Other Political News

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Corzine Shuts N.J. Gov't Down Amid Dispute Over Sales Tax


Gov. Jon S. Corzine closed the state government Saturday amid a bitter dispute with fellow Democrats in the Assembly over his plan to increase the sales tax, threatening to shutter beaches, parks and possibly casinos in the coming days.

After Saturday's constitutional deadline to adopt a new balanced budget passed without agreement, Corzine signed an executive order just after 9:30 a.m., a grim climax to weeks of budget squabbling among Democrats who control state government but haven't been able to agree on a budget bill.

"It gives me no joy, no satisfaction, no sense of empowerment to do what I'm forced to do here," Corzine said.

Within minutes of Corzine signing the order, road construction projects were required to begin winding down. Motor vehicle offices planned to close at noon. About 45,000 state employees were immediately furloughed. State courts were closed for anything but emergencies. State-run beaches are set to close Wednesday morning.

Services such as state police, prisons, mental hospitals and child welfare were to keep operating. The casinos could be forced to close because they require state monitoring, though the casino industry is challenging a possible closure in court.

A bid by Atlantic City's 12 casinos Friday to get state monitors declared "essential employees" who would stay on the job despite a government shutdown is now before an emergency appellate court panel, casino association lawyer John Kearney said Saturday.

The dispute centers on Corzine's determination to raise the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to help close a $4.5 billion budget deficit.

Corzine sees the increase as a vital step toward providing reliable annual revenue, but most Democrats in the Assembly — the lower house of the state Legislature — and several Senate Democrats say the plan is unnecessary.

Opponents have questioned the need for a sales tax increase, predicting voter backlash and demanding that any increase be reserved for property tax reform.

The state Constitution requires a balanced budget by July 1, but the deadline has been missed four times in five years. Nothing happened when deadlines were missed before, but the state never went past the morning of July 2 without an adopted budget. Without one, the state has no authority to spend money.

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Mexican ex-president ordered arrested in massacre

A judge on Friday ordered the arrest of Mexico's former President Luis Echeverria for a 1968 student massacre in a surprise move just two days before a presidential election.

An appeals court found enough evidence to support the charge of genocide brought against Echeverria, 84, by special prosecutor Ignacio Carrillo and hold the former president for trial, reversing a lower court decision last year.

The arrest order, after two failed attempts in recent years to charge Echeverria with genocide, is a breakthrough in outgoing President Vicente Fox's halting drive to punish those responsible for past government brutality. Fox leaves office in December.

"For the first time in Mexico's history a president will be tried in this way," Carrillo said after receiving Judge Jose Angel Mattar's 1,200-page resolution in the complex case. "This will work against a repetition of abuse of power, to impede it forever."

Echeverria is expected to be held under house arrest due to his age and health concerns, defense attorney Juan Velasquez said. Echeverria was president from 1970 to 1976, at the height of a so-called dirty war against leftists.

He was interior minister in charge of national security when government troops stormed a student rally in the capital on October 2, 1968, days before the opening of the Mexico City Olympics in a tragedy that remains an open wound for many Mexicans.

'HISTORIC ACCOMPLISHMENT'

"This is an historic accomplishment after a long struggle by many for justice and truth in the face of a criminal state in the Echeverria era," said Joel Ortega, who witnessed the massacre as a student protester.

Voters go to the polls on Sunday in the first presidential election since 2000, when Fox ousted the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which ruled Mexico for seven decades, at times using repression to crush dissent.

It was not clear what impact the arrest order could have on the vote, which is seen as a test of Mexico's young democracy after a history of authoritarian and often corrupt presidents.

Leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has a wafer-thin lead in the polls over ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon.

PRI candidate Roberto Madrazo is in third place in opinion polls and his party has criticized the probe into past rights abuses.

Officials said about 30 people were killed in what came to be known as the Tlatelolco massacre. But witnesses and rights activists put the death toll as high as 300. Echeverria has denied responsibility for the blood bath.

Carrillo, named by Fox to investigate and prosecute dirty-war crimes, says Echeverria oversaw a bloody campaign to stamp out dissidents when he was interior minister and president.

International rights groups question the charge, however, saying that the 1968 massacre and other crimes of the period do not meet international definitions of genocide.

But Carrillo said Judge Mattar's decision on Friday upheld the prosecution's argument that genocide had occurred in the Tlatelolco massacre and there was evidence that Echeverria was behind it.

Hundreds of leftists were killed or disappeared at the hands of government security forces from the 1960s to the 1980s.

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Government to vote on supplying electricity to Gaza

The government will vote Sunday on a proposal to supply electricity from Israel to the Gaza Strip, in order to resume electricity to the area after an Israel Air Force strike on a Palestinian power station there.

If approved, the Israel Electric Corporation will erect special electrical lines stretching from Israel into Gaza. According to government sources, Sunday's vote follows days of international pressure.

The Gaza Strip requires 200 megawatts of electricity, half of which is provided by the power station, and half which is supplied by the Israel Electric Corporation. After the IAF strike, the power station's capacity was cut by half.

United States officials said Saturday that U.S. funds would be used to pay for the damages caused by the strike. The power station was insured by a U.S. government agency, according to The Boston Globe.

The U.S. Foreign and Defense Ministry departments that oversee foreign relations were unaware of the decision to target civilian facilities in the Strip, or the decision to attack the power station. Because of this, officials did not know that the station was insured by a U.S. government agency. Israel did not inform the U.S. prior to attacking the power station.

The power station in Gaza was built over a period of five years, at a cost of $150 million. In 1999, the Enron Corporation, along with Palestinian businessman Said Khoury, began working on the project. In 2000, Khoury's Morganti Group purchased Enron's share of the project.

The power station began operating in 2002, reaching full commercial capacity in 2004. The owners of the power station insured it, through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, for a sum of $48 million due to "political risks." OPIC is a U.S. government authority that insures U.S. investments in developing markets.

A spokesman for the agency said the insurance purchased by the Morganti Group covers instances of political violence, which include wars and acts of terror.

The plant supplies electricity to some 860,000 people.

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Mexican conservative could buck trend

For all the talk of the rise of Latin America's left, Mexican presidential hopeful Felipe Calderon could show on Sunday that, while unfashionable, U.S.-style conservatives can still win hearts and minds.

Years of stuttering market reforms under outgoing President
Vicente Fox from free trade to a credit card bonanza have taken root among many voters who fear leftists so popular in countries like Venezuela and Bolivia could bring ruin.

Leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is a slight favorite in Sunday's elections but polls are so close that a win for the Harvard-educated Calderon, promising more foreign investment and pro-business reforms, is a real possibility.

The core of Calderon's support lies with an emerging middle class in Mexico enjoying years of relative financial stability following the currency devaluations and debt crises that plagued the country in the 1980s and 1990s.

Under Fox, who ended 71 years of Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, rule six years ago, many Mexicans have enjoyed greater access to consumer credit despite tepid growth. The number of credit cards in Mexico has nearly tripled during his term and a stable peso has spawned more savings accounts and mortgages.

The NAFTA free trade deal has sparked an explosion in U.S. goods. Consumers flock to Wal-Mart and Home Depot. Shopping malls that would not be out of place in U.S. suburbia litter many wealthier Mexican cities near the U.S. border.

Many middle-class Mexicans now have something to lose.

"(With Calderon) we'll have stability," said 36-year-old aerobics teacher Maripi Ablanedo Vargas, who bought a house with a mortgage thanks to lower interest rates.

"(Lopez Obrador) only speaks about raising wages, but where's the money going to come from? He'll increase debts, everything will rise, inflation," Vargas added.

BENEFITING THE RICH?

For Vargas, these benefits under Fox are in danger from Lopez Obrador's populist anti-poverty crusade, which she fears will mean a return to wasteful high spending.

Calderon is hoping to follow the electoral successes of pro-U.S. conservatives like Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

But many other Latin Americans are rebelling against decades of market reforms and millions of poor Mexicans distrust conservatives. They feel governments like Fox's benefit the rich and do little to create jobs.

Much of Calderon's support comes from northern Mexico, where factories catering to U.S. consumers have led to rising wages, auto and housing booms. Lopez Obrador's support is strongest in southern states, where poverty is endemic.

Calderon, a stiffish 43-year-old lawyer, was for months an underdog in the race. His message of continuity from Fox was uninspiring for many Mexicans who packed rallies to hear the more charismatic Lopez Obrador promise better pensions and health care.

But Calderon gathered support midway through the campaign by playing on fears of radicalism, portraying Lopez Obrador as "danger for Mexico."

"Calderon has the more coherent economic policies. He is not going to make us suffer as small businessmen," said cantina owner Mundo Tavera, a lifelong PRI supporter.

"With Lopez Obrador, all I can think about is shielding myself from devaluations."

While Calderon's enemies paint him as elitist, he has tried to swing independent voters by selling himself as the image of modernity against the out-of-date economic nationalism of his rival.

"Calderon represents the consolidation of Mexico's modernization project. This is a project that has been taking root in Mexico," said Carlos Sirvent, a political science professor at Mexico's UNAM university.

"People talk about a leftist backlash in Latin America but it's not so simple. Much of the impact of free trade is here to stay, no matter who wins," he added.

[Soldier4Christ]

Historic shutdown 'no joy' for Corzine
The governor's closing of the N.J. government was a first. And until the budget is balanced, some services will stay shut. Efforts are under way today.


TRENTON - Gov. Corzine declared an unprecedented New Jersey state government shutdown yesterday after failing to come to a budget agreement with lawmakers by yesterday's constitutional deadline.

Corzine's historic action brought a quick halt to lottery sales, horse racing and road construction projects.

Atlantic City's 12 casinos were in court, fighting a possible closure.

And if the budget standoff continues through the holiday weekend, state campgrounds and parks - including Island Beach State Park - could close Wednesday.

"It gives me no joy, no satisfaction, no sense of empowerment to do what I am forced to do today," Corzine said at a morning Statehouse news conference.

The Democratic freshman governor and majority-party Democratic lawmakers remain locked in a stalemate over legislative resistance to the governor's proposed increase in the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to solve years-long fiscal crises.

Without a state budget, the state has no legal authority to spend money.

Corzine signed an executive order yesterday allowing the normal operation of prisons, state police, state hospitals, child-welfare work and other services considered essential.

But the order closes motor vehicle offices, mostly shutters state court activity, and puts 45,000 of the 80,000 state employees on furlough until the shutdown ends.

Atlantic City casinos were operating normally yesterday, but were legally fighting their possible closure. The casinos require the presence of state inspectors.

No action was expected until at least noon today, the deadline for the casino association to file more information before the state appellate court, said casino attorney John Kearney. Corzine said he would allow the court to decide whether the casinos would shut down.

That the state's constitutional deadline fell on a weekend allowed a bit of a breather before the first official business day tomorrow. And state parks would not close until after the busy holiday weekend, officials said.

But the shutdown dismayed racing officials, who were forced to shut down racing and simulcasting at the Meadowlands Racetrack and Monmouth Park yesterday evening because state regulators could not be on duty.

Racing officials said that the July Fourth weekend was one of their busiest each year and that they could lose $1 million in revenue if the shutdown continued through the holiday.

Corzine said yesterday that the shutdown would cost the state money, but no estimates were available. State employees considered nonessential would not get paid for the shutdown, but the governor said he hoped to negotiate with lawmakers to provide some compensation after the shutdown is over.

If it continues for several weeks, it could also affect state employees' health benefits and the payment of welfare checks, state officials said.

Though the statehouse was mostly quiet yesterday, legislators said they were determined to end the shutdown within days.

Still, Corzine continued to press for the sales-tax increase. And Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts, who is leading the opposition, wasn't budging from his position, either.

"It is our view, and it is a majority view, that there is a better way to balance the budget than relying on the regressive sales tax," Roberts said.

He called the shutdown "avoidable and extraordinarily unfortunate" and has told Assembly budget committee members to be prepared to work today into tomorrow "so that Democrats and Republicans can redouble efforts to find a consensus budget," he said.

Senate President Richard J. Codey also asked all senators to come back at noon tomorrow and to be prepared to remain in session until a budget was adopted.

Roberts said that he, Corzine and Codey plan to meet today.

Codey has offered a compromise that would reserve half the sales-tax proceeds for property-tax relief. Corzine has said he is interested in it, but Roberts has rejected it in favor of an alternative plan that would raise payroll taxes and impose other fees on furs, rental cars and magazines.

So the Corzine administration remained $1 billion apart from an agreement with Assembly leaders - about the same amount the sales-tax increase would raise, said state Treasurer Bradley Abelow. Talks on Friday got the sides only about $8 million closer, he said.

Around mid-afternoon yesterday, Abelow said he was surprised at the lack of action. "I'm walking around and there's no one here," said Abelow, shrugging his shoulders. "I take it they don't feel the same sense of urgency."

The constitution does not address what happens if the deadline is not met. In past years, lawmakers have frozen the clock at 11:59 p.m. for more time to work out budget disputes without consequence - hence avoiding a previous shutdown.

But Corzine's chief counsel, Stuart Rabner, said that wasn't happening this year.

"The problem with the so-called notion of 'stopping the clock,' " Rabner said, "is that it does not, in fact, stop the passage of time."

The Issue

Gov. Corzine, who remains at odds with legislators about his proposed increase in the state sales tax, ordered a shutdown of state government yesterday.

Corzine sought a tax increase to close a $4.5 billion deficit in the state's $31 billion budget. But some legislators argued that cutting spending and expanding existing taxes could achieve the same goal.

New Jersey has missed the June 30 budget deadline three times in the last five years, but no governor had ever ordered a shutdown, says the state's Office of Legislative Services, the research arm of the Legislature.

Effect of Shutdown

• No lottery tickets, no payouts. The lottery stopped selling tickets. Drawings will continue for any tickets sold, but winners will not be paid until the shutdown ends.

No horse racing. Horse racing and simulcasting at the Meadowlands Racetrack and Monmouth Park stopped.

• Casinos could shut Atlantic City's 12 casinos, which can't operate without state inspectors, face a noon deadline today to file more information to court to prevent closure. Corzine said he would let the court decide.

• Parks open on the Fourth. The state campgrounds and parks - including the state's two beaches - are expected to be open through the holiday. They would close Wednesday.

• Motor Vehicle Commission shut.Motor vehicle offices closed yesterday.

• Employees furloughed. About 45,000 of the state's 80,000 employees, considered nonessential workers, are on furlough.

• Courts shut. Courts will be mainly closed beginning tomorrow.

• Still operating. New Jersey Transit operations, prisons, state police, developmental centers, veterans' homes, mental hospitals, disease prevention and health officers, child welfare, transportation safety work, environmental contamination response, amusement park inspectors.

[Soldier4Christ]

California anti-terror agency denies monitoring rallies
Security director says draft memos were produced by consultants


SACRAMENTO, CALIF. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office said Saturday that he was ordering the release of dozens of intelligence reports prepared for the state Office of Homeland Security — a step that comes as lawmakers from both parties are denouncing a practice in which state intelligence agents compiled information about political and anti-war rallies.

Schwarzenegger administration officials say there were only two cases in which state homeland security agents collected material on political protests in recent months.

Releasing the full trove of intelligence reports will prove that point, according to those officials.

State lawmakers from both parties said it was inexcusable that two such intelligence reports from March and April carried details about the location and purpose of political rallies throughout California.

The two reports were obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

"The governor believes that any inappropriate information gathering like this is totally unacceptable," said Adam Mendelsohn, Schwarzenegger's communications director.

The governor's homeland security director, Matthew Bettenhausen, said the material was mistakenly included in the reports by a private contractor working for his office.

Schwarzenegger will allow the press to review the approximately 60 intelligence reports, but no copies will be allowed, Mendelsohn said.

The homeland security office quickly arranged a news conference Saturday morning to offer some reassurances.

Bettenhausen said there was no surveillance of any of the political demonstrations that were listed in the intelligence reports.

One of the rallies was staged by animal advocates protesting the slaughter of Canadian seals.

Another was a women's peace protest aimed at showing support for a Salinas woman facing charges of trespassing at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Several other protests concerned the war in Iraq.

[Soldier4Christ]

Lopez Obrador stirs deeply divided race
Critics say his ideas are a danger to the country, while others say he has solutions


MEXICO CITY - About 40 million Mexicans head to the polls today to choose a president in a down-to-the-wire race, with Mexico poised to join Latin America's political left.

The vote comes against a backdrop of political division and social unrest not seen in years.

Wildcat strikes about work conditions, urban peasant clashes with riot police and drug-cartel violence in which police have been decapitated underscore calls for change.

"The whole justice system is bad," said Maria Isabel Miranda, whose son was kidnapped and murdered by a gang led by a corrupt cop.

Others say despite the violence, the government is more open than ever, the economy is stable and social programs have delivered cement floors for homes, computers for classrooms and mortgages for families.

Mexico's internationally respected electoral institute is expected to deliver a clean vote.

To combat fraud, officials are deploying observers, guarding ballots and voters' thumbs will be dipped in ink.

To reduce rowdiness, bars are closed for the weekend.

And to avoid the appearance of meddling, outgoing President Vicente Fox won't address the nation until vote totals are released.

If the margin is close, officials will likely hold off projections from partial totals.

A close election is complicated by the possibility of the loser not conceding.

Most Mexicans don't trust the government to honestly tally ballots, and if incited, could protest, block highways and carry out work stoppages.

However it turns out, the election amounts to a referendum on leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, of the Democratic Revolution Party.

The vote could render him a footnote or give him the chance to save the masses and become a bogeyman to the wealthy, whose privileges he threatens.

"His proposals, like giving away money, will take us nowhere," said Jorge Aguilarv, 38, an insurance agent, as he walked along posh Avenida Masaryk, where everything from Ferraris to diamond watches are sold. "A lot of investment will flee the country."

Standing in Lopez Obrador's way is Felipe Calderon, of the ruling National Action Party.

The Harvard-educated conservative promises to keep Mexico on a course of economic stability and push reforms that he says will lead to more and better-paying jobs.

Neither candidate has directly bad-mouthed Washington, but both say they want to lead a strong, independent government. They've also said they want to see more Mexicans legally working in the United States, but create jobs so people won't go north as immigrants.

Time is running out for people like Porfirio Espinosa Rojanov, a down-on-his luck farmer who lives outside Mexico City and doesn't even have enough money to buy enough seed to plant his entire football-field size plot of land.

"I do not know what I am going do. Let's see if the next president brings us more work," said Espinosa, 48. "If not, I am going to go the United States."

He wouldn't say who he supports.

If Calderon defeats Lopez Obrador, the former Mexico City mayor isn't expected to go quietly.

A master at mobilizing the masses, it would surprise few if he challenged the vote in the courts and led massive marches.

Win or lose, this election is about Lopez Obrador.

He is portrayed by the PAN as "a danger to Mexico," but supporters think he is the solution for poverty and corruption.

"Our society is strongly divided; there is a left and right like we have never seen before, but it is not like the left of (Cuban leader Fidel) Castro or (Venezuelan leader) Hugo Chavez," said leftist intellectual Carlos Monsivais.

"We must not be defeated by pacifism and conformity; we need to try an alternative and to me that alternative is Lopez Obrador," Monsivais said.

But Jorge Castañeda, who was Fox's foreign minister, calls Lopez Obrador dangerous and said he had no respect for laws that get in his way.

"He is ideologically quite similar to Chavez and the Cuban government," Castañeda said. "He is someone who will do a lot of harm to U.S.-Mexican relations."

There is a consensus on one thing: Lopez Obrador is the candidate most likely to challenge Washington. He's also more likely to forge ties with a Latin America that is increasingly moving to the left.

"Behind closed doors, the United States is somewhat concerned about," a Lopez Obrador victory, said Pamela Starr, a Latin America analyst.

"Clearly, the United States would prefer somebody like Felipe Calderon. ... Lopez Obrador is somewhat an unknown commodity for the United States," she said.

Calderon said he will demand respect from Washington, but he is seen as less a risk than Lopez Obrador for furthering the divide with the Bush administration.

For some families, a president fighting for the poor could have a lasting effect.

As mayor of Mexico City, where he governed with high approval ratings until resigning to campaign, Lopez Obrador started pension-like programs for the elderly, disabled and single mothers.

He used his daily 6 a.m. news conferences as a springboard to bolster his national profile in preparation for a presidential run, and was admired for having an economy car and modest apartment. He is known for paranoid tendencies.

As president, critics fear he would use his powers to manipulate Mexico's weak justice system.

Starr calls these concerns exaggerated, as Lopez Obrador promises fiscal discipline.

"From the perspective of the elite, they are rightfully concerned, because Lopez Obrador will try to dramatically reduce their historic and economic privileges in the country," said Starr, adding that he'd make them pay taxes and halt corporate monopolies.

That's a stark contrast to Calderon, who promises to broaden Mexico's tax base without scaring off investment, which he insists is key to improving life for the poor.

Calderon is seen as a safe bet for those who support democratic and economic reforms envisioned by Fox, and aims to bolster Mexico's global competitiveness and leadership role in Latin America.

While most Mexicans might not trust institutions from courts to police to the presidency there is a feeling that their presidential vote will really count for only the second time in modern history.

In 2000, Mexicans from all along the political spectrum came together to elect Fox, who defeated the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which ruled for 71 years.

Prior to that, presidential elections were seen as a rubber stamp on the presidential tradition of handpicking a successor.

Although Lopez Obrador is running first in most polls and Calderon a close second, some observers have suggested that Roberto Madrazo, candidate for the flailing PRI, has an outside shot. Local offices are still the PRI's strong point. The party governs 17 of Mexico's 32 states and 70 percent of its municipalities.

[Soldier4Christ]

FEMA to aid 8 counties
Tioga County, individuals could be included later; Pataki rips feds for not giving more funding now

BINGHAMTON -- The federal government Saturday declared eight flood-ravaged counties in New York eligible for cleanup aid but excluded Tioga County and four others the state had requested be covered.

In addition, no money was made available for individuals who suffered losses, though that may change.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency declaration includes money for only infrastructure repair and debris removal.

However, the top FEMA official in New York said she expects other counties to be declared disaster areas shortly, and that individuals in the hardest-hit counties will eventually get FEMA help.

The FEMA decision brought a sharp rebuke from Gov. George E. Pataki.

"While we appreciate the complexity and magnitude of the enormous task at hand, some determinations are simply self-evident," Pataki said in a statement.

"As we move forward with state relief efforts, I will continue to press FEMA for a swift, complete and full disaster declaration that meets not only the needs of local government but also the needs of individual hard-pressed New Yorkers," he said.

Under the declaration announced Saturday, the agency will provide aid for Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Herkimer, Montgomery, Otsego, Sullivan and Ulster counties. But the state had asked for aid for five more: Tioga, Cortland, Orange, Schoharie and Oneida. All were left off the list, according to Jason Brown, a Pataki spokesman.

But the top FEMA official, Maryanne Jackson, said the Saturday declaration merely represented "up-front money."

"We want to get assistance out as quickly as possible," she said, and expects there will be more once damage estimates from local governments are verified. "Other determinations will be made quickly," she said, meaning "within days, certainly."

The FEMA declaration means that the federal government will pay 75 percent of the costs of eligible projects like the repair of roads, bridges and water-treatment plants in the covered counties, as well as three-quarters of the cost of removing debris. Pataki has already pledged $10 million in state money to pay the rest.

There is not yet a reliable estimate for how much it will cost to repair flood damage, but Pataki said earlier this week he thinks it will be at least $100 million. He also has pledged $25 million more in state money for grants of up to $5,000 for individuals.

"FEMA needs to come down there and see the damage," said Assemblywoman Donna A. Lupardo, D-Endwell, who spent Saturday checking out damaged homes and facilities in Johnson City and Endicott. She said the number of damaged homes runs into the thousands.

"We have to keep pushing the point with FEMA that individuals need help," she said.

[Soldier4Christ]

McCain talks war, religion, immigration

Music Festival crowd peppers former presidential candidate with questions

Republican Sen. John McCain told a crowd gathered at the Benedict Music Tent he thinks the war on terror will "go on for a long time" and that he supports the Bush administration's approach to preventing Iran from acquiring weapons of mass destruction.

The one-time presidential candidate fielded questions from an audience assembled Saturday night for the Aspen Music Festival's "Evening of Words and Music."

McCain sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 but then supported his opponent, then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush, after losing the nomination to him in the primaries.

A veteran of the Vietnam War, McCain was a prisoner of war in Hanoi for more than five years. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1958, and one of his sons followed in his footsteps, marking the fourth generation of McCains to attend that service academy. Another son recently enlisted in the Marines, and McCain told Saturday's crowd he will report for duty on Sept. 11.

In a CNN poll conducted June 1-6, 60 percent of respondents said they "might consider" or "would definitely vote for" McCain if he runs for president in 2008.

The Arizona senator identified finding new sources of oil and combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction "as they become easier and easier to acquire" as other priorities for the United States.

On the home front, McCain said Congress must address a failure to control spending and broken Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid systems.

"It's not a matter of whether - it's a matter of when these two safety systems are no longer there," he said.

Although the national economy is good and unemployment is low, McCain said most Americans still fear they won't have jobs or health care in the future.

"We have a booming economy, [but] 65-70 percent feel America is on the wrong track," he said.

Audience members, including California Congresswoman Jane Harman, drilled McCain on immigration issues, ongoing controversy surrounding prisoner abuse at military prisons, how the United States should be involved in combating genocide in Sudan, teaching evolution and creationism in schools and on the government's eavesdropping on Americans' phone calls.

McCain said the current immigration problem is a "product of 40-50 years of broken American policy" and that to stem the tide of incoming illegals, he "would enforce the borders - we're doing that now."

With regard to the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country, McCain said there are three options: the status quo, which he said is "not acceptable"; sending the immigrants back to their homelands - unlikely; and making them become citizens. He said the United States' current system for earning citizenship is lengthy and complicated and does not fit the definition of amnesty.

"Four-hundred and ten people died in the desert of Arizona last year," he said. "Many of [those who survive] are exploited and abused and mistreated."

McCain said those immigrants are offered no protection under American laws.

On the question of the United States' failure to act against acts of genocide in Rwanda and what the country's role should be in Sudan, McCain noted that the U.S. did intervene in Bosnia and Kosovo, and he said he is proud of the nation's actions there. However, he called the country's failure to act in Rwanda a "black mark" on American history.

As for Sudan, the senator said he would want the nation to "provide whatever logistic assistance we need to get African troops into the area." And if that fails, he would "send American troops rather than see millions of people die."

In the final question of the evening, an audience member asked McCain to outline his stance on teaching evolution and creationism in schools.

"I think Americans should be exposed to every point of view," he said. "I happen to believe in evolution. ... I respect those who think the world was created in seven days. Should it be taught as a science class? Probably not."

Nevertheless, the senator said he does believe in God, and he doesn't think Christian groups have too much influence on the Republican Party.

"I think there's room for the religious right in our party," he said.

And for those who think that faction holds too much sway, McCain had a strong message: "Get in the arena. Go out there and register to vote and recruit candidates."

[Soldier4Christ]

Today, Mexicans choose a U.S. ally or large changes

A deeply divided Mexico goes to the polls today to decide whether to stick with the U.S.-friendly policies of President Vicente Fox or to clean house.

At the end of the most competitive, negative campaign in Mexican history, the results of the two-man, left-vs.-right race could be even more important to the prosperity of the United States' southern neighbor than Fox's landmark victory six years ago.

Perlita Hernandez Monteyo, 33, plans to vote for Fox ally Felipe Calderon. Why? As a result of the conservative Fox's "government of change," her family qualified for a housing credit that allowed them to own their first home and feel part of a small but growing middle class.

Hilda Cruz Martinez, 30, will vote for former Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Her family lives in a two-room shack with no running water and hijacked electricity. She said she believes only a fresh start with the leftist ex-mayor will help poor people like her have a decent life.

The two families' dreams and passions explain why the race between Lopez Obrador and Calderon is so close and divisive, and why Mexico faces such a crossroads so soon after Fox ended 71 years of one-party rule by the corrupt Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

The results matter greatly to the United States. A Lopez Obrador victory would put Mexico among a growing number of Latin American nations governed by leftists suspicious of U.S.-backed policies. And the candidates have far different ideas about how to create jobs and keep millions of people from illegally crossing the border.

The two countries' billions of dollars in trade also could be affected. Calderon talks about making Mexico an investor's heaven. Lopez Obrador speaks of halting excesses of globalization and renegotiating unfair parts of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.

Mexicans breathed a sigh of relief when the attack ads ended by law last Wednesday. A record 40 million are expected to vote.

On one side is a prospering, optimistic Mexico, mainly residing in the more urban north and best positioned to benefit from the pro-business path pushed by Fox.

On the other side is a disappointed Mexico, still waiting for the change that Fox promised in 2000. It resides mostly in the rural south, where few if any benefits arrived from NAFTA, farmers have watched their markets disappear and more and more people are a decision away from illegally migrating.

"It is indeed two Mexicos, and that helps us understand why people are so passionate for and against these candidates," said Gabriel Guerra, a political analyst. "The problem is that each camp exaggerated what the other side stands for."

[Soldier4Christ]

Prison Program Appeals Judge's Ruling that Aims to Boot God from U.S. Prisons


InnerChange Freedom Initiative & Prison Fellowship to Fight Shutdown of Effective Program that Reduces Recidivism, Enhances Public Safety, & Cuts Corrections Costs

WASHINGTON, June 29 (Christian Newswire) -- Today Prison Fellowship, the InnerChange Freedom Initiative, and the State of Iowa gave notice to the U.S. District Court in Iowa and the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals that they will appeal Iowa District Court Judge Robert Pratt’s ruling in the lawsuit brought by the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

On June 2, Judge Pratt ordered that the Iowa InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI), a comprehensive, faith-based pre-release program for prisoners that is affiliated with Prison Fellowship, be shut down and that Prison Fellowship and IFI repay the State of Iowa the $1.5 million paid IFI under a contract for services over the past six years. Judge Pratt ruled that the IFI program was “pervasively sectarian” and thus violated the separation of church and state.

“It is ironic,” said Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley, “that within one week of Judge Pratt’s ruling closing down IFI in Iowa, the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons released a report stating that comprehensive rehabilitation programs are the key factor in reducing recidivism, enhancing security in prisons, and protecting the public.”

For more than 10 years, the InnerChange Freedom Initiative has produced dramatic results in changing the lives of hardened criminals and stopping the revolving door of crime. The program presents viable solutions to challenges that state and local governments have struggled with for decades, with the vast majority of funds provided by private sources.

“Clearly, IFI, with its demonstrated ability to reduce recidivism, offers exactly the kind of programming state correctional systems need to enhance public safety and reduce the skyrocketing costs of corrections,” said Earley.

Earley maintains that the effort to remove faith-based programs from prisons “fosters a ‘lock 'em up and throw away the key’ approach to fighting crime. It assumes that by warehousing criminals and providing no services to help them change, society will be safer when they get out. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

He and other supporters of faith-based prison programming believe the outcome of the appeal will have ramifications beyond the Iowa case.

“It is our belief that the InnerChange Freedom Initiative is constitutional and well within the framework of the safeguards of the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” said Earley.

[Soldier4Christ]

Activist: Clubs Promoting Risky Behavior Should Be Booted from Campus


(AgapePress) - A Michigan school board is defying the requests of parents who want Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs banned in the district.

Despite the objections of concerned parents, the Forest Hills School Board has vowed it will not shut down three GSA clubs in the district. The board claims the federal Equal Access Act requires schools to allow sex-based clubs. But Gary Glenn, director of the American Family Association of Michigan, says schools can ban student groups that promote risky behavior -- and it has already been done, he adds.

"In fact, the Lubbock (Texas) School District did exactly that. They found that the so-called Gay Straight Alliance would be promoting behavior that was self-destructive and harmful to young people," Glenn says, "and on that basis refused to allow such homosexual propaganda to take place in the public schools."

Glenn notes that the courts backed the district's decision. "Of course, the ACLU and homosexual activists sued [but] the federal court upheld the right of the school district to act in the way it thought was in the best interests for the health of the students," he points out. In that case two years ago, a federal judge barred the Lubbock Gay Straight Alliance from meeting on campus, citing the school district's right to determine "what subject matter is considered obscene or inappropriate."

Glenn says if the Forest Hills School Board in Michigan "truly cared about young people who are ensnared by deviant behavior, they would tell them the truth that homosexuality is harmful and to be avoided." The family advocate explains that no school is mandated to allow clubs that promote deviancy.

"This issue is an opportunity for concerned parents to educate themselves, their students, their children, and also the public at large about the health hazards, the public health consequences, of homosexual behavior," Glenn states. In addition, he says it is an opportunity to explain why it is inappropriate "spiritually, morally, physically, mentally, and emotionally" to promote homosexual behavior to pre-teens and teens as being normal. "It's not," says the Michigan activist. "It's self-destructive."

[Soldier4Christ]

Mexico conservative claims win as chaos fears ease

Mexico's conservative presidential candidate Felipe Calderon declared victory on Monday in a bitterly contested election and official returns appeared to show his leftist rival could no longer catch him.

Calderon had a lead of almost 400,000 votes over Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador with returns in from 96.6 percent of polling stations and a senior election official said it was unlikely to change with a recount ordered for later this week.

A Calderon victory would ensure Mexico sticks to the free-market policies of outgoing President Vicente Fox and hold steady as a U.S. ally, bucking a trend of Latin American nations who have turned to the left and away from Washington in recent years.

"There is an irreversible result and it is in my favor," a confident Calderon of the ruling National Action Party said in a television interview. "The result gives me a very clear victory that cannot be reversed."

Arturo Sanchez, one of the nine board members of Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute, said he expected a recount to make no difference to the result.

"What is going to happen with these results? The truth is they will be the same," he told Reuters.

Lopez Obrador said on Sunday night he won the election by 500,000 votes and would insist that his victory be respected in an official recount but he appeared more open to a possible defeat on Monday.

"If in the count we conduct, it turns out the final result does not favor us, I am going to abide by the result," he said. However, he added, "We are going to defend the will of the people if it favors us." 

The official returns and Lopez Obrador's softer tone reduced the risk of a major political crisis of a contested election, and Mexico's financial markets jumped on a wave of investor optimism.

CONGRESS GAINS

Legislative election results from Sunday showed Calderon's party made major gains and would be the largest single party in the next Congress, although it fell short of a majority.

The stock market jumped 3.8 percent in early trade and Mexico's peso currency rose about 1.5 percent.

Mexico's top election official said late on Sunday the race was too close to declare a winner and a recount was needed, but Calderon insisted that was no longer necessary.

With returns in from 96.6 percent of polling stations, the conservative had 36.4 percent support, 1 percentage point ahead of his rival. Lopez Obrador would have to see a dramatic swing in the remaining polling stations to catch up.

If the Federal Electoral Institute goes ahead with a recount, however, it could be days before a final vote count is in.

Some fear that delay and a combative Lopez Obrador could push Mexico toward political deadlock, street protests and volatility in financial markets.

Unrest would also worry the United States, which relies on Mexican help in securing its borders and tackling immigration and violent drug smuggling gangs.

The U.S. government took a cautious attitude on Monday, preferring to wait for the official final results.

"We note that the final results are still not available," said Frederick Jones, spokesman for the White House National Security Council. "We along with the Mexican people look forward to the announcement of the results."

Lopez Obrador supporters, remembering a 1988 presidential election widely believed to have been stolen from another left-wing candidate, claimed foul play.

"They are up to their tricks because everyone knows Andres Manuel won," Gabriela Ramirez, a Mexico City student, said late on Sunday night.

Critics of Lopez Obrador, a feisty and austere figure who pledged to put Mexico's poor first if elected, said the close race played into his hands and that he was looking for an excuse to mobilize supporters and cause trouble.

"Now if he loses, he can say the rich guys stole it from us. It could lead to chaos," real estate agent Victor Perera said at an upscale Mexico City neighborhood restaurant.

[Soldier4Christ]

State warns rink offering 'Christian skate times'
Human Rights division tells private business it's in violation


New York state's Division of Human Rights says a private roller rink offering "Christian skate times" has violated the law because it discriminates against non-Christians.

In its marketing, Skate Time 209 in Accord, N.Y., offers "tot" skates and "tween" skates for ages 6-13 along with family nights and adult disco parties, according to the Times Herald-Record in Middletown, N.Y.

But the rink's April 19 newspaper ad offering a time set aside Sunday afternoon for Christian music is evidence of a human rights violation, the state agency maintains.

A "Christian skate denies or at a minimum, discourages non-Christian patronage," a letter from the state division said.

Rev. Lou Sheldon, director of the Traditional Values Coalition in Washington, calls the charge "crazy."

"These people are exercising basic constitutional rights on private property to the exclusion of no one and the state government is treating them like dangerous criminals," Sheldon said. "This is political correctness run amok."

The skating rink's owners, Len and Terry Bernardo, are being represented by the public-interest legal group American Center for Law and Justice.

"My guy is out to make money," argued lawyer Vincent McCarthy. "He is not going to shoot himself in the foot by excluding somebody."

In a letter to the Human Rights division, McCarthy contended the Bernardos don't exclude non-Christians.

Seeking to avoid a legal fight, the Bernardos changed their ad to refer to "spiritual skate times" Sunday afternoons. The rink's website explains "Christian" refers only to the type of music played during the sessions, and no one is discriminated against.

"We would like it to go away," Terry Bernardo said. "We're afraid if we make too big a stink, the state won't let it go."

[Soldier4Christ]

Governor says more people will be harmed by ongoing shutdown


TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine told the state Legislature on Tuesday that his budget must be approved or more and more residents will be hurt by the ongoing government shutdown.

"Make no mistake, people are being hurt and unfortunately more will be hurt in the days ahead," the governor told lawmakers during an unprecedented special session at the Statehouse.

The governor's call came three days after he started to shut down state government because lawmakers missed a deadline to approve a new budget. Without one, New Jersey has no means to spend money.

"All of us surely believe this circumstance must end," Corzine said.

The dispute with the governor's fellow Democrats who control the Legislature centers on his plan to increase the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to help overcome a $4.5 billion budget deficit for his $31 billion spending plan. The proposal would cost the average New Jersey family $275 per year, according to experts.

"No one is seeking to increase taxes because they want to," the governor said, after detailing years of mismanagement of the state's revenues.

If no deal is reached Tuesday, Atlantic City casinos, which require state monitoring to operate, and state parks and historic sites are expected to close Wednesday.

The state lottery, road construction, motor vehicle offices, vehicle inspection stations and courts have already closed. More than half the state work force - 45,000 people - has been ordered to stay home.

State regulators have ordered the casinos to close at 8 a.m. Wednesday, and on Monday the state Supreme Court declined the casinos' request for a reprieve. The state casinos would have to close because they cannot operate without state gambling monitors.