Bush Vetoes Bill to Expand

BUSH VETOED A BILL that would have dramatically expanded children's health insurance. It's the fourth veto of his presidency, and one that Republicans fear could carry risks in next year's elections.

Democrats in Congress vowed to try to override the veto, though it appears unlikely that the House will have the necessary two-thirds support to do so. While House Democrats say they are within about 13 to 15 votes of being able to override the veto, top Republicans in the chamber say they are confident they will be able to stop the effort. Read on @ Wall Street Journal

GOP Is Losing Grip

Deficit Hawks Defect
As Social Issues Prevail;
'The Party Left Me'

The Republican Party, known since the late 19th century as the party of business, is losing its lock on that title.

New evidence suggests a potentially historic shift in the Republican Party's identity -- what strategists call its "brand." The votes of many disgruntled fiscal conservatives and other lapsed Republicans are now up for grabs, which could alter U.S. politics in the 2008 elections and beyond.

Some business leaders are drifting away from the party because of the war in Iraq, the growing federal debt and a conservative social agenda they don't share. In manufacturing sectors such as the auto industry, some Republicans want direct government help with soaring health-care costs, which Republicans in Washington have been reluctant to provide. And some business people want more government action on global warming, arguing that a bolder plan is not only inevitable, but could spur new industries. Read on @ Wall Street Journal

Clinton Widens Lead In Poll

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has consolidated her place as the front-runner in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination, outpacing her main rivals in fundraising in the most recent quarter and widening her lead in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

For the first time, Clinton (N.Y.) is drawing support from a majority of Democrats -- and has opened up a lead of 33 percentage points over Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.). Her popularity, the poll suggests, is being driven by her strength on key issues and a growing perception among voters that she would best represent change. Read on @ Washington Post

Who Likes Hillary Clinton, and Who Doesn't?

Americans' opinions about New York Sen. and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton mirror the underlying partisan divide in the American population today. According to an analysis of a special aggregated sample of more than 7,000 interviews in which Americans were asked to rate Clinton, all conducted between June and September of this year, the public is split precisely down the middle when asked whether its opinions of Clinton are favorable or unfavorable.
Forty-eight percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Clinton, while 48% have an unfavorable opinion. Only 4% don't have an opinion of Clinton, making her one of the nation's most well-recognized (and polarizing) political figures.

But just who is most likely to have a favorable opinion of Clinton, and who is least likely to have a favorable opinion? See The Gallup Poll

The Economics of Professional Sports

The Economics lesson for Tuesday and Wednesday, October 2nd and 3rd...see below.
The Economics of Professional Sports: If You Build It, Will They Come? Read through the two articles from the following websites and evaluate the author's arguments.
List the arguments for and against Professional Sports as a tool of economic development.
Consider the following questions as you read:
1. What are some of the "economic impact" arguments against the public financing of stadiums and franchises?
2. What are some of the "economic impact" arguments for the public financing of stadiums and franchises?
3. What are some of the non-financial benefits of local professional sports franchises?
Article 1: Professional Sports Facilities, Franchises and Urban Economic Development
Article 2: What Are the Benefits of Hosting a Major League Sports Franchise?

Surveillance Showdown... "Privacy" zealots want America to forgo intelligence capabilities during wartime.

Would any sane country purposefully limit its ability to spy on enemy communications in time of war? That is the question Congress must answer as it takes up reform of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Privacy activists, civil libertarians and congressional Democrats argue that both foreign and domestic eavesdropping must be subject to judicial scrutiny and oversight, even if this means drastically reducing the amount of foreign intelligence information available to the government, without ever acknowledging the costs involved. It is time the American people had an open and honest debate on the relative importance of privacy and security.

FISA, of course, is the law regulating the government's interception of "electronic communications" for foreign intelligence purposes. Earlier this year the special FISA court narrowed dramatically the National Security Agency's ability to collect overseas intelligence under the law, so Congress passed a six-month amendment before its August recess to allow current surveillance programs to continue. That amendment should be made permanent. Continue to read @ Wall Street Journal

Iraq until at least 2013?

During the debate, she rarely came out of a defensive crouch, as if determined to protect her favored position. Answering the first question, she said her goal would be to withdraw all American troops from Iraq by 2013, but "it is very difficult to know what we are going to be inheriting" from the Bush administration, so she cannot make any pledge...read more of David S Broder @ Washington Post

9/11 Is Over

Not long ago, the satirical newspaper The Onion ran a fake news story that began like this:

“At a well-attended rally in front of his new ground zero headquarters Monday, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani officially announced his plan to run for president of 9/11. ‘My fellow citizens of 9/11, today I will make you a promise,’ said Giuliani during his 18-minute announcement speech in front of a charred and torn American flag. ‘As president of 9/11, I will usher in a bold new 9/11 for all.’ If elected, Giuliani would inherit the duties of current 9/11 President George W. Bush, including making grim facial expressions, seeing the world’s conflicts in terms of good and evil, and carrying a bullhorn at all state functions.”

Like all good satire, the story made me both laugh and cry, because it reflected something so true — how much, since 9/11, we’ve become “The United States of Fighting Terrorism.” Times columnists are not allowed to endorse candidates, but there’s no rule against saying who will not get my vote: I will not vote for any candidate running on 9/11. We don’t need another president of 9/11. We need a president for 9/12. I will only vote for the 9/12 candidate.

What does that mean? This: 9/11 has made us stupid. I honor, and weep for, all those murdered on that day. But our reaction to 9/11 — mine included — has knocked America completely out of balance, and it is time to get things right again. Continue with Thomas Friedman @ NYT

Obama at Howard

A strikingly expansive speech, a reminder of what Obama can deliver when he wants to. My sense is that he is holding back, or rather has been holding back. He is very, very careful not to get too angry as a black candidate. Perhaps too careful for his core message: real change. What he needs to do is find a way to explain how serious he is about change while explaining that he alone can overcome the boomer polarization that has prevented it. And that's true on the race issue as well. Yesterday, the message got sharper. Money quote @ Andrew Sullivan

Prison Beats College

What is wrong with this picture...nothing! However, what is wrong with this headline everything...

More than three times as many black people live in prison cells as in college dorms, the government said in a report to be released Thursday.

The ratio is only slightly better for Hispanics, at 2.7 inmates for every Latino in college housing. Among non-Hispanic whites, more than twice as many live in college housing as in prison or jail. To read more click Census Study Eyes Blacks in Prison

Photo of the Week

Arabian Night....

GOP Absent at Debate...

If you are a GOP Presidential candidate you need every opportunity to gain votes. The political climate for the GOP is not friendly when considering the issues of Iraq, Health Care, Energy, Environment, etc. Traditionally, when the GOP has the opportunity to slice into the Democratic voting base...they smile and swing away. Apparently, not when it comes to Minorities...soccer moms are OK but the major contenders for the GOP have taken a pass on the Thursday Republican Debate hosted in Baltimore. So the hits keep rolling for the GOP...from the left and the right. Why is the GOP scared of black voters?

Former Republican Congressman J.C. Watts Calls Decision Not to Attend 'Stupid'

Click here for ABCNEWS Video Report.

The Ugly Side of the G.O.P. by Bob Herbert @ NYT

President Bush at the United Nations

For all their nasty fights, maybe George W. Bush and the United Nations were meant for each other. They speak the same wide-eyed language of idealism, setting goals that are heavy on optimism and light on planning. And they love to strike heroic notes in the face of discordant reality. Bush tapped into that romantic synergy at the General Assembly Tuesday, calling on the U.N. and its members to rise to the promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and using that founding U.N. text as a sounding board for a speech on global liberation from tyranny, poverty and disease. More on President Bush's speech

Hillary...more Harry Truman than Howard Dean?

In the beginning of August, liberal bloggers met at the YearlyKos convention while centrist Democrats met at the Democratic Leadership Council’s National Conversation. Almost every Democratic presidential candidate attended YearlyKos, and none visited the D.L.C.

At the time, that seemed a sign that the left was gaining the upper hand in its perpetual struggle with the center over the soul of the Democratic Party. But now it’s clear that was only cosmetic.

Now it’s evident that if you want to understand the future of the Democratic Party you can learn almost nothing from the bloggers, billionaires and activists on the left who make up the “netroots.” You can learn most of what you need to know by paying attention to two different groups — high school educated women in the Midwest, and the old Clinton establishment in Washington. Read more of David Brooks @ NYT

Tactics from 1970 don't fit '07 reality

Just when it looked like Detroit's auto industry was poised for a breakthrough deal, the United Auto Workers strikes General Motors Corp. and we're back to 1970 all over again.

But it's not 1970, except here in Michigan. GM doesn't dominate its home market; foreign-owned rivals do. The UAW doesn't represent the growing work forces at rivals operating down South -- and probably won't anytime soon should this walkout become a recruiting poster for anti-UAW forces from Alabama to Texas.

What happened? continue @ Detroit News

What does President Bush, Israel, Syria and North Korea have in Common? A Secret...

Israel attacked Syria over Nuclear...Yes, in fact this has already happened but it is not prominently in the news? Puzzled read on...

Israel's decision to attack Syria on Sept. 6, bombing a suspected nuclear site set up in apparent collaboration with North Korea, came after Israel shared intelligence with President Bush this summer indicating that North Korean nuclear personnel were in Syria, U.S. government sources said. Read more @ Washington Post

How does Syria Respond? Read Syria's move

What Israel Really Gained by Bombing Syria...continue on @ The New Republic

Is President Bush Forsaking the GOP in 2008?

George W. Bush's damn-the-torpedoes determination to stay the course in Iraq has thus created an excruciating dilemma for the GOP. By sticking with the White House, Republicans in Congress can block the Democrats' efforts to end the war, either by filibuster or by upholding an almost certain veto of any bill challenging the war. But any such victory will be Pyrrhic, costing them dearly in next year's election. Between now and then, they'll remain trapped between a White House that isn't ready to give an inch and a Democratic caucus in the House and Senate that can force them to cast vote after embarrassing vote in defense of Bush's war over the next thirteen months, in full public view. Read more of Robert Dreyfuss, The Nation

Picks of the Week

College Football
#12 South Carolina at #2 LSU = Tigers chew up Gamecocks
Iowa at #9 Wisconsin = Hawkeyes pull the upset in Madison
#22 Georgia at #16 Alabama = Bulldogs bring the Tide back to earth
Washington at UCLA = Huskies get a big victory in LA
Oregon State at Arizona State = Reunion of OSU and Erickson goes to the Sun Devils

National Football League
San Francisco at Pittsburgh = Battle of two 2-0 teams goes to the Steelers
Indianapolis at Houston = Battle of two 2-0 teams goes to the Colts
Cincinnati at Seattle = Hawks deal another blow to the Bengals
Dallas at Chicago = Dallas learns the meaning of Big D in Chicago
Tennessee at New Orleans = Saints enjoy some home cooking and a win in the Super Dome

Thousands rally to show support for 'Jena 6'

Buses lined roads into Jena, Louisiana, today as people from across the country came to support the "Jena 6," six black teens charged in the beating of a white classmate. Buses lined up as far as the eye could see, reported CNN.com's Eliott McLaughlin. developing story
Other links to this story that has been in the shadows...

Federal Reserve Rate Cut: What Does It Mean?

The country's top monetary policymakers took a somewhat unusual step in trimming the discount rate. We explain what it does -- and doesn't mean.

The Federal Reserve's move to cut a half-point from the discount rate will go some distance in soothing financial markets roiled by problems in housing and subprime mortgages. But the Fed's move is significant not only for what it did, but also for what it didn't do -- cutting the federal funds rate, which has a direct impact on interest rates paid by businesses and individuals. To help you decipher what's going on, we've put together some questions and answers.