News Update

The Man Without A Party
Ronald Reagan often said “I did not leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me.”
For floundering and foundering New York Governor Eliot Spitzer -- a twist on the Gipper’s words. Spitzer didn’t leave the Democratic Party: the Media just didn’t see the need to mention the fact that Spitzer was -- at least until noon Wednesday -- one of the most powerful Democrats in the nation.
On Monday afternoon, the Big Three Networks (NBC, ABC and CBS) and the Associated Press led the charge of the wall-to-wall coverage of the breaking news that Spitzer was involved with an interstate prostitution ring. And with near unanimity they failed to mention that Spitzer is a Democrat.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25472

House to close its doors for spying bill
WASHINGTON - House doors were locked Thursday night as lawmakers prepared for their first closed session in 25 years to debate surveillance legislation.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080314/ap_on_go_co/terrorist_surveillance

Senate bulls kill proposed earmark moratorium
The old bulls of the Senate have prevailed over presidential politics and conservative reformers, killing an attempt to temporarily ban practice of earmarking federal funds for home state projects.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9034.html

Senate blocks moratorium on earmarks
WASHINGTON - Even with the backing of all three presidential candidates, Senate old-timers in both parties decisively killed a proposed one-year ban on lawmakers' home-state pet projects.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080314/ap_on_go_co/congress_budget

Ward embezzled from Hensarling PAC
Christopher J. Ward, the former National Republican Congressional Committee treasurer under investigation for allegedly diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the NRCC and other committees, paid himself $4,208 from the leadership PAC of Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) in December and then returned the money in February, according to a Federal Election Commission filing and a GOP insider.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9033.html

Whose Conduct Was More Reprehensible: Clinton’s or Spitzer’s?
First, limit the question to what is known beyond reasonable doubt: Eliot Spitzer’s serial assignations with call girls and Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky combined with his perjury about that affair.
Set aside Spitzer’s bullying prosecutions and his abuse of his office as governor. Try and forget the allegations against Bill Clinton from other women. Stick just to what is widely understood to be undeniable facts.
So, whose conduct is worse?
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/HughHewitt/2008/03/13/whose_conduct_was_more
_reprehensible_clinton%e2%80%99s_or_spitzer%e2%80%99s

Will Media Hold Obama To Repudiate His Pastor's Hateful Remarks?
Update: Don't expect Obama to repudiate these remarks. He still hasn't addressed his friendship with the terrorists of the Weather Underground.
Rev. Jeremiah Wright has been Obama's pastor for 20 years. Obama named his book, "Audacity of Hope" after a sermon of his, and he and his wife were married by the pastor. He is even a part of Obama's campaign.
Now video has surfaced of Rev. Wright preaching a very radical message where he accuses the government of creating drugs and giving them to the poor, creating AIDS to destroy blacks, and blaming America for 9/11.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/john-stephenson/2008/03/13/will-media-hold-obama-repudiate-his-pastors-hateful-remarks

Dem budget wins House, but Senate looms
Democrats won House approval of their five-year budget plan Thursday but faced tougher sledding in the Senate, where Republicans forced a series of close votes on tax cuts — designed with an eye toward November's elections.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9031.html

Congress endorses post-Bush tax hikes
WASHINGTON - Both houses of Congress endorsed the idea of tax increases for millions of Americans Thursday as Democrats pressed ahead with budget plans that would allow some or all of President Bush's reductions to die after he leaves office.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080313/ap_on_go_co/congress_budget

Dems say Congress must approve U.S. troop commitments
Reps. William Delahunt (D-Mass.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) announced legislation Thursday to prohibit the use of federal funds to implement a long-term diplomatic and security agreement the Bush administration plans to strike with the government of Iraq.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9028.html

Legal cloud lingers over Spitzer
NEW YORK - As Gov. Eliot Spitzer prepares to leave office, the disgraced politician faces a tangled battle with prosecutors that will send lawyers into murky legal territory.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080313/ap_on_re_us/spitzer_prostitution

Preliminary Audit Shows House Republicans Extent of Substantial NRCC Shortfalls
House Republicans are working to rebuild confidence after an internal investigation found that their campaign committee ended 2006 with $990,000 less than its balance sheet showed and ended 2007 with $740,000 less.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is cooperating with an FBI investigation of former treasurer Christopher J. Ward, who was fired Jan. 28 amid allegations of false accounting and possible fraud. Officials described hundreds of thousands of dollars in unauthorized wire transfers to committees and accounts that Ward controlled.
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002687753

Bush: I'll Hand White House Keys to McCain
WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Wednesday that he intends to finish his presidency with his ''head held high'' and expects to hand the keys to the White House to John McCain, the GOP nominee-in-waiting.
''I'm optimistic about this year because I know John McCain. I've know him for many years. I've seen his character and leadership up close,'' Bush said at a fundraiser for the National Republican Congressional Committee. ''I've campaigned with him and I've campaigned against him and I can tell you this: He's a tough competitor.''
http://www.newsmax.com/politics/Bush_McCain_White_House/2008/03/12/79973.html

French Foreign Minister: 'Magic is Over' for U.S.
PARIS — Bernard Kouchner, the foreign minister of France, said Tuesday that whoever succeeds President Bush in the White House will have to restore the United States' battered image and standing overseas, the International Herald Tribune reported.
Speaking at the launch of a Forum for New Diplomacy in Paris, Kouchner said the United States will never be the country it was before the Bush presidency and will have to work to repair its reputation, especially since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,337410,00.html