Other Political News

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Dutch Political Party Wants to Normalize Pedophilia
By Kate Monaghan
CNSNews.com Correspondent
July 26, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - Members of a fringe political party in the Netherlands, who recently won a court case allowing them to field candidates for seats in the Dutch Parliament, believe it should be permissible for adults to have sex with children.

Norbert DeJonge, secretary of the political party PNVD, a Dutch acronym that translates into "brotherly love, freedom and diversity," told Cybercast News Service that there is nothing wrong with pedophilia or bestiality, the latter of which is legal in the Netherlands, as long as the child or the animal involved, demonstrate consent.

_____________________

More sickos in government offices.

[Soldier4Christ]

Senate candidates gathering cash at record pace for '07 races


RICHMOND, Va. -- While a high-profile U.S. Senate race grabs headlines, candidates in next year's state Senate races are grabbing cash at a record clip for a pivotal election still 16 months away, campaign finance data reveal.

State Senate campaign committees have raised more than $6.2 million toward the 2007 election, more than double the amount raised at the same point four years ago leading into the 2003 election.

Factor in the expense of modern campaigning, the likelihood of primary challenges against senior Senate Republicans and the fact that 2007 is the last Senate election before the 2011 reapportionment and you have the makings of Virginia's most expensive state Senate battle.

Fundraising among House campaign committees is up slightly, from $1.1 million in mid-2002 to slightly less than $1.4 million now. House fundraising years ago escalated into a full-time, nonstop enterprise for delegates, who serve two-year terms. Senators serve four-year terms.

"Historically, many senators did not raise much money in the first three years of their terms. Now, with the increasing costs of campaigns and with all these intraparty challenges, senators are recognizing they can't wait until the fourth year to start raising money," said Scott Leake, director of the Republican Senate Leadership Trust.

By June 30, 2002--still 17 months from the 2003 fall Senate elections--Senate candidates had raised an aggregate $2.8 million, about $670,000 of it in the first six months of 2002, according to State Board of Elections data compiled by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project and analyzed by The Associated Press.

Eventually, fundraising totaled nearly $14.1 million for the 2003 Senate elections.

By the end of last month, state Senate campaign committees had amassed $6.2 million, $1.1 million of it in the first half of 2006. That coincided almost exactly with the record-long legislative debate over a new $72 billion state budget, which ended June 28.

State Senate fundraising flourishes even as it competes with one of the nation's most closely watched U.S. Senate matchups: Republican Sen. George Allen's re-election bid against Democratic challenger Jim Webb.

Republicans dominate state Senate fundraising, accounting for nearly $4.5 million, or 71 percent, of the $6.2 million raised so far. Because Democrats are within four seats of taking control of the 40-member Senate, Republicans are taking no chances.

"I take 2007 very seriously," said Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach and candidate recruitment chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus.

Stolle and Sen. Thomas K. Norment, R-James City, were nearly tied at the top of the 2007 Senate fundraising class as of June 30, the last SBE reports available. Stolle had raised $420,846; Norment, $420,540.

Both know that Democrats aren't their only threats.

In the most bitter 2003 primary challenge, Norment raised and spent slightly more than $1 million while his opponent, wealthy businessman and anti-tax activist Paul C. Jost, spent nearly $850,000, most of it his own. Together, the two Republican rivals spent an average of $111 for each ballot cast as Norment took 62 percent of the vote in Virginia's most expensive state Senate primary ever.

"It is a sobering experience that I don't think I'll ever forget. So, from my own experience, I have intensified my fundraising efforts in anticipation that I would have primary opposition," Norment said in an interview.

Senate President Pro Tem John H. Chichester of Stafford and Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr. of Winchester also fended off nomination challenges from the GOP Right in 2003.

Centrist Senate Republicans are likely to face primary challenges again next year.

Conservatives swore vengeance on them in 2004 for siding with Democrats, including then-Gov. Mark R. Warner, to enact a budget-balancing $1.4 billion tax increase.

Redistricting heightens the urgency both parties feel to raise cash fast. Though the Senate's GOP leadership and the Democratic minority forged an uncommonly close coalition, partisan comity ends at reapportionment. Without remorse or mercy, legislative majority parties engineer new political districts to their maximum advantage. If Republicans still rule the legislature in 2011, Democrats know they could be locked into the minority for at least another decade.

"If we don't have either the Senate or the House or the governorship (in 2011), that would be disastrous," said Sen. Linda "Toddy" Puller, D-Fairfax County.

She has raised a modest $125,694 so far for her 2007 re-election and plans a golf tournament fundraiser for early this fall to boost her treasury.

Today's consultant-guided, poll-driven campaigns rely more than ever on paid advertising. The larger the media market, the greater the costs, making campaigns in the Washington, D.C., suburbs among the nation's most expensive.

"Legislative campaigns in the major media markets now use TV, and so the candidates now have to raise enough money to pay for it," said Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. "They now have to do what candidates for governor had to do 10 or 15 years ago."

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Senate wants to close loophole in pedophile law


 State Senate Republicans said Friday they want to make it illegal to send children sexually explicit e-mails and instant messages even if they don't include images.

They were reacting to an appeals court decision Tuesday that threw out the conviction of Manhattan lawyer Jeffrey Koslow for disseminating indecent material to a minor because the law specifies the material must "depict" sexual conduct. E-mails sent by Koslow contained only words, not pictures, so they did not "depict" sexual acts, the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn said in a ruling reported by Newsday on Friday.

"Today's reversal of the original judgment in this pedophile case indicates an immediate need to close the loophole that exists in the current law," said state Sen. Stephen Saland.

The Senate passed the bill in June, but the Democrat-led Assembly did not. Both houses of the Legislature are expected to return to Albany later in the year, so the Assembly could then vote on the bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, Saland said.

"We know we are going to be back once or twice before the year is over," he said. "Why would we wait until 2007 to deal with this issue?"

[Soldier4Christ]

House Passes Bill to Block Web Sites


A near-unanimous vote in the U.S. House of Representatives may soon make social networking sites and chat rooms inaccessible in public locations such as libraries and schools, however its broad wording may end up shuttering access to many sites that do not pose a threat to minors.

Called the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), the bill's supporters regularly mention MySpace in defense of it. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, a Republican from suburban Philadelphia and chief sponsor of the legislation, said the bill would give parents more control over what their kids are doing on the Internet when away from home.

"Parents pay the taxes that fund the Internet access to schools and libraries and they should have a say in how their subsidy is used," Fitzpatrick said. "Today, Congress has acted on their concerns. My bill will help parents protect their kids when they are not home."

The bill passed with wide bipartisan support, on a 410-15 vote. But its wording could lock out access to thousands of innocent sites due to its vagueness. In the bill, a social-networking site is defined as one that allows users to create an online profile, blog, post personal information and interact between users.

Essentially, this would mean sites such as BetaNews, which allows commenting on its articles, could be locked out. Other sites that would be targeted include Amazon.com, which allows its customers to post profiles; Web logs such as Engadget, which allows interaction between users; and blog services such as Blogger, MSN Spaces and Yahoo! 360 which allow the posting of personal information.

While the bill has passed with support from both Republicans and Democrats, it is seen as mostly a conservative-driven effort by those who oppose it. Republican pollsters surveyed nearly two dozen districts to find out what issues are important among its voters, and the problem of online predators surfaced as a common issue.

Fitzpatrick himself is involved in a tough fight with Democrat Patrick Murphy, an Iraq War veteran. The district is considered one of the Democrat's second tier pick-up opportunities, although its makeup favors socially conservative candidates.

Murphy has proposed laws protecting children, and has said that DOPA does not go far enough. "It seems our Congressman is involved in the typical Washington game of putting out nice sounding legislation that could make the problem worse, not better, and leaves the dangerous impression that he's actually doing something to protect children," he said.

Tech lobbyists are attempting to block what looks to be a speedy passage in the Senate, saying the law is way too broad and risks blocking sites that pose no risk to minors. Furthermore, MySpace has put 100 people on the job of security and customer care in an effort to address concerns.

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 U.S. House Of Representatives Passes Health IT Bill


The bill's passage comes several months after the U.S. Senate passed its own health IT bill with many similar provisions. Washington insiders expect a compromise bill that if passed, could be signed into law by President Bush by the fall.


The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a health IT bill that aims to make permanent the sub-cabinet position of national health IT czar and a committee to govern national standards for interoperability.

The Health Information Technology Promotion Act of 2006, or H.R. 4157, aims to accelerate health-care providers' adoption of information technology. This includes interoperable electronic health record and e-prescribing systems, which can reduce medical errors, inefficiencies, and costs.

The bill's passage comes several months after the U.S. Senate passed its own health IT bill with many similar provisions. However, among the differences is a quality provision in the Senate bill; the House bill also provides $30 million in grants for the implementation of electronic health record systems.

Washington insiders expect the Senate and House to soon work on a compromise bill that if passed, could be signed into law by President Bush by the fall.

Bush two years ago set the goal for most Americans to have electronic health records by 2014. And last week, the Institute of Medicine issued a report recommending that all U.S. doctors and hospitals adopt e-prescribing by 2010 in order to reduce the 1.5 million preventable drug mistakes that are estimated to happen annually in the U.S.

Bush in the spring of 2004 also issued an executive order creating the sub-cabinet position of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to direct government agencies and health-care providers in the creation of a national electronic infrastructure to support interoperable digital health records.

The position, which reports to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, was held until recently by Dr. David Brailer, who resigned from the post in April, citing personal and family reasons including the weekly commute from his home in San Francisco to Washington, D.C.

A replacement has not yet been named.

Both the House and Senate bills aim to codify—or to make permanent—the National Coordinator for Health IT position so that it remains intact even after President Bush leaves office.

[Soldier4Christ]

Minimum Wage Fight Heads to the Senate

A bitter fight over legislative tactics and the minimum wage shifted to the Senate after the House early on Saturday approved a $2.10 increase in the wage scale but tied it to a reduction in the estate tax and a package of tax breaks.

 In an early-morning decision that Republican leaders said they hoped would provide political benefits to lawmakers headed home for five weeks of campaigning, the House voted 230 to 180 to increase the federally required pay rate to $7.25 over three years — the first increase in nearly a decade.

“This bill actually stands a chance of being signed into law,” said Representative Frank A. LoBiondo, Republican of New Jersey. “If we really want to give relief to working men and women who deserve this change, this is the opportunity.”

But Democrats criticized the decision as a cynical charade intended to give Republicans the appearance of supporting an increase in the minimum wage through a bill that would not clear the Senate because of opposition to an estate tax change aimed at extremely affluent Americans.

“In all my years here, this is the height of hypocrisy,” said Representative Sander M. Levin, Democrat of Michigan, who said Republicans were moved to consider a raise in the minimum wage only out of fear of losing House seats in November. “If you really cared, you would have acted long ago. This is not an election-year conversion; it is an election-year trick.”

Senate Democrats, who have successfully blocked past Republican efforts to slash the estate tax, suggested that they would try to do so again despite the inclusion of the minimum wage increase they had been clamoring for in recent years.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, said Saturday that he did not expect the Senate to approve the plan when it reaches the floor next week, which, he said, was just what the House Republican leadership wanted.

“Last night the House Republicans played a cynical game of politics with the lives of millions of hard-working American families,” Mr. Kennedy said. “I am confident the Senate will reject this political blackmail, as the House leadership is banking on.”

But 34 House Democrats joined 196 Republicans in sending the measure to the Senate, while 158 Democrats, 21 Republicans and one independent opposed it.

Under the minimum wage proposal, the rate would increase from the current $5.15 per hour in three increments, reaching $7.25 in June 2009. It would also allow tips to be counted toward minimum wage increases in some states where that is now prohibited, a provision Democrats said would cut wages for thousands of workers in those states.

House Republican leaders said their Senate counterparts had argued that the only way the wage increase would survive in the Senate was if it was coupled with the estate tax reductions. To sweeten the pot even more, Republicans moved $38 billion in a wide array of tax breaks to the estate tax bill from a pension overhaul that was approved Friday.

“What we have done is try to package this to succeed in getting the minimum wage through the other body,” said Representative Bill Thomas, Republican of California and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

But critics said voters would see through the ploy. Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, called the legislation “an insult to the intelligence of the American people.”

The tax provisions restored and extended such popular breaks as a maximum $4,000 income tax deduction for higher-education expenses and a variety of benefits for industry and communities, including a $1.75 billion tax credit for New York City to be used for projects like a rail link between Kennedy International Airport and Lower Manhattan.

Under the estate tax provisions, estimated to cost $268 billion in federal revenue over 10 years, $5 million of an individual’s estate would be fully exempt by 2015. Estates up to $25 million would be taxed at the rate for capital gains, now 15 percent. The bill also phases in a reduced tax rate on amounts in excess of $25 million, eventually setting it at 30 percent.

With no changes, the current estate tax exemptions would revert in 2011 to $1 million per person with a maximum estate tax rate of 55 percent.

The minimum wage vote came after House Republican leaders scrambled to respond to appeals from Republicans in the Northeast and the Midwest who said they needed to dilute escalating Democratic attacks and were worried they would be pounded in the August recess by labor groups. Some Republicans said they would have preferred that the wage increase be tied to legislation other than the estate tax cut, with a health initiative for small businesses one popular alternative.

But Republican leaders seized on the opportunity to advance the estate tax plan, and advocates of a wage increase went along. “It could have been done differently,” said Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York, “but it is done.”

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 Hillary Clinton calls on Senate to aid blacked out businesses


U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) joined western Queens elected officials Friday in Astoria to speak to business owners affected by the nine-day blackout and call on the Senate and FEMA to amend laws that assist small businesses damaged by disasters.

Clinton was joined on 31st Street in Astoria by U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria), state Sen. John Sabini (D-Jackson Heights), state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) and City Council members Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) and Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside). The lawmakers visited a number of area stores and restaurants before stopping to eat breakfast at Mike's Diner, located at 22-37 31st St.
The senator said borough businesses which lost revenue and product during the western Queens blackout will likely need more than the $7,000 in reimbursements promised to each by Con Edison and the low-interest city loans up to $10,000, which were announced by Mayor Michael Bloomberg on July 26. Clinton suggested changes to the Stafford Act, which authorizes the president to declare a location as a disaster area and allows federal agencies to provide care and fix damaged buildings.
"Given the number and extent of damage caused by manmade and natural disasters, we must consider whether low-interest loans for small businesses are adequate to help those businesses that were completely destroyed or damaged and whether the Stafford Act should be amended to authorize the president to provide grants to already struggling small business owners for short- and long-term recovery," she said.

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Trading blows will hurt US less than most


“HE that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone …” EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson, secure in the knowledge that the biblical interdiction doesn’t disqualify him as a first-stone thrower, rushed to the television studios to blame the United States for the collapse of the Doha round of trade talks. Never mind that it was his EU masters, led by France, who forced Pascal Lamy, director-general of the 149-member World Trade Organisation, to suspend the negotiations indefinitely after five frustrating years of trying to get the key players to agree on new trade-opening measures.

President Bush had offered such great cuts in trade-distorting agricultural subsidies (60% reductions over five years, followed by complete phasing out) that Alexander Downer, Australia’s foreign minister, called it “a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity that ought to be grasped”. France is in no mood to do such grasping, so the EU contented itself with such ludicrous offers as reducing tariffs on high-quality beef from an eye- watering 80% to a still-trade-blocking 61%, while retaining bogus health restrictions should any imports manage to climb the tariff wall. According to The Wall Street Journal, the French agricultural minister said: “I would prefer the negotiations fail rather than . . . raise questions about . . . agriculture.” So rich French farmers shot down a deal that the World Bank has been saying is crucial if poverty in underdeveloped countries is to be relieved.

France’s farmers had help from politically potent farm blocs in Japan and India. And American rice, corn, wheat and cotton farmers proved unwilling to surrender price supports that encourage them to glut markets that might otherwise absorb produce from poorer developing countries.

Still, America went further than other countries in offering concessions. As US trade representative Susan Schwab pointed out shortly after negotiations were suspended, the EU “has average agricultural tariffs twice those in the US and domestic supports three times greater than the US,” meaning that without major concessions EU markets would remain in effect closed to the products of America’s far more efficient farmers.

Sherman Katz, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says: “All is not lost until all is lost.” But, even though Schwab says the suspension “doesn’t mean the US is giving up”, resuscitation is unlikely. The so-called fast-track authority that allows the president to put any trade deal to Congress on a take-it-or-leave-it basis expires on June 30 next year. The law requires him to allow Congress 90 days to consider any agreement, so there is little time left for the negotiators to reassemble and iron out differences that have endured through five years of acrimonious meetings.

As with all such failed negotiations, there are winners and losers. The clear winners are the farmers of France and the rest of Europe, and small farmers in several other countries, most notably Japan, whose principal trade negotiator told the press that the failure of the talks “enabled us to avoid the worst scenario, in which a food importer like Japan is forced to widely open its market”. Translation: our small, inefficient farmers will continue to charge consumers exorbitant prices without fear of attracting competition from abroad.

With no hope of expanding markets for their agricultural produce, advanced developing countries have retained their swingeing tariffs on manufactured goods, and bars to imports of services. Brazil and India, for example, levy duties of about 30% on imported manufactures, to the disadvantage of companies in the US, Japan and South Korea, among others.

America is not likely to be the biggest loser. It has been running a huge trade deficit, now at nearly 7% of GDP. Although opportunities to increase its exports would be in America’s interests, it is not at all clear that such reductions in barriers were ever on the Doha table. America’s agriculture is probably the world’s most efficient, it is a major winner in the competition to sell aircraft, and its audiovisual industry makes programmes and films that the world’s consumers lust after. But a successful Doha round would not have done much for exports from these “three A” industries.

The EU was never going to open its markets to American foodstuffs and, even if it lowered tariffs a bit, would continue to use health issues to bar US imports. The state-sponsored Airbus consortium will continue to subsidise the development of new airliners until the WTO calls a halt, in proceedings quite independent of the Doha round.

Pirating of audiovisual products and other intellectual property by China is slowing exports, not tariff barriers. The Hay Group consultancy recently reported that pirating by Chinese firms was increasing at an annual rate of 1,000%. It is common knowledge that pirated DVDs of American hit movies are available on the streets of Beijing for about $1 before they are shown in American cinemas.

The Chinese authorities, who can sniff out a single dissident, can’t seem to find the factories supplying goods based on stolen intellectual property, including all the pirated software used by government agencies — or agree to revalue their undervalued currency.

Meanwhile, America goes ahead with negotiating bilateral agreements to open markets for insurers and other financial-services firms. Twelve Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are already in force (with Chile, Singapore, Central America and Australia, among others), six more are pending approval by Congress or the other signatory, and 11 more are being negotiated. The lure of access to America’s rich, free-spending consumers is an attraction many countries find sufficiently irresistible to persuade them to open their own markets to American products, even with Doha a failure.

None of this is to say that the failure of the Doha round is of no consequence. But the US is better positioned than most to capitalise on available opportunities. 

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Audit finds San Diego accounting chicanery

Budget analysts changed employee time cards to allow the San Diego City Attorney's Office to funnel extra money from lucrative special city accounts, according to results of an internal investigation released yesterday.

City Attorney Michael Aguirre said the improper accounting, which took place from 1997 to 2004, included time cards being altered to reflect work for the wrong department, and part-time work billed as full-time.

Questionable billing of other city departments continued in his office through this week, Aguirre acknowledged, even though he said he put new policies in place to stop the activities within a month after he took over in December 2004.

Yet he drew a distinction between the recent problem, which he characterized as “an allocation issue” – the office's Civil Enforcement Unit calculated hours worked based on a formula, not on actual time served – and the falsified time cards.

That, he said, could be tantamount to “misappropriation of public funds” and require legal action against supervisors who allowed it. He believes employees in other city departments also could have tampered with work records.

“If it happened in the City Attorney's Office, it's hard to believe it didn't happen elsewhere,” he said.

Aguirre said he conducted the investigation into his office's accounting at the behest of auditors hired by Mayor Jerry Sanders. Sanders called for the audit following a county grand jury report that accused the city of failing to properly account for special transactions between city departments.

This type of spending is outlined in contracts called “service-level agreements,” which offer details of work city employees from one department perform for another, and at what price. Aguirre said use of the contracts rose in the City Attorney's Office when his predecessor, Casey Gwinn, was in charge, from 1996-2004.

The deals, along with other types of special fees, have come under scrutiny in the past decade, particularly in regard to exchanges between the city's tax-supported general fund departments and those that receive fees from residents and businesses for services, called enterprise funds.

The grand jury has issued two critical reports, most recently in April, accusing the city of improperly tapping into those accounts.

The largest of the enterprise departments, the city's water and sewer services, are projected to bring in nearly $700 million in revenue in the fiscal year that began July 1.

The city's general-fund budget, backed by proceeds from taxes – sales, property and others – is set at $1 billion, but has borne increasing strain as the city contends with a billion-dollar pension debt and hundreds of millions in mandated infrastructure upgrades.

It's difficult for city officials to raise tax rates, but the City Council can – and has often – allowed fee increases for water and sewer services. That has led some critics to accuse the city of improperly siphoning money from the enterprise funds.

The auditors' report should help shed light on that issue. It is due Wednesday, said Fred Sainz, Sanders' spokesman, and will be broken into six parts examining the use of bond proceeds, ratepayer revenue and service-level agreements in two departments: water and wastewater.

Updates from the auditors, Sainz said, support Aguirre's conclusions about past practices in the City Attorney's Office. Sainz said it is unclear what remedies are available to the city.

The auditors also have consulted with officials from Kroll Inc., a risk management firm conducting a far broader inquiry into the city's financial practices.

Kroll is aware of the allegations about improper accounting in the City Attorney's Office, Sainz said, and is investigating.

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United Kingdom

Government may charge for info


The Government is already considering curbing Freedom of Information (FOI) laws barely a year and a half after they came into force, it was reported.

A leaked cabinet paper reveals plans to block "the most difficult requests" made by the public to Whitehall departments.

It apparently suggests that a flat rate fee could be charged which would have a "deterrent effect" and "inhibit serial requesters".

Methods for calculating the cost of meeting requests would also be altered so it is easier to claim they breach the top limits for compliance.

The paper, prepared by Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs Lord Falconer for circulation to ministers and dated July 17, is detailed in the Sunday Times.

Lord Falconer admits the Government would face "presentational issues" and criticism for making it harder to access documents.

He reportedly predicts opponents will argue the changes risk "impacting most severely on ordinary members of the public" and that "the government is seeking to undermine the Act by underhand means in order to shield itself from legitimate scrutiny".

But he insists publishing an analysis of the financial benefits of restricting access would "minimise the risk of suffering a defeat" when taking the measures through Parliament.

This month Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott came under renewed pressure when details emerged of his department's involvement with casino policy while he was meeting billionaire Dome owner Philip Anschutz. Tony Blair also had to reveal the bill of more than £500,000 which he incurred using the royal plane for holiday flights.

Official figures show there were more than 38,000 FOI requests in its first year of operation. At present requests are normally free, but public bodies can charge a fee if the cost of compiling a response is unusually high.

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UK, Calif. to Strike Global Warming Deal


British Prime Minister Tony Blair and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced an agreement Monday to bypass the Bush administration and work together to explore ways to fight global warming.

The two leaders announced the pact as they met with business leaders on clean energy and climate issues against the backdrop of a BP oil tanker at a terminal in the Port of Long Beach.

 "We see that there is not great leadership from the federal government when it comes to protecting the environment," Schwarzenegger said. "We know there is global warming, so we should stop it."

Addressing business leaders during an earlier panel discussion, Blair called global warming "long-term, the single biggest issue we face."

The agreement calls for collaboration on research into cleaner-burning fuels and technologies, and looking into the possibility of setting up a system whereby polluters could buy and sell the right to emit greenhouse gases. The idea is to use market forces and market incentives to curb pollution.

Environmental groups questioned the value of the agreement, calling it little more than a symbolic gesture.

California is looking to cut carbon dioxide _ a byproduct of coal, oil and gasoline combustion _ and other heat-trapping gases that scientists say are warming the planet. President Bush has rejected the idea of ordering such cuts.

"This is an agreement to share ideas and information. It is not a treaty," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Adam Mendelsohn. "Right now, all we are doing is talking about sharing ideas."

"It will be markets, not governments, that will decide which technologies are chosen in the future. Governments can give clear, credible, long-term signals to the market which will enable companies to develop the technology that will result in cleaner technology, more energy efficient technology," said a Blair spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, in line with government policy.

Kristen Hellmer, a spokeswoman for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the agreement was "a wonderful amplification" of talks last year between the president and Blair.

"It's just another step forward," she said. "This is a way to share ideas, what works and what doesn't work."

For Schwarzenegger, a Republican who is running for a full term in November, the agreement comes at a time when he has been trying to distance himself from Bush in this mostly Democratic state.

His aides disputed speculation that the agreement was an attempt to sidestep the White House. In a conference call with reporters, state Environmental Secretary Linda Adams said the agency is in "constant contact" with federal regulators, but added that there was no discussion with Washington about Monday's agreement.

Craig Noble of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, said the pact had symbolic value, but that "the time for talk is over." He urged passage of a proposal, pending in the state Legislature, that would make California the first state to limit greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources.

"The bottom line is, voluntary is not enough," Noble said.

While partnering with Britain, Schwarzenegger is seeking changes to the state bill that Democrats say would undermine its goals.

Schwarzenegger has proposed creating a board of agency heads who would set emission limits after taking into account the economic effects. Democrats say the independent state Air Resources Board should oversee the program.

The world's only mandatory carbon dioxide trading program is in Europe. Created in conjunction with the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 international treaty that took effect last year, it caps the amount of carbon dioxide that can be emitted from power plants and factories in more than two dozen countries.

Companies can trade rights to pollute directly with each other or through exchanges located around Europe. Canada, one of more than 160 nations that signed Kyoto, plans a similar program.

Although the United States is one of the few industrialized nations that have not signed the treaty, some Eastern states are developing a regional cap-and-trade program. And some U.S. companies have voluntarily agreed to limit their carbon dioxide pollution as part of a new Chicago-based market.

A main target of the agreement between Britain and California is the carbon dioxide from cars, trucks and other modes of transportation. Transportation accounts for an estimated 41 percent of California's greenhouse gas emissions and 28 percent of Britain's.

Schwarzenegger has called on California to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to 2000 levels by 2010. California was the 12th-largest source of greenhouse gases in the world last year, bigger than most nations.

Blair has called on Britain to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 60 percent of its 1990 levels by 2050. Britain also has been looking at imposing individual limits on carbon pollution. People who accumulate unused carbon allowances _ for example, by driving less, or switching to less polluting vehicles _ could sell them to people who exceed their allowances _ for example by driving more.

Bush has resisted Blair's efforts to make carbon dioxide reduction a top international priority. After taking office, Bush reversed a 2000 campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, then withdrew U.S. support from the Kyoto treaty requiring industrialized nations to cut their greenhouse gases to below 1990 levels.

The United States is responsible for a quarter of the world's global warming pollution. Bush administration officials argue that requiring cuts in greenhouse gases would cost the U.S. economy 5 million jobs.

Instead, the administration has poured billions of dollars into research aimed at slowing the growth of most greenhouse gases while advocating a global cut on one of them, methane.

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Senate Vote on Offshore Drilling Expected

  The Senate cleared the way Monday for legislation that would open 8.3 million protected acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling.

Senators voted 72-23 to limit debate, assuring a final vote on the bill later this week before senators depart for the summer recess. The bill's supporters said they have the majority needed to push it through.

But a battle loomed with the House, which has approved a bill that would allow drilling far beyond the limited acreage in the central Gulf of Mexico. Negotiations to reconcile the two measures won't begin until September.

The House would lift a quarter-century moratorium that has kept 85 percent of the nation's coastal waters off-limits to energy companies from New England to Alaska. Senate Democrats and GOP moderates have vowed to block legislation that would jeopardize the drilling ban along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

Senate leaders have promised lawmakers from Florida and other coastal states that they would insist a final bill not go beyond the Gulf waters. The Senate legislation also would provide tens of millions of dollars to four Gulf states for coastal restoration.

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., one of the bill's principal sponsors, bemoaned "the crazy idea that these resources should be locked up" when the country needs more domestic oil and gas supplies.

They've "been locked up for no good reason other than emotion," he argued.

But Domenici said while he favors lifting the moratorium in some waters outside the Gulf he would "do everything in my power" to structure a final compromise with the House that can pass the Senate and avoid a filibuster. Senate Democrats have said if the Senate measure is substantially changed they would block it by a filibuster if necessary.

The Senate bill would require the Interior Department to issue drilling leases within a year in 2 million acres known as Lease Area 181 and in another 6.3 million acres just south of it in the east- central Gulf of Mexico. Both areas have been off limits to energy companies and are believed to have 1.2 billion barrels of oil and nearly 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to heat 6 million homes for 15 years.

To gain the support of Florida's senators, no drilling would be allowed within 125 miles of Florida's coast and in some areas the leases would be more than 230 miles from the state's beaches.

Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., called it a "good compromise ... to protect Florida" while addressing "the great pressure that we're under" to expand the search for domestic energy because of high natural gas prices and the growing reliance on foreign oil.

Broad opposition to the bill began to melt away last week when Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who had threatened to filibuster any offshore drilling legislation, announced his support for the bill after being assured by Senate leaders they would not accept the House measure.

The bill has been a top priority of Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who pushed for a change in how the government shares royalties from oil and gas development with the four Gulf states that have drilling rigs off their shores.

Under the bill, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas would get 37.5 percent of the revenue, compared to the less than 2 percent they now receive. In 10 years, when the new sharing agreement would cover existing as well as new leases, the four states are expected to get an additional $1.2 billion a year, about half going to Louisiana.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said he opposed the bill largely because of the revenue sharing change, saying it would take too much money out of the federal Treasury for the benefit of only four states.

Landrieu, said it is only fair that the states get a larger share from offshore energy development since they supply the infrastructure needed to explore and produce oil and gas off their shores.

"We will use the money to restore a great coastline ... restore the great wetlands" off the Louisiana coast and improve storm protection, she said.

The issue has attracted intense lobbying by environmentalists, who oppose tampering with the long-standing drilling restrictions, and business groups that argue the additional oil and gas is needed to reduce prices.

At a news conference Monday, officials from groups representing the chemical industry, manufacturers, the fertilizer industry, the forest and paper industry and natural gas utilities argued that the country's offshore oil and gas resources needed to be tapped to increase domestic supplies.

"We need the supply. We can't tolerate these prices as they are," said John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers. Another representative said 19 fertilizer plants have closed because of high natural gas costs.

But environmentalists maintain it will be years before the energy from newly opened leases would be available. "It's not going to bring energy prices down," said Melinda Pierce of the Sierra Club.

[Soldier4Christ]

Kerry Proposes Universal Coverage by 2012

Sen. John Kerry on Monday proposed requiring all Americans to have health insurance by 2012, "with the federal government guaranteeing that they have the means to afford it."

The Massachusetts Democrat, whose name is figuring prominently in 2008 White House speculation, repeated his 2004 presidential campaign call for expanding the federal Medicaid program to cover children. He also proposed creating a program to cover catastrophic cases so an employer providing insurance doesn't have to pass the cost to his other workers, and; offering Americans the ability to buy into the same insurance program used by federal workers such as members of Congress.

 Kerry proposes to pay for the program by repealing tax cuts enacted during the Bush administration that benefit those earning over $200,000 annually. He did not immediately elaborate on how he would enact his insurance mandate, but one aid said he would do so with a requirement written into the legislation spelling out that the government covers anyone who is uninsured.

"One of my biggest regrets is that fear talk trumped the health care walk, and that we are less safe abroad and less healthy at home because of that," Kerry told a crowd of several hundred during a midday speech at Faneuil Hall. The senator had previously delivered two other speeches at the Revolutionary War meeting house laying the ground work for a second presidential campaign.

The senator also promoted his health care proposal in a Boston Globe op-ed piece published Monday morning, and during an appearance on Don Imus's national radio program.

Kerry conceded his health care proposal is virtually the same as the program he outlined during his failed campaign. However, he said that continuity was a measure of his commitment to his health care ideals.

"Every day since the election, the health care crisis has grown steadily worse," Kerry said. "The president has stuck to his guns _ or, more accurately, his empty holster _ and done nothing beyond trotting out the conservative hobby horse of health savings accounts."

The senator said his plan will lead to universal coverage by 2012, "but if we're not there by 2012, we will require that all Americans have health insurance, with the federal government guaranteeing they have the means to afford it."

The Republican National Committee, which typically responds to political criticism of the president, said Kerry's critique ignored the prescription drug program enacted by the Bush administration.

"It's unfortunate that John Kerry's bitterness over losing the election clouds his ability to recognize the president's prescription drug plan is providing millions of seniors with more affordable medicine," said RNC spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt.

Whatever his criticism, Kerry faces the reality that the governor of his home state _ Republican Mitt Romney, himself a potential 2008 presidential candidate _ has not only talked about but enacted a sweeping health care overhaul designed to bring universal coverage to Massachusetts. Last week, Michael Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human services, called the program "a model" for the nation.

Romney negotiated the plan with a Democratic Legislature, and in cooperation with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., Kerry's senior colleague.

Under Romney's plan, which the federal government is assisting with $385 million annually, Medicaid will be expanded for 100,000 people, the government will cover premium costs for another 200,000 who buy private programs, while an additional 200,000 will be required to buy insurance from low-cost policies offered by private companies working in tandem with the government.

Romney signed the bill into law in April on the same Faneuil Hall stage where Kerry planned his remarks.

[Soldier4Christ]

Bush authorizes graphite export to China

President George W. Bush on Monday authorized the export to China of 2 million pounds (907,200 kg) of bulk graphite and said he did not believe the items would prove detrimental to the U.S. space launch industry.

Bush notified the leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate of the move in a letter.

Bush said he had certified that the export of the graphite and processing equipment "is not detrimental to the United States space launch industry, and that the material and equipment, including any indirect technical benefit that could be derived from such exports, will not measurably improve the missile of space launch capabilities of the People's Republic of China."

[Soldier4Christ]

State Being Sued Over Stock Trading Law


The State of Utah is being sued over the Legislature's attempt to regulate stock trading. In a recent special session, the Legislature passed a law to prevent what some call the 'manipulative and predatory' stock trading trick, 'naked short selling'.

Many companies, including Utah's Overstock.com, have been affected by the practice. In a nutshell, Naked Short Trading involves trading massive amounts of stock that doesn't actually exist. It can artificially change the value of stock, potentially wrecking companies. And the powerful securities and exchange industry doesn't want the state to try and regulate it.

From one of his Overstock.com warehouses, CEO Patrick Byrne is outspoken about the insider trading practice 'Naked Short Selling'.

Patrick Byrne, Overstock.com Chairman/CEO: "I think we're on the edge of the greatest financial scandal of the last 100 years. It's something that will make Enron look like a Sunday picnic."

In traditional stock trading, a buyer pays money to a seller in exchange for shares of stock. The market determines the value of that transaction. With naked short selling, there is no actual stock in the transaction. A legitimate stock's value can artificially be affected, usually sharply lowered, allowing the naked short-seller to profit.

That kind of transaction is technically illegal, and is called 'Failure to Deliver'. But critics, like Byrne, say large brokers and hedge funds do it all the time, making billions, even trillions of dollars.

Patrick Byrne, Overstock.com Chairman/CEO: "The stakes here are so large, and what's going to come to light about Wall Street is so ugly, that they have to try and stop this."

During this summer's special session, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 3004, an attempt to provide an additional checkpoint on the practice. But the financial industry is fighting back, through the non-profit Securities Industry Association with a lawsuit against the state, filed in Third District Court.

Among the claims in the suit, That Senate Bill 3004 is treading on Federal territory, regulation that's the exclusive province of Federal law, it says. And it claims Utah's law violates the commerce clause of the Constitution.

Byrne, as Chairman and CEO of the online 'closeout' retailer, says anyone with any involvement in the stock market--from a 401-K, to any publicly traded company--is affected.

Patrick Byrne: "I don't interpret this in terms of Overstock. I'm saying Main Street America is being destroyed. Somewhere in America there is a person eating dog food tonight so these guys on Wall Street can drive Porsches."

Two representatives of the Securities Industry Association did not return my phone calls today. We wanted to ask them, if this problem is as bad as Byrne says it is, why aren't Federal regulators doing something? Turns out no one has a clear answer to that question and why Utah passed its law.