via ft.com
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Democrats grow confident of House win - FT.com
Democrats say they are optimistic that they can regain control of the House of Representatives in the November election, an outcome that would mark a sharp reversal from the thumping defeat dealt to the party in 2010.
“We’ve gone from a gale force wind against us to a sustained breeze at our backs,” said Steve Israel, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, on Tuesday
via ft.com
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Credit Card Debt Nears Toxic Levels
(New York Post) - More American households are falling back into the debt hole, this time without the safety net of home values to help bail them out, the New York Post reported Sunday.
Last year, total US consumer debt reached its highest point in a decade, according to a credit card industry observer.
"Now more than ever, families need to work at saving and paying off any outstanding debts," said Howard Dvorkin, a certified public accountant and founder of the credit counseling service Consolidated Credit.
After a few months of reducing credit card debt levels, Dvorkin said, Americans are starting to return to their reliance on debt.
"People made some progress in reducing card debt earlier in the year, but in the last few months, as the stock market started to rise, they started to return to their old ways of charging things," he explained.
In December 2011, the total consumer debt -- which is the combination of non-revolving and revolving debt -- rose by some 9.3 percent to $2.498 trillion, according to the latest Federal Reserve Board numbers.
Both revolving debt and non-revolving debt increased. Revolving debt, which is credit-card debt, went up by 4.1 percent. Non-revolving debt, which includes loans for cars and education, rose 11.8 percent, the central bank's report said.
The trend -- month to month, quarter to quarter and year to year -- is rising steeply.
"Consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 7.5 percent in the fourth quarter. Revolving credit increased at an annual rate of 4.5 percent, and non-revolving credit increased 9 percent in December," the Fed wrote in a note along with the latest monthly report, which also reviewed 2011.
These numbers, Dvorkin warns, mean that many middle-class Americans are taking big risks.
In a weak economy with high unemployment, Dvorkin noted, many people with big card balances become vulnerable to financial catastrophe.
Lewis J. Altfest, a Manhattan adviser who targets professional, high-income clients, devotes part of his practice to telling the well-heeled how to cut back on credit card debt.
"It's still a big problem. Some people want to live life to the fullest even though they are using their cards too much," Altfest explained. He said many clients last year tried to reduce card debt. But some "are falling back into their old ways."
Indeed, last holiday season many consumers financed Black Friday trips to the mall and Cyber Monday online buying sprees by making purchases with plastic, Dvorkin contends.
"As the bills begin to roll in, consumers may find themselves unable to pay them off. It's good to see an increase in consumer spending, but never is it worth going into debt," according to Dvorkin.
Read more: New York Post
via myfoxdc.com
Ohio school shooting: 1 dead; 4 hurt
One student was killed and four were injured in a shooting Monday morning at a high school in suburban Chardon, Ohio, authorities have reported.
A suspect was taken into custody, but his name was being withheld because he's a juvenile, said Chardon Police Chief Timothy McKenna. The suspect, who is believed to be a student at the school, has yet to be charged, the chief said.
McKenna announced the death and injuries in a televised briefing. The injured students were hospitalized, McKenna said, but he gave no additional details on their conditions.
Earlier, officials had said the gunman opened fire with a handgun in the school cafeteria about 7:30 a.m. The victims were found in three separate locations.
An adult forced the gunman out of the building, and he was arrested nearby, McKenna said.
The deadliest shooting at a high school was on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Colorado. Two seniors -- Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold -- killed 12 students and one teacher. They also injured 21 other students; three people were injured while attempting to escape. The pair later committed suicide.
Columbine was the fourth-deadliest school massacre in United States history -- after the 1927 Bath School disaster, 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, and the 1966 University of Texas massacre.
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Third-grader charged in classmate shooting made 'terrible mistake'
via latimes.com
Missing 2-year-old boy from Webster County found dead in pond, half-mile from family home
By JOEL McNEECE
A 2-year-old Webster County boy who had been missing since Sunday afternoon was found dead Monday morning in a pond approximately a half mile from his home.Kyle Mitchell, 2, was found at approximately 8:45 a.m. by a team of searchers that included Calhoun County officials.
Calhoun County law enforcement officers and firemen joined in the search for the 2-year-old before daybreak Monday morning.
Calhoun Sheriff Greg Pollan said 18 people from Calhoun had joined the coordinated search early Monday morning after an "amber alert" was issued late Sunday.
Mitchell was playing in the front yard of his parents' Tomnolen home when they noticed him missing around 3:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the Webster County Sheriff's Department.
In addition to Calhoun, officials from other surrounding counties joined in the search that included helicopters surveying the area. The land surrounding the home was described as "very wooded with tall grasses."
Oscar Wins for ‘The Artist’ Mark Record for a French Film - Businessweek
Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The five Oscars awarded to “The Artist,” a black-and-white tribute to the silent-picture era, marks a record for a French film as it beat out bigger-budget movies with more famous stars.
The mostly silent film, judged the best picture, won Michel Hazanavicius the award for best director. Jean Dujardin was honored as best actor for playing George Valentin, an aging film star unable to make it in the talkies, making the 39-year-old the first French actor to win the award.
The movie “seduced the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with its ingenuity and grace,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement. The awards are a tribute to the “extraordinary vitality” of the country’s film industry.
via businessweek.com
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Buffett Says He's on the Prowl for Large Berkshire Acquisitions
Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said he's "on the prowl" for large acquisitions after the company's biggest subsidiaries posted record earnings in 2011.
Berkshire is seeking "to purchase some large operations that will give us a further boost," Buffett said today in his annual letter to shareholders. "We now have eight subsidiaries that would each be included in the Fortune 500 were they stand- alone companies. That leaves only 492 to go. My task is clear, and I'm on the prowl."
via sfgate.com
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Down to the wire in 2-man GOP race in Michigan
Down to the wire in 2-man GOP race in MichiganBy KASIE HUNT, Associated Press – 27 minutes ago
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Republican Mitt Romney fought Saturday to prove he is the strongest challenger to President Barack Obama, an increasingly difficult task given the tight race in his native state of Michigan against surging conservative Rick Santorum.
In the final weekend of campaigning before Tuesday's Michigan and Arizona primaries, Romney focused on central and southeast Michigan's urban and industrial centers in hopes of pulling ahead of Santorum.
With a Michigan victory, Santorum could solidify his place as a real threat to Romney heading into Super Tuesday, the 10-state sweepstakes on March. Santorum's victories so far have come in lower-turnout party caucuses.
While Romney kept most of his attention on the Democratic incumbent, he also worked to lay doubt about the core principles of his lightly funded main GOP rival.
Romney is the one facing stubborn doubts from some conservatives for his changed positions on social issues, but he tried to portray Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, as a Washington insider with cracks in his own conservative credentials. Santorum called such criticism "laughable" and said Michigan, where Romney was born and raised and his father was governor, was winnable.
A crowd in Lansing heard Romney accuse Santorum of caving to party leaders on issues he opposed, including financing Planned Parenthood.
"This is not time for lifelong pols who explain why they voted for this or that based on what they were asked to do by their fellow colleagues," Romney told about 300 activists gathered for breakfast at a country club. "I will be a president of principle."
Later in Flint, he declared himself a Washington, D.C., outsider and implied Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, is an insider: "I don't have any political payoffs I have to make."
Romney tried to undermine Santorum's profile as an abortion opponent by noting Santorum's backing in 1996 of fellow Pennsylvanian Arlen Specter in the GOP presidential race. "He supported the pro-choice candidate," Romney told more than 2,000 at a forum in Troy put on by a tea party umbrella group. Santorum spoke to the group, Americans for Prosperity, earlier Saturday.
Santorum, who has portrayed himself as a loyal conservative and is popular among evangelical conservatives, ridiculed Romney's claims.
"It is absolutely laughable to have a liberal governor of Massachusetts suggest that I am not a conservative," Santorum said to cheers to the same group. "He repeatedly gets up and says all these things that he didn't do that he did do. Folks, this is an issue of trust."
The volleys over principle and loyalty punctuate the all-out two-man race in Michigan, leaving behind the two others in the field. Both candidates are spending heavily on television advertising, although the better-funded Romney was laying out more.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul is hardly a factor in Michigan but is airing advertisements criticizing Santorum, which aids Romney. Paul was campaigning in Oklahoma Saturday. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was nowhere to be found in the state and has spent scant time in Arizona, which also holds its primary Tuesday.
Gingrich has acknowledged that he has no shot in Michigan or Arizona and has predicted Romney will win. Gingrich aides argue he stands to gain by Santorum or Romney coming out of Tuesday weaker.
Gingrich is betting heavily on Georgia, the state he represented in Congress, and a strong showing in Tennessee on March 6.
On Saturday Gingrich was in California for the state GOP convention. He forecast a drawn-out campaign that would give late-voting states a voice.
"There will not be any lockdown before we get to California," which holds its primary June 5, Gingrich said.
Romney campaigned across southern central and southeast Michigan, where his family name is familiar, and he reminded audiences of his ties to the state. Romney won the GOP primary here during his unsuccessful 2008 bid for the nomination.
In Lansing, the capital, Romney recalled his father's chilly winter inaugurals. Romney's wife, Ann, also born in Michigan, reminisced in introducing the candidate in Troy about growing up a Tigers baseball fan and working for her father's business in the Detroit suburb.
Polls show a dead heat between Romney and Santorum, who is playing up his family's blue-collar background as the grandson of a Pennsylvania coal-miner. "This race is close. This race is winnable. But you've got to want it," Santorum told tea party members in St. Clair Shores.
Romney's attacks are a potential problem for Santorum because he's based his candidacy on presenting himself as an uncompromising conservative, contrasting himself with Romney. The former Massachusetts governor has struggled at times to explain why he's changed his position on abortion and other issues.
Santorum compared the health care bill Romney signed in Massachusetts in 2006 with the one Obama signed in 2010. The federal program is wildly unpopular with conservatives.
"Are you going to vote for someone that says one thing one day anything else the next day that's necessary to win? Or are you going to vote for someone you trust?" Santorum asked the crowd in Troy.
Santorum later made a quick detour to Tennessee, a Super Tuesday state that's gotten much less attention, to speak at a tea party rally in a large church in Chattanooga.
In Tennessee, Santorum rebuked Romney for backing the Wall Street bailout. He acknowledged that he and Romney opposed the auto industry bailout, and said Romney was inconsistent.
"I didn't pick and choose based on who my friends are," Santorum said to loud applause. "These are the biggest issues of this race. And we need a candidate who isn't compromised on every single one of them."
Santorum called Obama "a snob" for saying every American child should be able to go to college.
"Why does Obama want everybody to go to college? So his liberal college professors can be indoctrinating people like he has," Santorum said, drawing a long ovation.
Associated Press writer Brian Bakst in Burlingame, Calif., and Charles Babington in Chattanooga, Tenn., contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
via google.com
Friday, February 24, 2012
Santorum casts for votes at Lenten dinner in Walled Lake | The Detroit News | detroitnews.com
Walled Lake— Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum continued his push toward Tuesday's Michigan primary with a stop at St. William Catholic Parish in Walled Lake this evening.
The former Pennsylvania senator greeted nearly 1,000 people at the St. William Dads' Club 23rd Annual Lenten Fish Fry.
It was one of several stops he's made across the state this weekend.
"I love the smell of fish on a Friday night," Santorum told the crowd, saying he appreciates the respect it showed to the tradition of fish fries. "The only thing I require is when you take this picture, you put it up on your Facebook page."
via detroitnews.com
Did Jeb Bush Actually Say That? | Swampland
We may be reaching critical mass in the belief that this pathetic field of Republican candidates has jumped the shark…even many Republicans have come to that conclusion. Politico today cites several sources that Jeb Bush said this during a post-speech question and answer session the other night in Dallas:
“I used to be a conservative, and I watch these debates and I’m wondering, I don’t think I’ve changed, but it’s a little troubling sometimes when people are appealing to people’s fears and emotion rather than trying to get them to look over the horizon for a broader perspective, and that’s kind of where we are.”
You must understand: Jeb Bush really is a conservative, and a thoughtful one at that. And yet, he manages to live on this planet, in this country, in the 21st century, and has a track record of actually trying to solve the problems we’re facing without denying that they exist or demagoguing them. He obviously senses that the current Republican candidates are on a Jonestown course, drinking the Rush Limbaugh Kool-Aid on a wide variety of issues.
It is especially sad to watch Mitt Romney, who is not an unintelligent man, make such a fool of himself on so many issues. Part of his alleged “electability” had to do with the fact that he was not insane, that he could appeal to moderates and independents–the sliver where presidential elections are won and lost. But I’ve not yet seen him say, “Whoa guys, that’s a little bit extreme for my tastes” in any of these debates, much less disagree with his opponents from the center. Instead, he has–shamelessly and sometimes hilariously–tried to portray himself as righter than thou whenever the opportunity arises.
(MORE: What You Missed While Not Watching the Arizona GOP Debate)
This hasn’t worked particularly well with the wing-nuts–who are, by the way, more radical than they are conservative–and, if Romney wins the nomination, his history of posturing is likely to be cataclysmic in the general election. Jeb Bush is clearly frustrated by the byplay, and his fellow Republicans would be wise to heed his words.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Five Die in Georgia Spa Shooting
Associated Press
NORCROSS, Ga.—Five people died Tuesday night in an apparent murder-suicide at a suburban Atlanta spa, and police were searching for a motive.
Norcross police spokesman Capt. Brian Harr said Tuesday evening that officers found the bodies after responding to a call reporting a person shot at the Su Jung Health Sauna.
Mr. Harr said a preliminary investigation indicates the shooter was among the dead. He didn't know the relationships between the shooter and the victims.
Surveillance video shows a man walking into the spa and getting into an argument with someone, then opening fire, police said.
"It appears he walked in, had some conversation with one of the victims, and the shooting started," Norcross Police Chief Warren Summers told Atlanta television station WAGA.
Four people were found dead inside, and another was taken to a hospital before being pronounced dead, Mr. Harr told the Gwinnett Daily Post. Police described the dead as three men and two women.
Investigators say they believe about 20 people were inside when the shooting began around 8:30 p.m. .
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is working with local police on the case.
via online.wsj.com
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Michigan Poll: Santorum 37, Romney 33, Paul 15, Gingrich 10 | The Weekly Standard
PPP reports on its latest poll of the Republican primary race in Michigan:
The Republican race for President in Michigan has tightened considerably over the last week, with what was a 15 point lead for Rick Santorum down to 4. He leads with 37% to 33% for Mitt Romney, 15% for Ron Paul, and 10% for Newt Gingrich.
The tightening over the last week is much more a function of Romney gaining than Santorum falling. Santorum's favorability spread of 67/23 has seen no change since our last poll, and his share of the vote has dropped only 2 points from 39% to 37%. Romney meanwhile has seen his net favorability improve 10 points from +10 (49/39) to +20 (55/35) and his vote share go from 24% to 33%.
The presidential primary in Michigan is February 28.
4.0 earthquake in Missouri shakes 9 states - US news - Life - msnbc.com
EAST PRAIRIE, Missouri — Only minor damage is reported after an earthquake centered in southeast Missouri shook at least nine states.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude 4.0 earthquake was centered near the town of East Prairie, Missouri.
Geological Survey geophysicist Amy Vaughan says several people in Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee reported being awakened by the quake that happened at 3:58 a.m. GMT. A few residents of North Carolina, Alabama, Indiana and Georgia also felt it.
via msnbc.msn.com
Monday, February 20, 2012
Preventing horse slaughter - a personal evolution - The Hill's Congress Blog
A few years ago, when I was still serving in the Senate, I was asked to support legislation that would ban the practice of slaughtering horses for human consumption. My initial reaction was cool to the notion that the federal government should be mandating or telling owners of these horses what they can or cannot do with their animals. However, my initial instincts on such a policy were outweighed by the personal and practical experience that horse owners brought to my attention, including my son, Chet.
An avid horseman, Chet is active in the horse industry and had rescued several horses from a “killer buyer” — one who buys horses from sometimes unsuspecting owners and then sells them to slaughterhouses. My son retrained and sold those horses to become champion polo ponies. His experience showed me that live, active horses support an important infrastructure of jobs and economies in the United States. A live horse needs to be fed, groomed and trained, as well as receive vet care, among other things. This in turn creates and maintains a viable and enduring way of life in rural America. The sale of horses to killer-buyers in fact generates very little profit for the seller while simultaneously choking off the demand for the goods and services that other buyers would create.
I was proud to become a co-sponsor of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act and strongly support its enactment into law. Notwithstanding my personal evolution in seeking a ban to the practice of slaughtering horses for human consumption and the interstate transportation thereof, which the legislation would do, I support this legislation for three compelling reasons: Banning horse slaughter would save taxpayers millions of dollars every year, as it would eliminate a wasteful federal program that only serves to benefit a handful of foreign-owned companies; it would help foster and promote sustainable jobs in rural America; and it would end the needless suffering of more than 100,000 American horses each year, which are hauled across the United States to slaughter houses in Mexico and Canada to supply so‐called “high‐end” restaurants in France and Belgium.
Recently the proponents of the horse slaughter industry, who have been vigorously opposing the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, seized on a report by the Government Accountability Office that made flawed claims, based on flawed evidence, about there now being “too many horses,” which are starving to death and subsequently depressing horse prices. None of this is true. Unfortunately, in the ensuing confusion Congress enacted H.R. 2112, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2012, which removed a long‐standing prohibition on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ability to inspect horses bound for slaughter, thus allowing for the resumption of horse slaughter in the United States — and the expenditure of federal tax dollars on a program that will benefit only foreign interests, not rural America.
Horse slaughter proponents further claim that slaughter exists because there are too many unwanted horses, but fail to point out that even when horse slaughter was allowed in the United States, a large number of horses from Canada were imported annually to a horse slaughter facility in Illinois. If we had too many horses, why did that facility need to import them?
I spent my entire political career working to reduce federal spending, shrink the size of the government, and promote American jobs. Supporting the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act fits all of those key goals while also helping reduce unnecessary animal suffering. For myself, the horse industry, and the majority of Americans who support a ban on horse slaughter, passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act is a win‐win issue for America.
Lott is senior counsel at the law firm Patton Boggs LLP and former Senate majority leader.
via thehill.com
Santorum: Global warming is politics, not science - seattlepi.com
STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Rick Santorum says President Barack Obama is pushing a radical environmental agenda that unwisely limits energy production and turns its back on science.
Santorum told voters in eastern Ohio on Monday that science is on the side of those who want to aggressively produce more oil and natural gas in America. He said the notion of global warming is not climate science but "political science."
via seattlepi.com
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Intensity Question For Romney Stirs Doubt For Fall : NPR
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — If Mitt Romney wins the Republican nomination for president, he'll face the urgent task of inspiring the party's conservative core and rallying them to beat President Barack Obama.
Judging by his performances in the primaries and caucuses so far, and the challenge he faces next week, he's got his work cut out for him.
Even Republicans who think he'll be the nominee worry about whether he can generate the intensity required to beat the Democratic incumbent.
These party leaders and activists, from the states voting Feb. 28 and the most contested ones ahead in the fall, say Romney has made strides toward addressing this problem. But, they say, he needs to do more to convince the Republican base that he's running to fundamentally reverse the nation's course, not simply manage what they see as the federal government's mess.
"I think Romney will be the nominee, but there is still tremendous work to be done," said Sally Bradshaw, a Florida Republican and adviser to former Gov. Jeb Bush. "He has got to find a way to unify the party and increase the intensity of support for him among voters who have supported Newt Gingrich, or Rick Santorum or Ron Paul or someone else. And that is going to be the key to how he does in the fall."
Romney leads in the delegate count for the nomination, and by a wide margin in polls ahead of the Feb. 28 primaries in Arizona and Michigan. But the challenge from former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in Michigan, where Romney was born and raised, underscores doubts about Romney's ability to ignite fervor in the GOP base.
He nearly tied Santorum in Iowa, although entrance polls showed that more of Santorum's backers than Romney's said they were strongly behind their chosen candidate.
Romney lost the primary in South Carolina last month to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. More of Romney's supporters in that state said they would support him with reservations in the general election than would support him enthusiastically.
Santorum swept caucuses Feb. 7 in Colorado and Minnesota, and the nonbinding Missouri primary.
Romney's challengers have risen by sounding more conservative and displaying sharper differences with Obama, while nipping Romney's appeal as the most electable against Obama.
Romney, a former Massachusetts governor with a moderate past, has campaigned more as the likely GOP nominee, portraying himself as acceptable to swing voters in a race where polls show voters prizing most a candidate's perceived ability to beat Obama.
Romney has pivoted toward the GOP's conservative base in light of Santorum's surge.
He dove into the debate over whether birth control ought to be covered by health insurance provided by church-backed employers by faulting the Obama administration's original push to do so as an "assault on religion." But Romney was accused of overreaching after recently telling influential conservative activists, "I was a severely conservative Republican governor."
"In Romney's case it's like the difference between someone who grew up speaking Spanish and someone who went to school to speak Spanish," said Constantin Querard, an Arizona Republican operative. "The moment Romney starts speaking, people know the difference."
A Pew Research poll taken last week shows the Republican voters nationally who think Romney is a strong conservative has dipped to 42 percent from 53 percent in November.
Romney's campaign aides say it's unrealistic to think conservatives staring at the possibility of a second Obama term will not unify behind Romney. "President Obama is the best unifier the Republican Party could ever hope for," Romney's political director, Rich Beeson, told The Associated Press.
The campaign points to recent conservative opinion leaders who have signed on to his campaign, and his support from popular rising conservative figures such as South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as evidence of Romney's newfound buzz.
Michigan Republican Holly Hughes, who supported Arizona Sen. John McCain in the 2008 primary, said Romney is more passionate than during his failed bid that year.
"He's a different candidate than he was four years ago," said Hughes, a Republican national committeewoman from Muskegon County. "There wasn't the excitement there."
Hughes and others also point to Romney's winning the straw poll at the recent Conservative Political Action Convention in Washington, which attracted thousands of the nation's most ardent conservative activists.
Yet Michigan GOP consultant Tom Shields said Santorum, now ahead of Romney in polls Romney's native state and where his father served as governor, is exciting people where Romney isn't.
Establishment Republican figures are lining up behind Romney in Michigan, including Gov. Rick Snyder. But in 2000, Gov. John Engler promised to deliver the state as George W. Bush's firewall; McCain won the primary that year.
"For whatever reason, Romney's not objectionable. But people just haven't fully warmed up to him," said Shields, who conducts public opinion polling in Michigan. "They've just refused to take the next step and marry the guy."
It foretells problems assuring the die-hard GOP activists will be lining up in November, when their phone-banking and door-knocking could make the difference in a close election against an Obama re-election campaign projected to have $1 billion to spend.
"I voted for him. I don't want to screw around because he's who we're going to end up with," said former Arizona GOP Chairman Mike Hellon, referring to his absentee primary vote for Romney. "But I talk to people who are generally reluctant to pull the trigger for him. More than anything else, that's' a problem of intensity which could be a problem in the fall."
Romney could spice things up with his running-mate choice, although some say an August announcement might be too late to lock in the GOP foot-soldiers.
"There's a lot of speculation that Marco Rubio could be the vice presidential nominee," Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad told the AP, referring to the freshman Florida senator and tea party favorite. "I think somebody like him could add some real excitement to the ticket, would be kind of a help to Romney if he does wrap up the nomination."
Candidates historically do not win close elections based on their running mate, although they have in recent elections received a temporary bump in their national poll standing. The choice can ignite passion among the party base, as did McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in 2008.
Concerns about the enthusiasm Romney generates correspond with a general dip in excitement among Republicans in a nominating campaign that has lurched one way and another in nine contests over the past six weeks.
A CNN/ORC International poll published Wednesday showed 51 percent of Republicans nationally were extremely or very enthusiastic about voting for president in the election, down from 64 percent in October.
But the dip in GOP enthusiasm, and especially Romney's three-way loss this month, is a stark warning to Romney that he cannot wait or rely on public unpopularity with Obama to provide momentum for him.
"He cannot bank on the anger against Obama among Republicans to create the turnout we need in the Fall," Florida's Bradshaw said.
via npr.org
Iran Stops Oil Sales to UK, French Companies: Ministry - Business News - CNBC
"Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped ... we will sell our oil to new customers," spokesman Alireza Nikzad was quoted as saying by the ministry of petroleum website.
The European Union in January decided to stop importing crude from Iran from July 1 over its disputed nuclear program, which the West says is aimed at building bombs. Iran denies this.
via cnbc.com
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Joe Kennedy III announces run for Barney Frank’s seat - The Washington Post
The Kennedys are officially back into the family business.
Joseph Kennedy III, a scion of the famous political family, announced Thursday that will run for the Massachusetts House seat being vacated by Rep. Barney Frank (D).
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
The Associated Press: Yahoo's talks to sell Asian assets unravel
Yahoo's talks to sell Asian assets unravelBy MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Technology Writer – 47 minutes ago
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — As Yahoo tries to head in a new direction, the fate of the struggling Internet company's Asian holdings remains in limbo.
The negotiations to sell Yahoo's stakes in China's Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan abruptly broke off in a disagreement over the sales price and the best way to get the complex deal done, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday on the condition of anonymity because the negotiations are considered to be confidential, despite repeated leaks about the discussions during the past few months.
All Things D, a technology blog affiliated with The Wall Street Journal, reported earlier that the talks had collapsed.
It's the latest twist in the drama that has been swirling around Yahoo Inc. since it fired Carol Bartz as CEO five months ago.
Since the start of the year, Yahoo has hired former PayPal executive Scott Thompson as CEO and announced the departures of five board members, including Chairman Roy Bostock and company co-founder Jerry Yang.
Thompson, Yahoo's fourth full-time CEO in less than five years, has pledged to engineer a turnaround that eluded his predecessors.
For now, though, investors are disillusioned with Yahoo's inability to close the deal on the Asian assets. The company's shares shed 76 cents, or 4.7 percent, to close at $15.36 — below their price six weeks ago when Yahoo announced Thompson's hiring.
The Asian impasse comes as a surprise, given that Yahoo Inc. and the prospective buyers, Alibaba and Yahoo Japan shareholder Softbank Corp., all seemed motivated to seal a long-awaited deal. Yahoo was confident enough to dispatch negotiators to Hong Kong last week while Alibaba had been seeking financing to pay for its part, the person said.
But the sides couldn't agree on the value of Yahoo's holdings, which have been steadily rising in the past few years as Alibaba's electronic-commerce services prospered in China's rapidly growing Internet market. Analysts have also differed on how much Yahoo could fetch by selling its stakes, with estimates ranging from $11 billion to $18 billion.
To compound the challenges, Yahoo had insisted on an arrangement that would enable it to avoid paying taxes. That requirement, according to the person, resulted in a proposal known as a "cash-rich split-off" that would have resulted in Alibaba and Softbank contributing cash and other assets into a special entity in exchange for Yahoo's stakes in the Asian companies. Yahoo then could have used the money generated from the Asian sale to placate its long-frustrated shareholders with a special dividend or other measures that might reverse a three-year slump in its net revenue.
The downturn at Yahoo has occurred even as more Internet advertising has been shifting to the Internet, helping to enrich online search leader Google Inc. and Facebook, the owner of the largest online social network.
Yahoo remains open to reviving the negotiations to sell its Asian assets at the right price, the person familiar with the matter said.
When Yahoo appeared reluctant to sell its Asian stakes late last year, investment firms Blackstone Group and Bain Capital considered teaming up with Alibaba and Softbank in a joint bid to buy Yahoo in its entirety, according to media reports that cited unnamed people. Yahoo also considered selling partial stakes of the company to other investment firms.
Bostock publicly acknowledged the different proposals that Yahoo had been considering last week as he announced he will be stepping down as the company's chairman. At that time, he described the talks with Alibaba and Softbank as active. He also added that "we are not in a position at this time ... to provide assurance that any transaction will be achieved."
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
via google.com
Former Shell CEO: Get Ready for $5 Gasoline
Gasoline prices are headed for $5 a gallon in many locations in the United States this year, says John Hofmeister, founder of Citizens for Affordable Energy and the former CEO of Shell Oil’s U.S. operations.Global demand will rise and pressure supply, while U.S. politicians aren't doing anything to ease prices at home such as allowing for significantly more drilling.
"What's really unprecedented is developing countries, particularly China and India, have this insatiable need for more oil and that has not been taken into account when we think of public policy in this country," Hofmeister tells CNBC.
via moneynews.com
MySpace no longer crying a river with 1 MILLION new punters • The Register
MySpace may have been dumped by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch but today its star investor - aged pop prince-turned-actor Justin Timberlake - has something to smile about: the site has gained 1 million users since December.
The signups represent the first growth for the site since Specific Media bought it.
Murdoch's company News Corp acquired MySpace in 2005 for $580m and then ingloriously offloaded it in June 2011 at a $254m loss. Since being cut loose by one of the world's most famous octogenarians, the website has undergone a major revamp that has included redefining the brand as an entertainment hub mainly use by independent musicians.
And it would seem that the reinvention is slowly starting to pay off. The company said the uptick in signups was largely due to a new music player the one-time social networking giant debuted at the end of the last year. MySpace has also been given a leg-up by Facebook, which it of course once considered to be an arch rival.
The company was bought by Tim and Chris Vanderhook along with Timberlake - famous for chart hit Cry Me a River - for $35m from News Corp, and recently did a deal with Mark Zuckerberg's company and another with Twitter to allow the site to be integrated with the popular social networks.
At its height in 2008, MySpace pulled in roughly 80 million unique visitors each month and when it was sold to Timberlake and co the site's userbase had slumped to 33 million and remained in free fall.
But these days the company is no longer fighting with Facebook and its vast userbase of over 800 million people worldwide. Instead its competing with the likes of Spotify - a company that has already signed its soul away to Zuck's crew.
Comscore noted last week that MySpace's monthly traffic had grown to 25.1 million users in January, up about 4 per cent on the previous month. Before then it had reached an all-time low, so 1 million new signups is apparently worth shouting about.
“The numbers tell an amazing story of strong momentum and dramatic change for MySpace,” the firm's CEO Tim Vanderhook said. “And the one million-plus new user accounts we’ve seen in the last 30 days validates our approach.”
He added: “MySpace is building meaningful social entertainment experience around content, where consumers can share and discover the music they love. Consumers are getting excited about MySpace again - a testament to a great music product.” ®
Poll: Rick Santorum takes slight lead in GOP race - Political Hotsheet - CBS News
Rick Santorum has pulled slightly ahead of Mitt Romney in Republican primary voters' preference for the presidential nomination, a national CBS News/New York Times Poll shows.
Ron Paul is now in third, followed by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
Rick Santorum: No longer such a long-shot
Just three points over Romney, Santorum's lead in the national survey is within the poll's margin of error, but after wins last week in three states, 30 percent of Republican primary voters now say they support Santorum for the nomination.
via cbsnews.com
Monday, February 13, 2012
Santorum overtakes Romney in Michigan - The Hill's Ballot Box
Rick Santorum has overtaken Mitt Romney in the race for the GOP primary vote in Michigan, a state long considered a lock for Romney that has become a make-or-break test for his campaign.
New polls from Republican-leaning American Research Group and the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling both give Santorum the lead in Michigan, where Romney grew up and his father was a popular governor.
via thehill.com
Merkel taking Europe in wrong direction: Soros
American billionaire George Soros slammed German Chancellor Angela Merkel in an interview published on Sunday, warning that her policies could lead to a repeat of the Great Depression."I admire Chancellor Merkel for her leadership. But unfortunately she is taking Europe in the wrong direction," the financier and philanthropist told the weekly Der Spiegel.
Soros warned against addressing the crisis with spending cuts, urging the injection of funds instead.
"Otherwise we will repeat the mistakes that plunged America into the Great Depression in 1929. That's what Angela Merkel doesn't understand," he said.
US President Franklin Roosevelt addressed the crisis in 1933 with his New Deal, inspired by British economist John Keynes, which combined a reform of the banking system with major infrastructure projects.
Soros also told Der Spiegel, in remarks published in German on the magazine's website, that he thought Europe could handle the crisis without the help of the International Monetary Fund.
He said it was a mistake to offer a bailout to Greece tied to high interest rates. "That's why the country can't be saved today, and the same thing will happen to Italy if we put this country in the straitjacket of paying harsh interest rates," Soros said.
A Greek default would cause an escalation of the crisis and could lead to a run on Italian and Spanish banks, and "Europe would explode," he said.
Copyright AFP 2008, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium
via breitbart.com
Oil Rises as Greece Passes Austerity Measures, Iran Supply Threat Grows - Bloomberg
Oil rebounded from a three-day low in New York after Greece’s parliament approved austerity measures to obtain an international bailout, while concern grew that a ban on Iranian oil may constrict supplies.
Futures climbed as much as 1.3 percent as the euro headed toward a two-month high after 199 lawmakers supported the bill in a roll-call vote shown live on state-run Vouli TV, against 74 who opposed it. The measures were needed for a 130 billion-euro ($172 billion) aid package, Greece’s second since May 2010. Oil may extend gains after companies controlling more than 100 supertankers said they would stop loading cargoes from Iran, tightening sanctions on OPEC’s second-biggest producer.
via bloomberg.com
Presidential Candidates Stopping In Ohio | Ohio News Network
MASON, Ohio - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum will speak Friday at Manor House in Mason during the Warren County Republican Party's Lincoln Reagan Dinner.
This will be Santorum's first stop in Ohio on the campaign trail for the Republican presidential nomination.
According to the chairman for the Warren County Republican Party, Warren County has a history of pulling in presidential candidates.
"I think that this year is no exception," said Jeff Monroe. "In fact, it's probably more important than ever. Warren County is a pivotal county. We've seen that in the past and we fully anticipate it being again."
This year's dinner is scheduled to start at 6 pm Friday, and Santorum is expected to make remarks at around 6:30 pm before heading to a Brown County event.
"We're pretty staunch conservatives and I think one of the top Republican counties in the state, and this definitely puts us on the map," Kubicki said. "It's pretty awesome."
Tickets are available at wcrp.ticketleap.com or by calling (513) 649-7167.
Admission is $60 per ticket for the general reception or $600 for a table of 10. It's an additional $40 per ticket for a private reception with keynote speaker Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia.
Santorum is not the first Republican presidential candidate to visit Ohio ahead of the March 6 primary. Newt Gingrich stopped by Feb. 7 and 8.
On Thursday, Mitt Romney is scheduled to attend the Cuyahoga County Republican Party's Lincoln Day Dinner.
Watch ONN and refresh ONNtv.com for the latest information.
©2012 by By ONN. WHIO-TV in Dayton contributed to this report.. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.MASON, Ohio -
via onntv.com
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Whitney's Death: An Earlier Incident? - Forbes
Whitney Houston’s death made for a long day’s journey into night at the Beverly Hilton. While the Clive Davis Grammy dinner had to proceed downstairs in the ballroom–with 800 guests already filing in as the news was breaking–Whitney remained in state, so to speak, in her fourth floor suite. She was not removed until just moments before the party ended–a little after midnight. She’d been in the suite, discovered in her bathtub.
via forbes.com
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Singer Whitney Houston is dead at 48 - Press-Telegram
LOS ANGELES -- Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.
Publicist Kristen Foster said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unknown.
At her peak, Houston the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.
Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."
She had the he perfect voice, and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.
She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.
But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she
had during her prime.Advertisement"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.
It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.
She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.
Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.
"The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact," Davis told "Good Morning America."
"To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine," he added.
Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with "Whitney Houston," which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. "Saving All My Love for You" brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. "How Will I Know," ''You Give Good Love" and "The Greatest Love of All" also became hit singles.
Another multiplatinum album, "Whitney," came out in 1987 and included hits like "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."
The New York Times wrote that Houston "possesses one of her generation's most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity."
Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the "Soul Train Awards" in 1989.
"Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?" she told Katie Couric in 1996. "You're not black enough for them. I don't know. You're not R&B enough. You're very pop. The white audience has taken you away from them."
Some saw her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those critics. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop's pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.) Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.
But Houston said their true personalities were not as far apart as people may have believed.
"When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place," she told Rolling Stone in 1993. "You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that's their image. It's part of them, it's not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody's angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy."
It would take several years, however, for the public to see that side of Houston. Her moving 1991 rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl, amid the first Gulf War, set a new standard and once again reaffirmed her as America's sweetheart.
In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with "The Bodyguard." Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.
It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy's record of the year and best female pop vocal, and the "Bodyguard" soundtrack was named album of the year.
She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Preacher's Wife." Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, "My Love Is Your Love," in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut "It's Not Right But It's Okay."
But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time "The Preacher's Wife" was released, "(doing drugs) was an everyday thing. ... I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day. ... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."
In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007.
Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.
She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumors spread she had died the next day. Her crude behavior and jittery appearance on Brown's reality show, "Being Bobby Brown," was an example of her sad decline. Her Sawyer interview, where she declared "crack is whack," was often parodied. She dropped out of the spotlight for a few years.
Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album "I Look To You." The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.
Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on "Good Morning America" went awry as Houston's voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.
A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Canceled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.
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