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2008 World News Archive

AP:RT:US Domestic Politics 23 Apr 200...

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#5 of 9 Posted 4/23/05 4:30 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 195275.5 195275.1 ]

   Democrats Hit Bush on Gas Prices, Energy Plan

RTos 23/04/2005 11:09

Copyright 2005 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved.
The following news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush should not be forced to ask for favors from Saudi Arabia to help lower near-record prices at American gas pumps, a senior Democratic congressman said on Saturday.
     U.S. Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts blamed the Bush administration's "failed energy policy" for the high cost of oil and called for a plan that focused on renewable technologies, energy efficiency and conservation rather than an expansion of oil and gas drilling in the United States.
     Bush, who hosts Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, on Monday, acknowledged this week that the energy bill he has asked Congress to pass by August would not immediately reduce gas prices.
     "The president is right to meet with this powerful man, but it is wrong that the leader of the United States must ask favors from a foreign prince," Markey said in the Democratic radio address.
     Bush is feeling the political heat from a big rise in gasoline prices as public opinion polls show consumers are increasingly concerned. Last week, the average retail gasoline price hit a record $2.28 per gallon.
     Saudi Arabia is the biggest member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the world's top oil exporter.
     Bush has said he would ask the crown prince if the Saudis can step up the flow of oil and also seek a clear answer about the size of the country's spare oil production capacity.
     In early April, U.S. crude oil futures hit a record-high of $58.28 per barrel. On Friday, crude futures closed above $55 a barrel.

#6 of 9 Posted 4/23/05 4:30 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 195275.6 195275.1 ]

       Critics: Frist Mingling Religion, Politics

APO 23/04/2005 02:46

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By HILARY ROXE
Associated Press Writer
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- It may seem like Sen. Bill Frist has found religion in recent weeks. At least, that's what critics say about the Senate majority leader's recent alignment with social conservative groups on high-profile issues.
   Their charge is that Frist is playing to religious groups to gather support for political issues -- and potentially for a future presidential race.
   The Tennessee Republican took some heat when Congress stepped into a legal fight over the life of a brain-damaged Florida woman last month. The critics have grown louder since he agreed to participate in an event on Sunday organized by Christian groups trying to rally churchgoers to support ending the judicial filibuster.
   "He seems to be going out of his way to pander to the radical religious right leaders," said Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way, a liberal group that has worked to block several of President Bush's appointments to the courts. "Many people have commented that it seems to be commensurate with his aspirations to be president of the United States."
   Sunday's event, organized by the conservative Family Research Council, will be in a Louisville, Ky., church and broadcast across the country. Fliers for "Justice Sunday" charge the filibuster is "being used against people of faith."
   Frist's office says he plans to submit a four-minute videotape with the same Constitution-focused message he has given other groups.
   But his participation has raised loud protests. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said it sent Frist a petition Friday signed by 20,000 people asking him "to abandon such dishonest and irresponsible tactics that politicize faith, abuse power and drown out the voice of ordinary Americans."
   The leaders of several nationwide denominations on Friday joined the chorus urging Frist to reconsider his participation in the event. Among them was the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Frist's denomination.
   Most people said Frist has the right to join Christian groups or ask for their backing on important issues but called the rhetoric surrounding Sunday's event inflammatory.
   "His presence is giving credibility to people who have made a stark political issue a litmus test for judging religion," said C. Welton Gaddy, president of the Washington-based Interfaith Alliance and the pastor of a Louisiana church.
   Frist is a conservative who has consistently supported the type of issues that rally right-leaning Christian groups. He was a leader of the opposition to gay marriage, and when he laid out an agenda on the first day of the 109th Congress in January, he mentioned "marriage, families and a culture of life that protects human dignity at every stage of development."
   A Frist spokesman said the Constitution has been the senator's constant concern during the filibuster fight, and his position on Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman, was "clear and consistent" throughout the debate.
   But some say there's been a shift in his focus.
   "If you think about Bill Frist since he was majority leader, his strong suit was his intersection of science and medicine ... and his rational good government," said James Hudnut-Beumler, dean of Vanderbilt University's Divinity School and a scholar of American religious history. "I think that's still there, but to lead on a national stage, you have people who press you to come out on other issues and fronts."
   Frist has said he will give up his Senate seat when his term ends next year, but he hasn't answered -- or discouraged -- speculation that he will run for president in 2008.
   Luis Lugo, director of the nonpartisan, non-advocacy Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, said religion and religious groups are crucial factors for any candidate, Democrat or Republican.
   "Any politician ... who aspires to public office ... has to come to terms with the fact that religious conservatives are a critically important part of the Republican Party," he said.
   Tapping into the political force of a religious group, however, can be a divisive process when closely held moral values are at stake. The filibuster debate comes up at a time when the nation is vociferously arguing over whether to trust "activist" judges.
   "It's a little bit of a third rail," said Hudnut-Beumler. Frist is "hoping to draw some power from it. Electric trains do draw power from the third rail, but people sometimes do get electrocuted."
   Frist belongs to Presbyterian churches in Washington and Tennessee, has taken medical mission trips to Africa and other parts of the world, and is a regular at the National Prayer Breakfast. And even critics say it isn't possible to discern a person's true faith.
   But Gaddy said he is concerned about "the transition from religion as a source of values and wisdom, to religion as a strategy for passing legislation or winning an election."
   "I don't judge people's motives," he said. "If Sen. Frist sees this as an essential step in launching a presidential campaign, he's more involved in a stumble than a step."
   ------
   On the Net:
   Sen. Bill Frist: http://frist.senate.gov/
   People for the American Way: http://www.pfaw.org/
   The Interfaith Alliance: http://www.interfaithalliance.org/
   The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: http://pewforum.org/

#7 of 9 Posted 4/23/05 4:31 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 195275.7 195275.1 ]

       White House to Enforce Abortion-Fetus Law

APO 23/04/2005 00:50

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press Writer
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration said Friday that it would enforce a nearly 3-year-old federal law that requires doctors to attempt to keep alive a fetus that survives an abortion.
   In making the announcement, the Department of Health and Human Services Department said it was an attempt to educate the public about the little-known law. Officials said they didn't know how often a fetus survives an abortion and would not say whether there have been any complaints about a lack of enforcement.
   "As a matter of law and policy, the (department) will investigate all circumstances where individuals and entities are reported to be withholding medical care from an infant born alive in potential violation of federal statutes for which we are responsible," HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said in a statement.
   "We will also take proactive steps to educate state officials, health care providers, hospitals and child protection agencies about their obligation to born-alive infants under federal law," Leavitt said.
   The Born-Alive Infant Protection Act of 2002 amends the legal definitions of "person," "human being," "child" and "individual" to include any fetus that survives an abortion procedure.
   Those who meet the definition of "individual" are entitled to certain protections under federal law. In particular, hospitals can't refuse to treat them.
   HHS spokesman Kevin Keane said the department's action was not politically motivated. He said Leavitt had been asked about the issue at his confirmation hearing.
   The National Right to Life Committee welcomed the department's move.
   "The 2002 law and today's actions by the agency were both badly needed, because there are those in our society who have convinced themselves that some newborn infants -- particularly those born alive during abortions, or with handicaps -- are not really legal persons," said Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the group.
   A spokesman for NARAL Pro-Choice America said the group had no comment and that it did not oppose the 2002 legislation because it did not impede on a woman's right to have an abortion.

#8 of 9 Posted 4/23/05 4:32 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 195275.8 195275.1 ]

       Calif. Gov. on Stump for Special Election

APO 22/04/2005 22:03

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By TOM CHORNEAU
Associated Press Writer
   ROSEVILLE, Calif. (AP) -- Trying to jump-start his apparently struggling petitions campaign, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged workers at a Hewlett Packard plant Friday to support his effort to qualify three ballot measures for a possible fall special election.
   The rally, which was closed to the public, attracted about 1,500 workers and guests, and included a presentation and question-and-answer session.
   Schwarzenegger is pushing three measures he wants to put before voters: a cap on state spending, restriction on tenure for teachers and the redrawing of legislative and congressional districts.
   A key deadline for turning in the petitions is set for the end of the month, but there has been some uncertainty about the success of the petition drive. Schwarzenegger said Friday he was still committed to calling the election.
   Ted Costa, author of the governor's redistricting measure, has said that he is concerned about the numbers of duplicate signatures on petitions -- an issue that could be a problem because of the looming deadline to collect the required 600,000 valid voter signatures.
   A spokeswoman for Californians for Fair Redistricting, which is working with Costa, said they believe the petition drive will reach its goal on time.
   Schwarzenegger has already withdrawn a forth ballot measure -- aimed at privatizing state worker pensions -- after finding flaws in its language.
   The governor spent about an hour at the HP facility in suburban Sacramento, where about 4,000 workers are employed. He again attacked unions and "special interests" for opposing his proposals.
   "I say to the unions, those special interests -- you know who has the ultimate power? The people of California," Schwarzenegger told workers. "This is why I need your signature, this is why I need your votes."
   Monica Sarkar, a spokeswoman for Hewlett Packard, said it's not unusual for elected officials to come to company facilities nationwide to address employees and that attendance for the governor's pitch was voluntary. Sarkar said company executives have taken no position on Schwarzenegger's proposals.
   Some GOP analysts said Schwarzenegger has shown great skill when his back is against the wall, and they point out that he remains popular and persuasive.
   The problem has been that politically potent unions for nurses, firefighters and police strongly oppose Schwarzenegger's proposals on pensions and state spending limits.
   Sensing the governor's weakness, Democrats and their supporters have virtually shut down negotiations with Schwarzenegger in recent weeks.

#9 of 9 Posted 4/23/05 4:32 PM

From Gerard <Sysop> Posts 82654 Last 3/19/09
To All [Msg # 195275.9 195275.1 ]

       Intelligence Chief: Spies Must Work Better

APO 22/04/2005 19:47

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.
   By KATHERINE SHRADER
Associated Press Writer
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The new national intelligence director, John Negroponte, told the thousands of employees at the nation's spy agencies Friday that the government will pioneer new ways of organizing itself to face "a new order of threats to national security."
   In a message to the intelligence community in his first day on the job, Negroponte wrote, "We know we need to do our work differently and do it better, but the most critical element in intelligence reform resides in you, the people who will carry it out."
   Negroponte takes over a collection of 15 highly independent spy agencies that have been criticized in numerous reports since Sept. 11, 2001, for neglecting to collect information, misreading what they had and failing to communicate.
   Congress created his job in December to improve coordination among the agencies as part of the most sweeping intelligence overhaul in 50 years.
   It's unclear precisely how many employees are part of the intelligence community; those figures are classified. Yet Negroponte promised them changes.
   "In the months and years ahead, we will be pioneering new ways of organizing ourselves and allocating our resources," he wrote in the four-paragraph message shared with The Associated Press.
   Even as Negroponte takes over the immense management task, he still must handle even the most basic details. He and his deputy, Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, are looking for permanent office space for a staff that may someday number at least 500. Government officials familiar with the search say they've considered several locations, including an office building near the White House.
   Officials say Negroponte and his close advisers also are considering how to structure the new organization, interpret the intelligence reform law and handle briefings for the president and other senior policy-makers.

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2008 World News Archive

AP:RT:US Domestic Politics 23 Apr 200...

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