The Capt'n be using his spyglass to search out those scalawag political bilge rats, and givm a broadside when they need to be exposed for their skulduggery.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Scientists have made ordinary human skin cells take on the chameleon-like powers of embryonic stem cells, a startling breakthrough that might someday deliver the medical payoffs of embryo cloning without the controversy.
Laboratory teams on two continents report success in a pair of landmark papers released Tuesday. It's a neck-and-neck finish to a race that made headlines five months ago, when scientists announced that the feat had been accomplished in mice.
The "direct reprogramming" technique avoids the swarm of ethical, political and practical obstacles that have stymied attempts to produce human stem cells by cloning embryos.
Scientists familiar with the work said scientific questions remain and that it's still important to pursue the cloning strategy, but that the new work is a major coup.
"This work represents a tremendous scientific milestone - the biological equivalent of the Wright Brothers' first airplane," said Dr. Robert Lanza, chief science officer of Advanced Cell Technology, which has been trying to extract stem cells from cloned human embryos.
"It's a bit like learning how to turn lead into gold," said Lanza, while cautioning that the work is far from providing medical payoffs.
"It's a huge deal," agreed Rudolf Jaenisch, a prominent stem cell scientist at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Mass. "You have the proof of principle that you can do it."
The White House lauded the papers, saying such research is what President Bush was advocating when he twice vetoed legislation to pave the way for taxpayer-funded embryo research.
There is a catch with the new technique. At this point, it requires disrupting the DNA of the skin cells, which creates the potential for developing cancer. So it would be unacceptable for the most touted use of embryonic cells: creating transplant tissue that in theory could be used to treat diseases like diabetes, Parkinson's, and spinal cord injury.
But the DNA disruption is just a byproduct of the technique, and experts said they believe it can be avoided.
The new work is being published online by two journals, Cell and Science. The Cell paper is from a team led by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka of KyotoUniversity; the Science paper is from a team led by Junying Yu, working in the lab of in stem-cell pioneer James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Both reported creating cells that behaved like stem cells in a series of lab tests.
Identification — I have been pondering recently about the Immigration proposal presented by President Bush, and how this does little to protect our southern boarders. Additionally we need the creation of a National ID / Work Card / Drivers License for all non US citizens.
This would eliminate the practice of illegal aliens getting Driver’s Licenses in Utah, then moving to another state and getting a drivers License there using the Utah License as ID. Any non US citizen when pulled over for a traffic citation would present their ID card and this would alert the police that this person is not a US citizen, and they should do a little more checking before just writing a citation and letting them go.
As for driving, when they can demonstrate in the state of their jurisdiction the ability to pass both a written and practical test, their ID cards would be embossed with driving privileges from that state. This must be accomplished in 90 days upon arrival to the US. This would allow tourists visiting the US to be able to rent cars while here in the US without this restriction. (Since my original post in 2004, some of these ideas have been implemented)
Border Security — I would propose the creation of a "USA Foreign Legion" run and administered by the US Marine Corps. This force would recruit foreign nationals to enlist for 4 years. After successfully completing the normal Marine Corps Training program (failure of this training program would return them to the country of origin) they would be trained for a new Horse Calvary unit that would be stationed all along the southern border.
Although fully armed for any situation, these forces would be specially trained to intercept, and control border incursions using high tech non lethal measures. Those illegal aliens intercepted would be photographed and fingerprinted, then after processing they would be immediately flown by Chinook helicopter back over the border to a deportation base in Mexico.
Utilizing the old US Army training manuals for the upkeep of the animals, feeding, grooming, etc will keep these troops fairly busy. After successfully serving a 4 year stint in the legion, they would be given fast track status for US citizenship. They could choose to re-enlist into the regular Army, or continue with this force.
This force also could be deployed anywhere in the world for peacekeeping proposes, reserving our shock fighting forces for quick deployment. Coordinated ops with military helicopter units along the boarder directing the cavalry forces to the locations of incursion, these forces by utilizing infrared and other Military technology would finally secure our southern boarder.
The benefits to the US would be a bilingual force that is familiar with the region, creates an avenue to US citizenship, and they are trained soldiers who are proud to be part of the US military. Upon honorary discharge they could enter the US civilian status with the education and tools to be successful in life.
How to Secure Air Travel — To travel by air in the United States, you should have a passport. The new generation passports should have RF ID chips and holographic pictures that can be read automatically when you go through security checkpoint before you even get to the screening machines. Arm the pilots. No Airplane will ever be hijacked again if the pilots are armed period. X-ray ALL cargo and baggage and create special transponder beacon codes that airline flights are assigned that they must squawk at a designated time during the trip, or they will be instructed to land at the closest secure airport.
Some corn with your turkey? The candidates zero in on Iowa in the run-up to Thanksgiving this week. As former Bay State Gov. Mitt Romney prepares to make his 35th campaign visit to the Hawkeye State, Sen. Hillary Clinton has juiced up her Iowa staff and ads. Two Democratic candidates, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, will celebrate Turkey Day in Iowa with their families. Meanwhile, the GOP’s front-runner in national polls, Rudy Giuliani, will focus on Feb. 5 primary states more than the leadoff momentum of an Iowa win.
HITTING THE ROAD
Clinton in Iowa all week; Obama in Iowa for a two-day swing and then New Hampshire;Edwards and Biden in Iowa. Giuliani fundraising in Texas and campaigning in Illinois; Romney in Idaho today and Iowa until Wednesday; McCain in New Hampshire.
THE LONE REPUBLICAN WITH HOLLY ROBICHAUD
I have some swamp land to sell you in Florida if you believe that Hillary Clinton will abide by her latest position of opposing driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants. She cannot even say the words “illegal immigrants.” Clinton’s clarity on the issue of so-called “undocumented workers” came on the same day the governor of New York threw in the towel. Eight states already pass out licenses. Do you suppose she will support cutting federal funds for those states? Only during the election.
HOT VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Mike Huckabee’s first TV ad debuts this week in Iowa, and you might call it a roundhouse kick of marketing. None other than Chuck Norris by his side, the former Arkansas governor proclaims, “My plan to secure the border? Two words: Chuck Norris.” Think hunting, border patrol and obliterating the IRS.http://www.youtube.com/explorehuckabee
We may never know who was responsible for the calls made in New Hampshire and Iowa impugning Romney’s Mormonism, but the Granite State’s attorney general is vowing to get to the bottom of who’s behind the underhanded hit, which violates state laws banning anonymous political ads. Utah-based Western Wats is under suspicion for reportedly placing the 20-minute calls. They ask whether the person receiving the call knew Romney received military deferments when he served in the Mormon missionary, and that the religion didn’t accept blacks as bishops until the 1970s, among other negative messages known in campaign circles as “push polling.”
HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Rudy Giuliani can't wait to keep cheering for A-Rod.
Asked Sunday how he feels that the New York Yankees and third baseman Alex Rodriguez are on the cusp of finalizing a US$275-million, 10-year contract, the Republican presidential candidate broke into a wide smile and said he was thrilled.
"My take on A-Rod? I'm glad to have him back," Giuliani said before watching NASCAR's season-ending Ford 400. "If you give up a player like A-Rod, you've got a lot of rebuilding to do."
Giuliani's affinity for the Yankees is no secret.
The former mayor of New York is a regular at Yankee Stadium, with a seat right next to the team's dugout. And even on the campaign trail, he can't get away from Yankee-related questions: In recent weeks, he expressed hope Joe Torre would be back as manager and recently said former right fielder Roger Maris should be in baseball's Hall of Fame.
So on Sunday, it wasn't exactly a surprise that amid questions on oil prices and push polling, a conversation with Giuliani turned to Rodriguez's pending deal.
"Negotiations are complex in baseball and everyplace else," Giuliani said. "I'm glad it's going to work out the right way. I'm very glad to see that as an American League fan, as a Yankee fan, that we're keeping him in the American League and keeping him on the Yankees. ... Maybe next year he'll have 62 home runs."
Rodriguez opted out of the final three seasons of his $252-million, 10-year contract on Oct. 28, but later contacted the Yankees through intermediaries and began discussing the prospects of a return. The parameters of the new deal were agreed to last week.
Rodriguez has 518 career home runs, 244 shy of Barry Bonds' career record.
A-Rod's new manager, Joe Girardi, was also at Homestead-Miami Speedway Sunday for the NASCAR finale. Girardi chatted for a few minutes with popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., who posed for a photo with Girardi's son, Dante.
"Congratulations about your job," Earnhardt told Girardi, who was hired as the Yankees' manager last month after Torre turned down the team's $5-million, one-year offer.
Girardi thanked him, telling Earnhardt he's "very excited" to get started.
RINDGE, N.H., Nov. 18 — Senator John McCain tried Sunday night to make the case that he was best positioned to defeat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in a general election, outlining a series of contrasts with her on issues including national security and health care.
In a speech here that his campaign described as the kind of pointed but respectful approach he will take for the rest of the campaign, Mr. McCain sought to tap into the anti-Clinton sentiment seen to be driving many Republican primary voters, particularly in New Hampshire.
At the same time, he tried to do it in a markedly different way from his two main rivals, Rudolph W. Giuliani and Mitt Romney, who have both harshly attacked Mrs. Clinton in making their own cases for electability.
The Republicans have taken aim at Mrs. Clinton early in the campaign, months before even the first votes are cast, assuming that her lead position in national polls makes her the likely Democratic nominee. Each is trying to show that he would be best able to slug it out in what primary voters assume will be a very rough campaign.
Ewen MacAskill in Washington Monday November 19, 2007 The Guardian
A group of American firefighters opposed to Rudy Giuliani, the Republican front-runner in the 2008 presidential race, are planning to run damaging adverts expressing scepticism about his 9/11 leadership.
The deputy New York fire chief, Jim Riches, whose son, also a firefighter, was killed in the Twin Towers' collapse, said: "TV made him a hero, and we'll use TV to take him down."
Riches and other New York firefighters have been voicing opposition to Giuliani, mayor of the city on 9/11, since he launched his campaign for the Republican nomination earlier this year. But they are now seeking to set up an official organisation that will fund television adverts in a campaign similar to the one that undermined John Kerry in 2004, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which challenged his Vietnam record.
Republican presidential hopeful, former N.Y. Mayor Rudy Giuliani, center,walks with his wife Judith, right, and Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, left, prior to the start of the Ford 400 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup series auto race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla. Sunday, Nov. 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — As pit crews made last-minute inspections to their cars Sunday at NASCAR's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani stressed the need for America to break its dependence on foreign oil.
Giuliani likened the pursuit of energy independence and the development of alternative energy sources to the race to put a man on the moon several decades ago.
"Now it's a matter truly of national security," Giuliani said. "We have to pursue all of those alternatives that exist."
In the meantime, Giuliani said, the U.S. needs to focus on domestic sources of oil, as well as oil from friendly countries like Mexico and Canada. He said conservation also will have to play a role.
Giuliani attended the season-ending race with his wife, Judith.
"This is our third one this year, so now I feel like I really am a fan," Giuliani said to a tent full of drivers and their crews. "It really represents the very best of America. You should be very proud of where you've taken it and where it's going to go."
Just before the race, Giuliani and his wife took a lap around the track in the official pace truck.
"I've ridden in the car twice at the beginning, and now Judith is going to ride with me," Giuliani said.
Asked whether he was going to cheer for Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson in the race, Giuliani said: "I'm going to pull for both of them. They're both good guys. May the better man win." Johnson won the race, as well as his second consecutive Nextel Cup championship.
1913 building is but latest casualty of fumes in Gunnison
By John Hales For the Deseret Morning News
Published: November 18, 2007
GUNNISON — Within two steps of the open doors of the Casino Star Theatre in Gunnison, the smell of gas is so pungent that one pauses, momentarily but abruptly, before stepping the rest of the way into the building.
For some time to come, though, most people won't have to worry about that, since those doors won't be opening to the public again until the fumes — and the 20,000-gallon gas leak that caused them — are taken care of.
"The theater will be closed for the foreseeable future," announced Peter Stirba Friday during a press conference in the theater's lobby, where gas fumes were thick enough to cause light-headedness after about 15 minutes, followed a few minutes later by a metallic taste and tingling sensation in the mouth.
Stirba is the attorney representing Gunnison city and others, including the theater's owners, in the wake of a Top Stop store's massive underground fuel leak that has raised frantic concern in the city.
This week, the city's environmental consultant, Lance Hess, began testing the air in residences and businesses in areas known to be affected by the leak. Air tests in the theater revealed levels of benzene that were approaching safety-standard limits and continuing to increase — they had quadrupled in only two days, according to Hess.
Stirba said it was the latest example of the effects of an "environmental disaster."
"Residents of the city have already experienced toxic levels of benzene in their homes and businesses, which has created considerable issues of public health," he said. "This symbolizes the catastrophic nature of this incident. It is a tragedy for this community."
The theater is one of the city's jewels and a state landmark that was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1987.
Its importance as the premier cultural and historical icon of the city is shown by the efforts of its current owners, Lori Nay (who is also a city councilwoman) and Diana Major Spencer to restore it to the original grandeur it had when built in 1913.
Since that time, it has been in operation for all but about two months, and Nay and Spencer boast that it is the nation's longest-running theater.
The two purchased the building in 2004 after a 20-year dream of having it come up for sale so they could save it through historical preservation. The project became their passion, and in three years the restoration effort has cost countless hours and about $50,000 in addition to the building's purchase price.
"This is heartbreaking for us," Spencer said. "It's been so much a part of our lives."
Spencer and Nay said that although the theater is closed for showings and performances, the restoration work on the building's exterior will proceed as planned.
The theater is the sixth business to close because of the leak, and business at other Main Street locations has dwindled since early August, when the leak forced Main Street businesses to evacuate for a day. The cost to the city in lost infrastructure and beautification projects is already in the tens of thousands of dollars and will almost certainly become greater.
But the closure of the theater strikes a different chord.
"(The effect on businesses) strikes at the pocketbook of the community," Spencer said. "The theater strikes at the heart."
Young Megan Anderson, a high school student who works at the theater, illustrated what Spencer said.
Before the news conference, Anderson and her sister, Candice, were sweeping the walk in front of the theater and wiping down its glass doors. Asked why, if the theater was closed, they were worrying about it, Megan said, "It's important to us. Sometimes we come here on our own because we love the building. It's got a lot of history behind it, and I just love it."
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BlogNetNews' Blogosphere Influence Rating combines a variety of data sets to determine which blogs are most powerfully influencing the direction of the Utah political blogosphere. The exact method BNN uses to calculate influence scores must remain proprietary in order to prevent attempts to game the system. BNN's methodology takes into account the fact that all Internet data is profoundly limited in its reliability by using multiple data sets that, when combined, reveal a fair picture of activity in the blogosphere.
Hillary Clinton has reasserted her authority over her Democratic rivals with an aggressive performance in the latest presidential debate.
After a troubled fortnight in which a defensive Mrs Clinton has fended off questions about her honesty and electability, she moved forcefully on to the front foot. She accused Democratic rivals of throwing mud at her simply because she was ahead in the polls.
The rivals, Barack Obama and John Edwards, were booed by some in the crowd when they went on the attack. The result was that Mrs Clinton appeared to steady the ship. The first words out of a senior aide’s mouth yesterday were: “She’s back.”
Mrs Clinton, Mr Obama and Mr Edwards all return to the critical first nominating state of Iowa in the coming days, where they are locked in a statistical tie. But Mrs Clinton heads there with the state’s influential Des Moines Register declaring that she easily won the Las Vegas debate – a welcome boost in a state where her campaign was forced to admit recently that it had planted questions at her events.
For the first time in months the Democratic race appears truly competitive. Mrs Clinton’s troubles began at a debate on October 30, when she was accused of giving dishonest answers. At the same time Mr Obama, whose campaign had appeared listless and fading, is generating fresh excitement, especially after the best speech of his campaign to an audience of 9,000 Iowans last weekend.
Mrs Clinton’s performance on Thursday night, before a friendly audience in Nevada, where she is popular among Democrats, was thus a test of how she would react to the first true pressure of the campaign.
She attacked her rivals for the first time, accusing them of adopting tactics out of the Republican playbook, after Mr Obama and Mr Edwards continued to try to paint her as cynical and inauthentic. “What the American people are looking for now is straight answers to tough questions, and that is not what we’ve seen out of Senator Clinton,” Mr Obama said.
Mr Edwards said: “She says she will bring change to Washington, while she continues to defend a system that does not work.” Mr Edwards also accused Mrs Clinton of trying to have it both ways on a host of issues.
“I’ve just been personally attacked again,” Mrs Clinton broke in. “I don’t mind taking hits on my record on issues, but when somebody starts throwing mud at least we can hope it’s accurate.”
She added: “They’re not attacking me because I’m a woman. They’re attacking me because I’m ahead.” Later, when Mr Edwards and then Mr Obama went on the attack again, they were booed by some in the audience.
The three rivals are acutely aware of how large Iowa looms in the campaign. A victory by Mr Obama or Mr Edwards on January 3 could alter the dynamic of the race significantly. A victory there by Mrs Clinton could end it almost before it begins.
Presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney and John McCain -- rocked in different ways by a highly negative "push poll" targeting Romney's Mormon faith -- demanded Friday that the New Hampshire attorney general investigate who is behind the tactic.
The attorney general's office said it was investigating the phone calls.
As part of the poll, which began Sunday, callers have been asking voters in Iowa and New Hampshire whether they know that Romney is a Mormon, that his five sons did not serve in the military and that Mormons believe the Book of Mormon is superior to the Bible.
The callers also inquire whether voters are aware that Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, accepted deferments to avoid military service in Vietnam while he was on a mission with other young Mormons in France.
At the beginning of the 20-minute survey, voters are asked whether they are aware of McCain's decorated military service during Vietnam. That has led many voters to assume the poll was sponsored by the Arizona senator's campaign. But McCain's campaign immediately denounced the effort and insisted it had nothing to do with it.
"Whoever did this wanted to hurt us by implication," said Mark Salter, a senior aide to McCain. "That's why we were very forceful."
Romney's supporters have long feared that a shadowy whispering campaign would arise at some point targeting his Mormon faith. The new push poll may be the most explicit anti-Mormon message to emerge in the campaign so far.
But Dean Spiliotes, a New Hampshire political analyst and founder of NHpoliticalcapital.com, said the attack may inadvertently help Romney.
"It certainly gives Romney a platform to speak about his religion, something that people have advised him to do," Spiliotes said. "It may also get him some sympathy from voters who don't like seeing religion mixed so intimately with politics."
Push polling, in which negative information is disseminated under the guise of a poll, is a well-known tactic, if a widely condemned one.
Former Rep. Charles Douglas (R-N.H.), vice chairman of McCain's New Hampshire campaign, handed his complaint to Deputy New Hampshire Atty. Gen. Orville Brewster Fitch II on Friday, calling the phone calls "repugnant.
"We find the whole thing a very bad trend eight weeks before the primary," Douglas told Fitch.
Aides to Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) also filed a complaint with the state's attorney general on behalf of the Romney campaign. Campaign officials said they are providing names of people who received the calls.
"Whichever campaign is engaging in this type of awful religious bigotry as a line of political attack, it is repulsive and to put it bluntly un-American," said Romney communications director Matt Rhoades. "There is no excuse for these attacks. Gov. Romney is campaigning as an optimist who wants to lead the nation. These attacks are just the opposite. They are ugly and divisive."
Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say the church embraces the truths accepted by other Christians but also accepts "additional information" from later revelations.
Romney blames McCain
Campaigning in Las Vegas, Romney called the poll "un-American." And he essentially blamed McCain, saying it was a direct result of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation, which he said has been "ineffective" in removing special-interest money from campaigns.
Aides to McCain pointed out that before the legislation was passed, McCain was a victim of push polling in South Carolina during the 2000 presidential primary.
"It is appalling, but not surprising, that Mitt Romney would seek to take advantage of this disturbing incident to launch yet another hypocritical attack," said Jill Hazelbaker, McCain's spokeswoman. "It's the hallmark of his campaign."
New Hampshire law requires all political ads -- including phone calls -- to identify the candidate behind the effort, or at least the candidate who is being supported. The push polling calls were made by Utah-based Western Wats and did not identify a candidate that the calls were intended to help or hurt.
Previous news reports have linked calls by Western Wats to the Tarrance Group, which works for former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Ed Goeas, the head of the Tarrance Group, told The Associated Press that there is no connection between Giuliani and Western Wats.
Katie Levinson, Giuliani's communications director, said there is no room for push polls in the campaign.
"Our campaign does not support or engage in these types of tactics, and it is our hope other campaigns will adhere to the same policy," she said.
McCain says calls 'cowardly'
McCain, who arrived in New Hampshire Friday for a three-day swing through the northern and western parts of the state, called the phone calls "cowardly."
During the 2000 presidential race, South Carolina voters received calls and pamphlets alleging that McCain's wife, Cindy, was a drug addict, and that McCain had an illegitimate black daughter. The whispering campaign also suggested that McCain was mentally unbalanced after spending 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
After the South Carolina primary, which McCain lost, McCain's campaign made thousands of "Catholic voter alert" calls in Michigan informing voters that then-Gov. George W. Bush had appeared at Bob Jones University and describing Jones, the institution's leader, as someone with a history of anti-Catholic statements.
The phone calls infuriated Bush, who said he did not like being called a bigot. McCain won Michigan by 6 percentage points but lost the Republican nomination.
CANAAN, Vt. (AP) — Republican presidential contender John McCain on Saturday said he wants to again allow the importation of prescription drugs from Canada as a way to bring health care costs under control.
The Arizona senator, speaking to reporters about a mile from the Canadian border and just across the river from New Hampshire, said too much of health care costs are based on high drug prices.
"Drug companies and the lobbyists they pay in Washington want to keep your drug prices high. Obviously, I want them to be affordable," McCain said, returning to his criticism of how Washington works.
Until drugs are cheaper, the cost of health care is going to skyrocket, helping to bankrupt Medicare and Medicaid, McCain said.
"If we are going to control health care cost, we need to control the rising costs of pharmaceuticals," McCain said, adding that drug prices are 16 percent to 60 percent cheaper in Canada and are to blame for rising insurance premiums.
"A person taking a standard blood-thinner, the savings could be over $200 a year. If your problem is heartburn, it could be $750. For treating depression, as much as $1,400 a year," he said.
McCain noted his rivals do not support drug reimportation programs.
"These are drugs being reimported. They go to Canada and then they can come back in. It's a strawman to say that a country like Canada could not be responsible for safe drugs to be brought into our country. Many of them are manufactured in Canada, as you know," he said.
McCain said he would be open to bringing in drugs from any country with the proper safeguards.
"I would reimport them from any country in the world as long as you have the proper process. In Canada, we already do. In Mexico, we do not," he said.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney anticipated questions about health care when he called on a friendly Nevada business group Friday. It was the question on immigration that surprised him.
"I didn't expect that to be ... a major concern of the chamber," the former private equity businessman and Massachusetts governor said after giving his stump speech and taking four questions from a Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce round-table.
"But it's a concern across the country," Romney said. "People are tired of all the talk and lack of action to stop illegal immigration."
Immigration is a major concern for businesses nationwide as they deal with the fallout if they hire employees who are in the country illegally.
Romney said he favors issuing employment verification cards to legal immigrants "with their name, their number, their picture" and "biometric information."
"You take that card, punch in the number in the computer or swipe it," he said. "If it's valid, you can hire them. If it's not, you can't."
Romney was on comfortable turf courting conservatives among 22 chamber members who attended. He drew laughter when he cast the Democratic candidates who debated Thursday night as too liberal to run the country.
"It's not that liberals are ignorant,'" Romney said, quoting former President Reagan. "'It's just that what they know is wrong.'"
The Democratic National Committee responded in a statement that Romney "refuses to offer clear plans on the war in Iraq, health care or immigration reform."
The chamber won't make any endorsements in the presidential campaign, though every candidate was offered a chance for a round-table chat, said Kara Kelley, chief executive of the 7,000-member organization.
Romney, who gained national prominence guiding the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah, was the first to take the offer. He used it to espouse his core beliefs and seek backing from individual members.
He summarized his Massachusetts health law as a way to force those who can afford private health insurance to sign up, while helping low-income people pay their premiums.
"My plan said this," Romney said: "Now that we got the rates down so they're more affordable ... either buy a health care policy or pay your own way at the hospital. But no more showing up expecting free care from the government or from the hospital."
Romney's rivals gleefully pointed out this week that Massachusetts residents had to sign up by Thursday or they likely would face tax penalties starting Jan. 1.
Anyone lacking coverage will lose the personal exemption on their state income tax filing next spring, equal to $219. If they remain uninsured into 2008, they will be taxed up to 50 percent of the cost of the least-expensive private insurance plan — an estimated hit of at least $150 a month.
The Associated Press reported late Thursday that residents of both Iowa and New Hampshire had begun receiving the calls from unidentified callers. Push-polls start out sounding like a normal polling survey but in reality are designed to plant and spread distorted, damaging and often untrue information about a particular candidate, in this case Mitt Romney. He happens to be leading Republican polls in both states.
Because push-pollers also rely on the news media to help spread the same false information, we're not going to do that here except to say the calls involved Romney's Mormon religion. An example of a push-poll question could be: "If you knew that Candidate X had been previously arrested on sexual assault charges, would you be more or less inclined to vote for him?"
It's not the voter's answer that matters; it's that he or she might pass on that rumor to others and affect their vote.
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Saturday promised to cut federal funding for cities and states that he considers tolerant of illegal immigration, though he said he was unsure how deep the cuts would be.
The former Massachusetts governor repeated his plans to deny funding to sanctuary cities, states that issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and states that allow the children of illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition discounts at universities.
"They are practices that, if you will, extend this sanctuary state of mind we have," Romney told more than 200 people gathered at a public library. "I like immigration — legal immigration."
Romney also outlined a plan for an employment verification card that, he said, would make it easy for companies to determine a prospective employee's citizenship status before hiring.
Romney told reporters he was unsure how much federal funding he would cut. "I can't give you the specifics," he said. The campaign later described the in-state tuition plan as a proposal to "trim back" education funds.
Romney said Saturday he did not think students who are in the U.S. legally should be denied discounted tuition, even if their parents are illegal, but that "people that are here illegally should not be able to get a tuition break that allows illegals to have tuition that's lower than the children of our citizens."
Romney has used the issue to criticize opponent Mike Huckabee, who as governor of Arkansas supported a failed attempt to extend in-state tuition and scholarships to the children of illegal immigrants. Huckabee has said he does not believe students should be punished for crimes committed by their parents.
In front of conservative lawyers, Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani promised to appoint like-minded judges and petitioned for a limited central government on Friday afternoon during a speech held in a Washington hotel.
“You’re making a choice. Who do you trust more: the government or the people?” Giuliani said, alleging that some of the Democratic contenders wrongly believed the central government should play too big a role in people’s lives.
Those Democrats’ names came up early in Giuliani’s 30-minute speech at the 25th annual convention of the Federalist Society, the legal group whose members include some of the most influential figures of the conservative legal establishment and a group Giuliani has avidly courted.
He singled out fellow presidential candidate and New Yorker, Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton, for special ridicule in the same room where, an hour earlier, lawyers debated illegal immigration policies.
“First she was for the idea and supported Gov. (Eliot) Spitzer who wanted to give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants,” the former New York City mayor said, referring to the current New York governor.
“Then she was against the idea. Then she was for and against the idea. Then she decided it should be decided on a state-by-state basis,” Giuliani said mockingly.
Giuliani also mused about the significance of next year’s election. “I know we say that all the time, that every presidential election is the most important one we have in our history but actually it’s a truthful statement,” he said.
He offered 200 reasons why 2008’s election is “really important” - the 200 federal judges that each president typically appoints during a four-year term. Giuliani warned that the top three Democratic presidential candidates Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards would appoint judges who would “legislate their social policy through judicial interpretation.”
“Judges exist to interpret the law, not to invent the law,” he said, a sure applause line in this crowd.
His speech at the Mayflower Hotel was standing room only, like a hit Broadway play.
THE only Mormon in the 2008 presidential race, Mitt Romney, is coming under attack for his religious beliefs as the battle for the Republican nomination becomes increasingly acrimonious.
Telephone calls to voters accusing the former governor of Massachusetts of subscribing to outlandish beliefs and “flip-flop-ping” on big issues have been made under the guise of polling in Iowa and New Hampshire, crucial early voting states that Romney must win.
These “push-polling” calls drew attention to Romney’s deferment of military service during the Vietnam war while serving as a missionary for the Mormons in France and pointed out that none of his five sons had enlisted in the military.
Callers also claimed the Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints did not consecrate blacks as bishops until the 1970s and believes the Book of Mormon supersedes the Bible. Romney called the attacks “unAmerican”.
Robert Redford, the film star, joined in the Mormon-bashing this month, claiming that church followers were “very adept at not being fazed and speaking fluently and gracefully” because they “learn how to deflect blows and stay on message” when they go on missions “when they are 19 or 20”.
He added: “So when you see Mitt Romney, he’s already been practising how to deflect blows and stay on message. But it’s plastic.”
The race is growing dirtier as the fight for the nomination intensifies between Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, and Romney.
State and Top Stop Officials Repond to Gunnison Gas Leak
November 15th, 2007 @ 6:03pm
Sam Penrod reporting
Top state officials traveled to Gunnison today after an Eyewitness News report last night raised serious concerns about a leak at an underground gas tank. Several Gunnison residents believe the leak is making them sick.
People here have been upset about two things: the slow pace of this cleanup and not knowing if they are at risk because of the fumes.
State officials left assurances here today that communication will improve, and the situation will get top priority.
"It's very serious, this is one of the largest gasoline leaks we've had in the state of Utah. It is not unprecedented, but it's very serious, and we think requires some pretty fast and extensive action," explained Rick Sprott, executive director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.
Officials from the state listened to Gunnison city leaders and residents at an emergency meeting this afternoon.
Top Stop executives also traveled to Gunnison to see the situation for themselves. A situation created by a leak of their underground tank. "We have been visiting homes and businesses, and the people are very friendly, and they are concerned as are we in getting things into a manageable situation. I think the city, the state, the contractors, the owners, we all need to communicate better, and today will make it possible for that to happen," Top Stop President Craig Larson said.
Neighbors and business owners were also able to raise their concerns about this leak of 19,000 gallons of gasoline, which has spread underground for the last three months.
In the last week the leak has forced three families to leave their homes. Tune in to Eyewitness News at 10 to hear from them and business owners about the progress they are hoping for after today's meeting.
