996 survey sent to state politicians, Obama said he supports a law banning the “possession” of handguns. He also indicated he supported Washington, D.C.’s gun ban, which was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. His campaign Web site said the Second Amendment protects an individual right and noted that “millions of hunters and shooters own and use guns every year,” but did not mention firearms used for self-defense.

Obama Picks Up Another Electoral Vote

admin — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:46:02 +0000

Returns Show President-Elect Won One Electoral Vote In Nebraska; It’s The First Time The State Has SplitOMAHA, Neb., Nov. 14, 2008
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(CBS/ AP) President-elect Barack Obama has won one of Nebraska’s electoral votes, making history in a state that has never split its electoral votes.
CBS News has awarded one of Nebraska’s five electoral votes to Mr. Obama. John McCain has the other four.
Mr. Obama now has a total of 365 electoral votes to McCain’s 162. (Click here for full presidential results.)
After all remaining ballots were counted Friday, Mr. Obama emerged with a 3,325-vote lead over McCain in unofficial results in the 2nd Congressional District. The district covers Douglas County, which includes Omaha, and portions of adjacent Sarpy County.
Nebraska, with five votes, and Maine are the only states that divide their electoral votes by congressional district.
The last Democrat to win Nebraska was Lyndon B. Johnson, who carried the state in 1964.
A 1991 state law allows Nebraska to divide its five electoral votes. Two go to the statewide winner and one is awarded from each of the state’s three congressional districts.
McCain comfortably won the electoral votes tied to the 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts. He also won the statewide race with about 57 percent of the vote in preliminary returns.
Mr. Obama aggressively sought the one electoral vote. He opened three campaign offices in the district and had 16 paid staff during the campaign.
As of Friday’s unofficial results for the district, Obama has a total of 138,892 votes and McCain 135,567 votes. The Obama lead of 3,325 is far higher than the recount threshold of about 1,389, or 1 percent of Obama’s total.
Missouri, with 11 electoral votes, is still too close to call. Election officials there have until Tuesday to finish counting. (Click here for the latest numbers from Missouri.)

Tossed by financial waves, but not sunk

admin — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:01:12 +0000

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Things are getting rough for the recreational boating industry. New sales of smaller vessels, typically financed by borrowing, have contracted sharply, and sales of preowned yachts are plummeting.
The picture at the top end of the market is markedly different. Demand for new superyachts, costing upward of $20 million, remains robust - but for how long?
Boat builders and dealers are understandably nervous, but they are determined to weather the turbulence, just like they weathered the downturn after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. John Mitchell, an analyst with the Yacht Report, the boating industry bible, reckons there are similarities between industry developments after the attacks and the current state of play.
“There was a significant dip in yacht builds immediately after the terrorist attacks, but this was followed by a substantial hike,” Mitchell said. “The general consensus on this being that not only were fortunes severely depleted at the time, but many owners did not want to build yachts at a time of crisis and suffering - even if they could afford to.”
Expectations were high at the International Boat Show, which ran Oct. 30 through Nov. 4 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. At the show, an industry barometer for next season's trends, around 1,200 exhibitors occupied three million square feet or 279,000 square meters, of exhibition space, and an estimated 130,000 tickets were sold for the five-day extravaganza, which was - surprising to some - on a par with last year.
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“After witnessing a slowdown at the Monaco Yacht Show in September, we were concerned that dealers would struggle to close sales at Fort Lauderdale, but the majority of exhibitors reported keen interest from qualified buyers and a healthy number of repeat viewings,” said Skip Zimbalist, the show's organizer. “There was a strong international presence, with potential buyers flying in from Europe, Russia, Mexico and the Middle East.” Although Zimbalist did not have exact figures, he reckoned international ticket sales were up by 15 percent from 2007.
Bargain hunters were out in force at Fort Lauderdale, and dealers did not disappoint. “There were terrific discounts if you were prepared to buy secondhand,” Zimbalist said. “Preowned boats less than two years old were on sale for 50 percent less than the cost of a new model.”
Whether this flurry of interest translates into concrete sales remains to be seen. Zimbalist is cautiously optimistic. “It will take a few weeks to gauge the overall success of the show, as deals are taking longer to close and the financing market remains tight,” he said. “But all the indicators suggest that people still have money to spend on boats - especially at the top end.”
Vendors say they expect sales to continue to contract at the lower end of the market as many small and midtier boat owners bought craft with borrowed money, often secured on residential property. In many cases the value of these loans now exceeds the value of the assets. But the superyacht industry, which is not dependent on financing, is stronger than it has ever been before, Mitchell said.
“Many of the yachts being built around the world are in fact orders from repeat clients,” he said, “and there are several thousand families joining this upper rank of wealth every year, capable of building these vessels.”
Figures released by Camper & Nicholson, an international yacht brokerage firm, showed that new orders for superyachts had grown 18 percent in 2008. The size of the average superyacht is also ramping up. In the late 1990s a typical superyacht measured 70 feet to 80 feet long, or 21 meters to 24 meters. Today, the average superyacht is pushing 190 feet, with some as long as 450 feet.
Tom Chant, a spokesman for Superyacht UK, which represents the interests of British yacht vendors and brokers, said that a recession was unlikely to halt the growth in size of super yachts. “The majority of repeat orders are from owners who are wanting to trade up to bigger and more exotic models,” he said. “Owning a superyacht is all about making a statement. If money is no object, then size becomes important.”
There is also a practical reason boats are getting bigger. “Many superyacht owners want privacy - a yacht that can house a full complement of staff, and provide all the amenities that the ultrarich would expect to have access to on a daily basis,” Chant said. Exotic add-ons, like helipads and submarines, are also increasingly popular, which is pushing up the size of the yachts being built today.
But as money continues to be lost on world stock markets, even the ultrarich may be required to make economies. The rising costs associated with manning a vessel, especially fuel, crew and maintenance costs, means that owners have to spend around 10 percent of a yacht's value on annual running costs. For an 80 foot yacht that translates into $8 million a year, and many wealthy people have several yachts.