The Iowa Daily Report, Saturday, December 13, 2003

* QUOTABLE:

"We've got to show the American people that we know how to create an expansive economy," Gephardt said. "We know how to create jobs, and the one thing you know is you're never going to do that if you're handing out corporate tax breaks to companies that are just running around the country looking for the lowest possible taxes on their operation."

"Governor Dean won't make any apologies for his record or for working to strengthen the economy of the state of Vermont," Joe Trippi said.

"I call on Howard Dean to release all records of meetings, phone calls or negotiations between him, or representatives of his administration, and Enron executives regarding this tax break," Dick Gephardt said.

"Once again, Howard Dean refuses to admit the truth. As Governor of Vermont, Howard Dean gave tax breaks to Enron and other corporations who established subsidiary insurance companies. Today, Howard Dean denied giving those tax breaks to Enron… It's time for Howard Dean to stop the double talk and start coming clean on his tenure in office. You can't beat George W. Bush if you can't tell the truth about your own record," said Dick Gephardt.

"In 1994, know one knew that Enron was a bad company. This is like punishing a bank because a tax cheat has some of his money in a savings account there," Dean spokesman Jay Carson said.

"It's tough at the top," said Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, who ran Gore's White House campaign in 2000. "He [Howard Dean] better get his Teflon suit on."

“We’ll be down to three or four candidates on the morning of Feb. 4," Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe said Friday during an interview with Associated Press reporters and editors. "If candidates haven't won one of those nine contests, people should assess their candidacies."

"My goal on the morning of March 10 is to be standing with the nominee… We will begin our national advertising that day. The DNC will never go dark for a single day. The national party has paid its debts and has $10 million in the bank, so it should be in a good position to help the nominee stay on the air,” DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe said.

''I believe that a Palestinian state on the West Bank has the best chance of being a successful democracy as any state in the Arab world… Palestinians have more experience with democracy. They have either lived in the United States, lived in Europe or lived in Israel, which are democracies,'' said Howard Dean.

“The question for Dean's rivals may be whether the proliferation of so many arguments against him creates a synergy that magnifies their effect, or a dissonance that undermines it” -- writes Ronald Brownstein, LA Times staff writer.

* TODAY’S OFFERINGS:

Howard Dean: *Dean’s Enron * Dean’s moderate Palestine
*Dirty tricks *Risk taker Trippi

Dick Gephardt: *Gephardt: Dean gave tax breaks
*Gephardt: important Iowa endorsement

John Kerry: *Kerry responds to Halliburton
*Kerry champions health insurance *Heinz in Iowa

John Edwards: *Edwards: war profiteers
*Edward’s "Real People Express" *Edward’s optimism

Dennis Kucinich: *Kucinich supports Muslims *Kucinich and the Internet

Just Politics: *New Hampshire off -- Iowa on
*Labor Ad hits snag *Three dimensional chess
*Group changes ad and leaders *Poll watching

* CANDIDATES & CAUCUSES:

Dean’s Enron

The Des Moines Register covers Democrat opponents criticizing Howard Dean over the Boston Globe revelation that he supported tax breaks to corporations while he was raising Vermont’s sales tax. The Register covers Gephardt’s comments:

"Governor Dean has been engaging in gross hypocrisy," the Missouri congressman said in a conference call with reporters. "While he was attacking President Bush's special treatment of Enron, he's been hiding the fact that he turned Vermont into a tax shelter for that very same corporate criminal."

A Friday article by the Boston Globe said Enron was attracted to Vermont because of benefits offered under Dean's administration. The article said that in 1993 Dean cut taxes by up to 60 percent on premiums paid by a segment of the insurance industry, at the same time he was raising the state sales tax and cutting spending.

"It's an argument that I think is not in touch with true Democratic values - this idea that we've got to give big tax breaks to get corporations to come to our state," Gephardt said.

Kerry is also quoted:

Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts also criticized Dean. "Howard Dean tried to slash seniors" drug benefits while creating Cayman-island style tax havens for corporations already in Vermont," he said.

Howard Dean’s response was that his predecessor had pursued the captive insurance industry and that he followed the same practice. He stated that it was a good revenue source for Vermont. He called the accusation that he gave Enron tax breaks ridiculous.

Dean’s moderate Palestine

Dean rankled some Jewish Democrats in Florida Saturday, when he told about 1,000 state party activists at a dinner in Orlando that Palestinians were the most prepared people in the Arab world for democracy because women play a prominent role in their government, and that the United States should try to strengthen ''moderates'' in the Islamic world, according to the Miami Herald.

One reason why Howard Dean was able to get out of the room alive may be because the room was so stunned by Dean’s statement. The Herald reports:

'I heard what he said, and a few people at my table turned to me and said, `Did he say what I thought he said?' '' said former U.S. Rep. Larry Smith, who headed Al Gore's presidential campaign efforts in Broward County in 2000. ``Somebody's got to tell me who the moderate Arab states are. Is that our friend Saudi Arabia? Or Iran or Syria?''

Dean continues to not receive the same level of support from the traditional Jewish voters as his Democrat opponents. The Jewish vote is historically Democrat by a significant percentage. Dean previously called Palestinian terrorists soldiers, and it caused a significant amount of attack on his candidacy from opponents. This past faux pas resulted in a barrage of attacks on Dean previously.

Dirty tricks

The Miami Herald reports that Dean has been the subject of dirty tricks on the Palestinian  issue:

Also this week, there were signs that critics of Dean, the former governor of Vermont, are trying to use the Middle East issue against him.

Households in at least one heavily Jewish region of New Jersey have been receiving faxes claiming to be from Dean's campaign promising to ''end support for Israel in favor of even-handedness'' and to ``promote greater understanding and tolerance of Islamic teachings.''

Risk taker Trippi

The NY Times takes a look at Dean’s campaign manager Joe Trippi:

After a lifetime of long shots, including five failed presidential campaigns, Mr. Trippi is the political consultant of the season, having helped transform Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont, from an asterisk in the polls to the man to beat for the Democratic presidential nomination. Mr. Trippi has revolutionized use of the Internet for political organizing and fund-raising, while becoming a cult hero to some members of the C-Span set.

Trippi, 47, has been compared to an unmade bed. Others think that is a compliment. He is constantly wrinkled. To satisfy his addiction, he carries a Diet Pepsis in his coat pocket. He is constantly putting cherry Skoal tobacco in his cheek.

The Times reports that he has the confidence of Dean:

"He kind of sees ahead in politics," Dr. Dean said. "He knew what we had before we knew what we had."

Trippi is off the chart as a risk taker. He left San Jose State University where he ran track and study aerospace engineering to campaign for Robert Kennedy in Iowa. He has been doing it ever since. His risk taking frequently has him coming up with strange ideas. The Times article has a rival commenting on it:

"The basic rule of thumb for Trippi is if you talk to him for five minutes, you're convinced he's an absolute genius," one rival said. "He's the guy who everybody will one day say, " `He came out with 9 bad ideas out of 10 but that one idea was worth the bad ideas.' "

Trippi says this is his last time, according to the article:

Mr. Trippi insists this is his finale, offering as a metaphor the Kevin Costner film "For Love of the Game," in which a battered old pitcher's last game becomes his best. He keeps a copy of the video in his messy Burlington office, near a framed boxing glove from the Mondale campaign in 1984.

It is the story of the boxing glove — which Mr. Mondale used to show he was a fighter — that makes Mr. Trippi cry. He had told Mr. Mondale that his father, an Italian immigrant, thought him a bum for pursuing politics instead of taking over the family flower shop. After his Pennsylvania primary victory, Mr. Mondale autographed the gloves for the elder Mr. Trippi; one was buried with him when he died in 1998.

Now it is Mr. Trippi's autograph that is in demand as he works the rope line after a Detroit rally. He bearhugs people whose names he recognizes from the blogs. They pose for pictures. They bring him Diet Pepsi.

Gephardt: Dean gave tax breaks

Dick Gephardt is pushing hard on the fact that Howard Dean gave Enron tax breaks while he was Governor of Vermont. He has upped the ante by charging that Dean met regularly with the corporate chiefs who benefited from the tax windfall he created for them. Gephardt accusation is that a chief beneficiary of the tax cuts for corporate special interests was Enron. Dean denies that he gave tax breaks to Enron despite the fact that Enron set up a special insurance subsidiary in Vermont in 1994 -- a year after the Dean-supported tax break to the insurance industry went into effect. The Associated Press is reporting the Dean campaign spokesman tried to divert the issue on to Gephardt:

"Just more desperate distortion and negative attacks from Dick Gephardt," Dean spokesman Jay Carson said. "He would rather desperately attack Gov. Dean than talk about his record."

Carson said while Gephardt led House Democrats, he received $176,000 in unregulated "soft" money from Enron.

Gephardt: important Iowa endorsement

Chelsea, IA - Gary Lamb, former Prairie Fire activist and fourth generation Iowa farmer, today announced his endorsement of Dick Gephardt's candidacy. Lamb is a noted leader in the activist farm movement in Iowa. He was a leader in the farm movement known as Prairie Fire during the 1980’s Farm Crisis.

"Dick Gephardt is one of the few people in this country who truly understands that we will never succeed in moving our nation forward if we forget, abandon and leave behind our agricultural industry and the people who have that served it so well for so long," said Gary Lamb. "Dick Gephardt has been a tireless advocate for America’s family farmers every day of his career. I know him, I trust him and I guarantee that he will continue our fight from the White House."

"I am honored by Gary's endorsement," said Gephardt. "I have tremendous respect for him and his lifelong commitment to protecting the rights and livelihood of America’s family farmers. He will be a great help to my campaign and its grassroots organization in Iowa. With his help I will win Iowa and go on to beat George Bush next November."

Chelsea resident Gary Lamb has been involved in production agriculture for 51 years and currently serves as membership director of the Iowa Farmers Union. He has served on the executive board of the Iowa Farm Unity Coalition, as the Iowa agricultural liaison for Senator Tom Harkin, and in the United States Department of Agriculture as chairman of the Iowa State Committee of the Farm Service Agency.

Kerry responds to Halliburton

“Halliburton is guilty of shameful war-profiteering, and they need to be held accountable. It’s dead wrong that Halliburton is bilking American taxpayers by overcharging the government $61 million for fuel while our troops on the front-lines are under-funded, overextended, and some have literally been left to buy their own body armor. Think about what $61 million could buy for our troops in need rather than lining the pockets of Halliburton executives. The Bush Administration should be ashamed that they bent over backwards for their biggest contributors while leaving American troops in danger. We need to get our priorities back in order. As president, I will fight the special interests, not coddle them, and I will make sure that no American soldier ever goes without the equipment they need to do their job,” said John Kerry.

Kerry made the accusation that U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq are facing shortfalls in equipment including: 1) special body armor, 2) armored Humvees to protect against guerrilla attacks, 3) advanced anti-missile systems for helicopters.

Body Armor
One-fourth of the 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq are still waiting for the latest body armor. The Department of Defense says it will be the end of January 2004 before all the troops have been outfitted. $61 million would provide funding to purchase more than 40,000 sets of body armor ($1500 each). John Kerry has introduced legislation requiring the Department of Defense to reimburse family members who paid money out of their own pockets to provide the personal body armor that the government failed to deliver.

Armored Humvees
Only a few hundred of the military’s 10,000 Humvees are armored with steel and thick plastic windows to protect occupants against the guerrilla warfare, they are facing in Iraq. $61 million would provide funding to purchase more than 400 Humvees. ($150,000 each).

Advanced Anti-Missile Systems for Helicopters
There are 600 helicopters in Iraq, many of which do not have anti-missile systems technology. It has been reported that the Illinois National Guard helicopter that was shot down in Iraq killing 15 and injuring 21 soldiers did not have the most updated anti-missile system. $61 million would buy over 1500 anti-missile systems helicopters (or buy anti-missile systems technology for all the helicopters in Iraq between two and three times over).

Kerry champions health insurance

"The average Iowa family pays about $1,700 a year on health-care premiums. Under my plan, you'll see real savings of up to $1,000 on that bill. That's $1,000 that can help buy groceries, pay the bills, and give your family a break," Sen. John Kerry is quoted in the Des Moines Register.

Kerry’s cost control plan would have the federal government shoulder 75 percent of costs above $50,000 on insurance claims for employers.

All of the Democrat candidates are proposing some form of government assistance for health care. Kerry’s approach would lower insurance industries costs in covering the most costly insurance claims that are the most expensive for Insurance companies. Kerry said that he would make the savings be passed on to the workers and that would result in $1,000 a year for workers. Kerry is quoted in the Register:

"Make no mistake, I'll fight like no one else to provide coverage for the uninsured. But the major reason Americans don't have coverage is that they can't afford it," Kerry said.

Heinz in Iowa

As an indication of how important Iowa has become to the Kerry Campaign, Teresa Heinz Kerry is crisscrossing Iowa with her husband. She is visiting Waterloo and Northeast Iowa over the weekend to meet with voters. On Saturday, she will visit the Payne Memorial A.M.E. church's after-school activity center and then attend a public cocktail reception at the Waterloo Center for the Arts. On Sunday, she will visit with Luther College students at the Vesterheim Norwegian-Museum in Decorah beginning at 11 a.m.

Edwards: war profiteers

Senator John Edwards today released the following statement in response to reports that Halliburton overcharged the government for services delivered as part of the no-bid contracts it received to help rebuild Iraq:

"Based on today's report, we now see the truth: Halliburton is engaged in war profiteering, plain and simple. A company that donates huge sums to the president and once was chaired by the vice president is now war profiteering at taxpayer expense.

"This war profiteering is poison to America--poison to Americans' faith in government and poison to our allies' perception of our motives in Iraq. We need an antidote now. First, we need a cap on profits from Iraq contracts to stop the profiteering. Companies should not be able to make more profits in Iraq than they make from ordinary, competitively bid contracts. Franklin Delano Roosevelt instituted an excess profits cap during World War II to stop the kind of profiteering we are seeing right now. It was good enough for FDR, and it should be good enough for us.

"Second, we need to stop the cycle of contributions for contracts. I will ban corporations and their senior executives, lobbyists, and directors from donating political cash to presidential candidates and national parties within a year of bidding on a major government contract.

"Those are just two parts of my broader plan to clean up Washington. There is nothing our country needs more."

Edward’s "Real People Express"

Sen. John Edwards announced that North Carolina African Americans for Edwards Saturday are launching a series of trips to South Carolina to reach out to primary voters.

More than a dozen volunteers will board "Real People Express" vans in Charlotte Saturday morning for a day of door-to-door canvassing in Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina. Representative Beverly Earle is leading the delegation.

This is the first of a series of road trips the group will undertake before South Carolina's February 3rd primary. The group has been actively phoning and writing to South Carolina and other key primary states to reach voters one at a time.

The group will be met in Spartanburg and Greenville by supporters from South Carolina. The canvass builds on the momentum Edwards has gained in the last week from two new endorsements and a new South Carolina poll from The Pew Research Center showing Edwards leading the field by a significant margin. Edwards claims more announced endorsements from South Carolina elected and Party officials than all other candidates combined.

Edwards is the only Democratic presidential candidate who has won an election in the South. In his 1998 election, Edwards won 90 percent of the African American vote.

Edward’s optimism

Sen. John Edwards in a keynote speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco warned Democrats that the Republican failures in the 1996 and 1998 elections show the price of running on anger. Edwards built the speech on offering optimism to America:

"We’re all angry at what George W. Bush has done to our country, our values, and our way of life," Edwards said. "We all know what we’re running against-now we need to tell the American people what kind of future we’re running toward.

"The Republicans were so blinded by their hatred of President Clinton they thought all they had to do was remind the electorate how much they hated him. Well they were dead wrong. In 2004, I will make this a contest of ideas, not divisive ideology.

"Some in my party want to duck the values debate. They want to say to America: we’re not interested in your values; we want to change the subject to anything else. You can’t tell voters what to believe or what to vote on. It doesn’t work that way in the South, the North, the East or here in the West."

"This president says he wants to have a values debate, and that’s exactly what I will give him. On almost every issue, George Bush's values are not America's values. This administration values wealth over work, special interests over our interests, secret meetings over open debate, the privileged few over the rest of us."

"Some Democrats want to leave these tough issues alone." Edwards said. "I say let's take them head on because that's the only way we can replace what comes out of Washington today with what America really values."

"This election isn’t just about ending the Bush presidency; it’s about a new beginning for America. A new beginning for our working middle class. A new beginning for our schools. A new beginning for health care and children. A new beginning of reform in Washington. And a new beginning for America’s role in the world," said Edwards.

Kucinich supports Muslims

"I want to express my support for the victims of this violence apparently motivated by anti-Muslim sentiment. There is no place for such sentiment in a nation founded on the principle of religious liberty.

"We have just observed the International Day of Human Rights. Let us all, brothers and sisters, strive harder to make the ideal of respect for every human being a reality in our private actions and our public policy," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich.

Kucinich was responding to a Dearborn, Michigan, incident where police believe someone tried to burn down the building that houses The Arab American News. The fire occurred late Monday or early Tuesday. Investigators say the building on Chase Road was hit with what appeared to be a homemade firebomb. Employees of the paper, including its publisher and editor-in-chief, Osama Siblani, believe it was an act of intimidation. Police have yet to find any suspects in the attack.

Kucinich and the Internet

The alternative media magazine “Utne” carries an article that poses the question of whether pollsters are wrong about Kucinich, given his increased Internet activity:

The tracking of the presidential primary candidate websites with stats from Alexa.com was invented by this author in the spring of 2003. By December, Alexa.com had begun posting a link to its own profile of candidate websites at the top of its home page. But the alexa.com ranking system uses the less accurate web site rank score. The moveon.org Internet primary proved that reach per million was more accurate in predicting the winner. But even with the web site rank score, Dean is still in first and Kucinich is still in second place. Media companies, with often obvious partisan views, favoring Republican candidates, use polls with a few hundred people. It's clear that Alexa.com's massively larger "poll sample" base contradicts the conventional pollsters.

New Hampshire off -- Iowa on

A New Hampshire debate on Jan. 8 hosted by MSNBC is off in New Hampshire. A National Public Radio and its Iowa affiliate WOI debate is set for Jan. 6 is still on. The debate in New Hampshire is off because the candidates who did not opt out of Iowa will be there. The two-hour debate, which will be moderated by Neal Conan, host of NPR's "Talk of the Nation." The program will be aired live during the afternoon and rebroadcast later in the evening on most NPR affiliate stations.

Labor Ad hits snag

A labor group is airing a TV ad in Iowa attacking the Bush administration for giving contracts in exchange for campaign contributions. However, New Hampshire caused a snag for the union – an ABC affiliate, WMUR, refused to broadcast the 30-second commercial by the American Federation of Government Employees. Their attorneys flagged the spot as potentially defamatory, according to the station's general sales manager.

The ad states that "for big corporations like Halliburton that get no-bid government contracts worth billions, Christmas comes almost every day. And when contractors go over budget or commit fraud, it seems as long as they keep writing big contribution checks to the Bush campaign, they just keep getting more government contracts paid for by you and me."

The ad is to air on a Boston station on Sunday. The group's media consultant said the ad is factually accurate and was backed up with research. The group represents 600,000 federal and Washington, D.C. employees.

Three dimensional chess

The Feb. 3 Super Seven Primary War has already begun. But unlike the Iowa/New Hampshire races, they will be fought in the media and with organizations. Candidates will have to figure out where they can win and where they can’t. The outcome of it all will decide whether they are still around on Feb. 4. The Washington Post has a good inside look at what is happening:

Now they're all playing three-dimensional chess, studying one another's moves in market after market. "You can find out within minutes of someone going up what their competitive buy is," Trippi said.

The Feb. 3 states’ media buys continue to be shaped by the big two, Iowa and New Hampshire. This is because candidates need to come out of those two races well enough to not be pulled down too far in their targeting of the Feb 3^rd round. This means that future resources are being burned in those two states. This may be Wesley Clark’s only saving grace of being left out of the early media attention that comes from the Iowa-New Hampshire connection.

Currently, the top four big spenders in Iowa and New Hampshire are: Dean (spending $440,000 on Iowa ads -- including 2,000-point levels in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Quad Cities… this means the typical viewer would see the ad 20 times during that period), Gephardt (spending $100,000 in the must-win state of Iowa from Dec. 9 through Dec. 15, with a maximum 500-point level in Des Moines), Kerry (spending $185,000 in  Iowa and $74,000 in New Hampshire during the Dec. 9-15 period) and Edwards (spending heavily in Iowa, New Hampshire and S. Carolina).

Group changes ad and leaders

Americans for Jobs, Healthcare and Progressive Values, who ran the ad in Iowa about how Howard Dean and President Bush both received A’s from the National Rifle Association, is introducing a new ad in New Hampshire and S. Carolina. They have also changed out Tim Raftis as its head for Ohio Rep. Edward Feighan. There was no reason given for the change. Also on board as a new mouthpiece is Robert Gibbs, who last month resigned as chief spokesman for Kerry's campaign.

The ad shows a picture of Osama bin Laden and says that Dean, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, doesn't have the military or foreign policy experience needed to take on "those who wake up every morning determined to destroy Western civilization." You can view the ad at PoliticsNH.com.

Howard Dean’s campaign response according to the Associated Press was:

Tricia Enright, a Dean spokeswoman, said, "Governor Dean had the judgment to oppose this war and the guts to stand up to George Bush. The least this nameless, faceless group can do is have the courage to say who they are."

Poll watching

The Manchester Union Leader reports on the latest Franklin Poll that says integrity counts:

Integrity, not electability, is the most sought-after quality in a Presidential candidate, according to a recent poll of likely voters in the New Hampshire Democratic primary… But when push comes to shove, voters say they will overlook political or policy differences with a candidate to ensure a better chance of victory in the general election.

* ON THE BUSH BEAT:

The President’s weekly radio address:

Good morning. This week I was honored to sign the Medicare Act of 2003, the greatest advance in health coverage for America's seniors since Medicare was founded nearly four decades ago. This new law will give seniors better choices and more control over their health care, and provide a prescription drug benefit.

Beginning in 2006, most seniors now without prescription coverage can expect to see their current drug bills cut roughly in half, in exchange for a monthly premium of about $35. And for the first time, seniors will have peace of mind that they will not face unlimited expenses for their Medicare.

These and other major improvements in Medicare came about because Republicans and Democrats in Congress were willing to work together for the interests of our senior citizens. We were able to pass this law because we listened to the people, set the right priorities and worked hard until we finished the job.

The reform and modernization of Medicare was one milestone in a year of accomplishment. We worked with Congress to take action in a number of areas on behalf of the American people. Last May, the House and Senate passed my jobs and growth package into law, delivering substantial tax relief to 91 million Americans. We reduced taxes for everyone who pays income taxes, increased the child tax credit, cut the taxes on dividends and capital gains, and gave 23 million small business owners incentives to invest for the future.

And now we are seeing the results. In the third quarter, the economy grew at the fastest pace in almost 20 years. Productivity, manufacturing and housing construction are expanding. And we have added over 300,000 jobs since August. The tax relief we passed is working, and our economy is gaining strength.

Legislation passed this year also showed the compassion and the good heart of America. We created the American Dream Down Payment Fund to help low-income citizens afford the down payment on homes of their own. We defended children from the violence of partial birth abortion, and passed new incentives to promote the adoption of children in foster care. And we acted to fight the global spread of AIDS by launching a multi-year emergency effort to prevent millions of new infections in Africa and the Caribbean, and to provide medicine and humane care to millions more who suffer.

This year we took important action to protect the environment. Our whole nation saw the devastation left by wildfires in the west, and we passed healthy forest legislation to thin the underbrush that fuels catastrophic blazes.

Our government also took urgent action on every front in the war on terror. Congress appropriated more than $31 billion for the Department of Homeland Security to prepare first responders and safeguard our ports and infrastructure, and help scientists develop vaccines against dangerous biological threats. Our country stood behind the men and women of our Armed Forces as they liberated Iraq and helped carry out the work of reconstruction there and in Afghanistan. In Congress, members of both parties worked together to provide vital resources for our troops, who are fulfilling their responsibility to defend the nation.

All these actions have made us safer, more prosperous, and a better country. We confronted problems with determination and bipartisan spirit. Yet our work is not done. There will be pressing business in the new year on issues from job creation to health care to public schools. And above all, we will continue to fight the war on terror until the war is won.

On behalf of all Americans, I thank the Congress for a productive year. Working together, we can add to this progress in the year to come.

* THE CLINTON COMEDIES:

Shrugging it off

Hill PAC -- the fundraising arm of Hillary Clinton -- is using the same tactic as the Republican National Committee. Like the RNC, Hill PAC is using all the bad things being said about Hillary to appeal for money. The Republicans are using what is being said about President Bush, of course. The good news for Clinton supporters is that Hillary just shrugs off the attacks, according to an email asking for funds. By the way, it is vast and it is right wing:

But, and I emphasize, BUT, we are faced with another political reality. I have worked with Hillary for the last 12 years. And for all of those years, she and her husband have been the target of an ongoing Republican assault. It's vast, and it's right-wing, and the only reason it's not a conspiracy is because it is very much out in the open.

"She is ruthless She's unaccountable," says Bill O'Reilly.

Neal Boortz refers to her as "Hitlary."

Human Events, a conservative publication, is selling a deck of cards called, "The 52 Most Dangerous Liberals." They advertise it by exclaiming, "Move over Saddam -Hillary is the new Ace of Spades."

"Hillary's main following is made up of a core of emotional idiots. This core is a personality cult similar to rock groupies, blind and oblivious to the real world as they swoon over their dear leader," says Newsmax columnist Charles Smith.

Now, I don't mind being called a rock groupie, but "emotional idiot" is way out of line!

Clearly this stuff is nonsense -- ridiculous, outrageous, blatant lies. But, the scary thing is that some people - because they see it on TV, or read it on the web, or hear it on the radio - believe it's true.

Hillary is not intimidated by this hateful stuff. She shrugs it off and goes about the business that she was elected to do - making the lives of New Yorkers - and all Americans - better. That is her job.

Criminal probe

Hillary Clinton’s top financial fund-raising aide, David Rosen, is under federal investigation in connection with a Hollywood celebrity fundraiser. There appears to be no wrong doing by the Clintons. In fact, it appears that in the very least they were robbed of money taken by Aaron Tonken.

Rosen, a Chicago-based political consultant would have coordinated with Aaron Tonken, who on Tuesday pleaded guilty to federal charges that he diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors and underwriters of Hollywood charities and galas that he organized. Tonken helped organize the August 2000 event, a tribute to President Bill Clinton, which raised $1 million for Hillary’s Senate campaign. The Washington Post also reports that there were other campaign violations for the event:

Peter Paul, a onetime Clinton booster, media entrepreneur and ex-convict who says he fronted nearly $1.9 million in expenses to stage the event, has claimed the Clinton campaign never properly reported the money to federal election officials.

Paul said he agreed to underwrite the event to ingratiate himself with the president, in hopes that Bill Clinton would work for his firm, Stan Lee Media, after he left office.

* NATIONAL:

US News and Now with Bill Moyers teamed up to report on the Bush Administration’s classifying documents and keeping them out of the public domain:

The Bush administration has removed from the public domain millions of pages of information on health, safety, and environmental matters, lowering a shroud of secrecy over many critical operations of the federal government.

The administration's efforts to shield the actions of, and the information held by, the executive branch are far more extensive than has been previously documented. And they reach well beyond security issues.

Now aired their story on Dec. 12 over most PBS stations. The article reports that the current administration has made secrets at a far greater pace than the Clinton administration:

There are no precise statistics on how much government information is rendered secret. One measure, though, can be seen in a tally of how many times officials classify records. In the first two years of Bush's term, his administration classified records some 44.5 million times, or about the same number as in President Clinton's last four years, according to the Information Security Oversight Office, an arm of the National Archives and Records Administration.

 

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