Friday, September 28, 2007

I told you so......

Iowa, N.H. Eye New Caucus, Primary Dates
by Craig Bachler

story compliments of My way....

By MIKE GLOVER

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Iowans could still be humming Auld Lang Syne as they gather to choose among presidential candidates, thanks to decisions by other states to move up their election dates.
Party leaders in Iowa are edging toward holding the state's leadoff caucuses as early as Jan. 3, although they'll hold off on a decision until New Hampshire selects a date for the nation's first primary.
"There are only a couple of days that work, and we don't want to go into December," said Iowa GOP head Chuck Laudner, who mentioned Jan. 3, 4 and 5 as dates being considered.
Iowa and New Hampshire have made clear they won't stand pat as states such as Michigan and Florida move up their election dates, but don't expect a decision soon. New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner has the sole power to schedule his state's primary, and he's not talking.
"I'm not any closer," Gardner said Thursday. "I can't (pick a date) at the moment because I don't know."
Iowa and New Hampshire party officials have been hearing that line for months.
"Tightly lipped, isn't he?" noted Fergus Cullen, New Hampshire's Republican chairman.
Party officials in the two states have frequently discussed election scenarios, and most think Gardner will opt for Jan. 8 as long as Iowa doesn't move to mid-December. That would give New Hampshire a week of breathing room before Michigan, one of several states that have ignored demands by both national parties that they not schedule contests before Feb. 5.
But some in New Hampshire speculate that Gardner could move the primary into December - perhaps Dec. 18 - to ensure plenty of time before the contests to follow. Iowa is committed to being first, but officials clearly shudder at the thought of a December caucus. As Iowa Gov. Chet Culver put it, "In this state, we're still going to have Christmas."
In a sign that the New Hampshire primary date is certain to move up, Gardner said Friday he was moving up the filing period for candidates three weeks, to Oct. 15. Candidates will be able to file to be on the ballot through Nov. 2.
"It would allow the date of the primary to be earlier," he said, while adding he's made no decision about setting the date.
For now, Iowa's caucus date remains Jan. 14, eight days before the date when national Democrats want New Hampshire to hold its primary. But it is all-but-certain that the preferred calendar is wishful thinking.
The longer Gardner delays his decision, the less likely that other states would leapfrog in front of New Hampshire. But the uncertainty is creating headaches in Iowa, where the parties must arrange the caucuses, find spots to hold neighborhood meetings in each of the state's 1,784 precincts, and get the word out to activists.
Iowa Democratic Party spokeswoman Carrie Giddins said the wait is frustrating, but the parties will make do.
"No matter when that date is chosen, we will run very serious, very correct caucuses," Giddens said.
In his 31 years as New Hampshire's secretary of state, Gardner has waited as late as December before selecting a primary date. But New Hampshire state Rep. Jim Splaine, who has worked with Gardner on primary issues since 1980, said he expects an announcement in November.
Analyst Jennifer Donahue at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., said she's sure Gardner is talking with Iowa officials about a date that could work for both states.
"Iowa isn't trying to make it harder for us," Donahue said. "If anything, they're trying to make it easier for us. They always have."
Although Iowa law requires the caucuses to be held "at least eight days earlier" than any other contest, the rule has been ignored in past elections.
In 1988, Michigan held a delegate selection process before Iowa, but it got little attention. Later, Alaska held an earlier contest as well.
Brad Anderson, a spokesman for Culver, said the governor is willing to call a quick special legislative session if needed to change that law, but few think that's necessary.
David Nagle, a former Iowa Democratic Party chairman who largely established the current calendar in 1984, argues it's a matter of being adamant about the state's place in the process, even while holding delicate talks with New Hampshire.
As Nagle put it in a memo to party leaders, "If New Hampshire chooses to move in front of us, then we will move again. New Hampshire must understand that if they go in July, we will go in June."
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Associated Press writers Philip Elliott and Norma Love in Concord, N.H., contributed to this report.


Here is my take,

I made it clear to all 115 members if the Florida Legislature that moving the primary was a bad idea.
Their response (add cricket sound here).............................

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Congress Denounces Iranian President

I have a solution.....
by Craig Bachler

from the AP again,

WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress signaled its disapproval of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a vote Tuesday to tighten sanctions against his government and a call to designate his Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group.
The swift rebuke was a rare display of bipartisan cooperation in a Congress bitterly divided on the Iraq war. It reflected lawmakers' long-standing nervousness about Tehran's intentions in the region, particularly toward Israel—a sentiment fueled by the pro-Israeli lobby whose influence reaches across party lines in Congress.
"Iran faces a choice between a very big carrot and a very sharp stick," said Rep. Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "It is my hope that they will take the carrot. But today, we are putting the stick in place."
The House passed, by a 397-16 vote, a proposal by Lantos, D-Calif., aimed at blocking foreign investment in Iran, in particular its lucrative energy sector. The bill would specifically bar the president from waiving U.S. sanctions.
Current law imposes sanctions against any foreign company that invests $20 million or more in Iran's energy industry, although the U.S. has waived or ignored sanction laws in exchange for European support on nonproliferation issues.
In the Senate, Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., proposed a nonbinding resolution urging the State Department to label Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.
Kyl and Lieberman said the proposal does not authorize military force again Iran, but encourages the U.S. to cut off its financial support.
The Bush administration had already been considering whether to blacklist a unit within the Revolutionary Guard, subjecting part of the vast military operation to financial sanctions.
The legislative push came a day after Ahmadinejad defended Holocaust revisionists, questioned who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks and declared homosexuals didn't exist in Iran in a tense question-and- answer session at Columbia University.
The Iranian president was to speak Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly.
Lantos' bill was expected to draw criticism from U.S. allies in Europe. During a visit to Washington last week, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told lawmakers that France opposes any U.S. legislation that would target European countries operating in Iran. He argued that such sanctions could undermine cooperation on dealing with Iran.


My solution,
show them what a nuke can do, flatten Iran!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Columbia University promoting hate!

Columbia Won't Cancel Ahmadinejad Speech
by Craig Bachler

Story by AP

NEW YORK (AP) - Columbia University said it does not plan to call off a speech by Iran's president despite pressure from critics including the City Council speaker, who said the Ivy League school was providing a forum for "hate-mongering vitriol."
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is traveling to New York to address the United Nations' General Assembly. He was to appear Monday at a question-and- answer session with Columbia faculty and students as part of the school's World Leaders Forum.
The State Department calls Iran a state sponsor of terror, and Ahmadinejad has called the Holocaust "a myth" and urged for Israel to be destroyed.
City Council speaker Christine Quinn called Thursday for the university to rescind the invitation, saying "the idea of Ahmadinejad as an honored guest anywhere in our city is offensive to all New Yorkers."
Quinn, a Democrat, said Ahmadinejad was coming to the city "for one reason—to spread his hate-mongering vitriol on the world stage."
His planned appearance at Columbia also was condemned by Jewish groups including the Jewish Defense Organization, which described Ahmadinejad as "the Hitler of Iran."
Columbia spokesman Robert Hornsby said Thursday there was no plan to cancel the appearance, though the university dropped plans for an Ahmadinejad speech last year because of security and logistical problems. The decision came after a Jewish activist group expressed outrage over the invitation.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday that the university was free to invite Ahmadinejad to speak, but "personally, I wouldn't go to listen to him—I don't care about what he says."
White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said Friday that the Bush administration had no involvement with Columbia's decision.
"This is a country where people can come and speak their minds," he said, adding, "It would be wonderful if some of the countries that take advantage of that here allowed it for their own citizens there."
Columbia President Lee Bollinger, in announcing Ahmadinejad's upcoming appearance, described the event as part of "Columbia's long-standing tradition of serving as a major forum for robust debate." He said the Iranian president had agreed to answer questions on Israel and the Holocaust.
Ahmadinejad's trip to New York also ignited a debate this week over his rejected request to lay a wreath at ground zero. Politicians and families of Sept. 11 victims were outraged that Iran's president might visit the site.
Police rejected Ahmadinejad's request, citing construction and security concerns. In an interview scheduled to air Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," Ahmadinejad indicated he would not press the issue but expressed disbelief that the visit would offend Americans.
___

Here is my take on this,
Parents, pull the plug on sending in your tuition payments to this poor excuse of a school until they tell this monger of hate to take a hike!
Boycott the event, it is one thing to be an open and free thinker, but this piece of crap is opposed to free thinking.
If my tax dollars are going to this school in the for of student funding, I want it stoppede!
Stop all FAFSA loans, grants and any monies generated from the American taxpayer.