European stocks rally, shrugging off high euro, oil prices
LONDON (AFP) – Europe’s main stock markets sprang higher Monday, even as the euro and oil prices soared to new highs.

Oil rises to record above $93 a barrel
VIENNA, Austria – Oil prices spiked above $93 a barrel to a new trading high Monday before falling back, propelled by news that Mexico’s state oil company was suspending about a fifth of its oil production due to a storm.

Senate Votes To Extend Net Tax Ban
With only a few days to go before a ban on Internet taxes expires, the Senate approved a measure to extend the prohibition for seven years. The House approved a similar bill last week, but the differences must now be ironed out in a final bill submitted to President Bush before the current law runs out on November 1.

Gap vows action after child labor report
LONDON – Clothing retailer Gap Inc. said Sunday that it will convene all of its Indian suppliers to “forcefully reiterate” its prohibition on child labor after a British newspaper found children as young as 10 making Gap clothes at a sweatshop in New Delhi.

Religion and Entrepreneurship
Based on a large-scale data set of nearly ninety thousand workers in India, this paper finds that religion shapes the entrepreneurial decision. In particular, some religions, such as Islam and Christianity, are found to be conducive to entrepreneurship, while others, such as Hinduism, inhibit entrepreneurship.
There’s a whole lotta Calvinism, even in non-Calvinist Christianity, especially here in the U.S.  You’re not worthy of heaven unless you‘re wealthy.  All this striving, striving, striving doesn’t make us happy, though, and in fact has helped increase depression rates dramatically in the last 50 years.  See the Technology & Science section, below, for information on a promising new approach to treating depression.

Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Morning shakeup at WWRL
“Sammy and Army” are history. Sam Greenfield and Armstrong Williams, the morning show hosts at WWRL (1600AM) in New York, exit the station, in a programming overhaul. The two hosted their last show yesterday. Former Air America Radio personality Mark Riley and current WWRL nighttime host Richard Bey will take over mornings effective Monday. Program director Rennie Bishop calls the move a “creative redirection.”
I’m not sorry to see “Army” go, but I feel bad about Sam Greenfield losing his gig.  I’ve loved Sam since the old WEVD days.  But I like Mark Riley, so what’s a body to do?  Hey, Nova M!  Jones!  Here’s an opportunity for you, Sam Greenfield is available.

Fox Panel: Dems Are ‘Terribly Weak’ If They Don’t Threaten ‘Devastating Military Strike’ Against Iran
On Fox News Sunday [this week], Fox’s Brit Hume and the Weekly Standard’s William Kristol enthusiasticly endorsed the new pro-war posturing, calling it “useful for Iran to believe that this administration will stop at nothing to keep it from getting a nuclear weapon.” Hume claimed that it “make[s] sense” to threaten Iran with “a devastating military strike,” adding that Iran probably wants Democrats to be “in charge” because they look “terribly weak” in criticizing the “alleged saber rattling”.
Click through to watch the video.

ElBaradei: Military Strike On Iran ‘Would Lead Absolutely To Disaster’
[Sunday] on CNN, [International Atomic Energy Agency chairman Mohammed] ElBaradei … [said that while he]i did not rule out Iran having an “intent” to obtain nuclear weapons, he explained that there is no evidence that Iran is currently pursuing such a program right now… ElBaradei also urged the U.S. to halt its fiery rhetoric and directly engage Iran in talks: “The earlier we go into negotiation, the earlier we follow the North Korean model, the better for everybody.”
Click through to watch the video.

With Friends Like These: McLaughlin Group on the Pakistani Threat
John McLaughlin takes a look at the cover story in this week’s Newsweek, “The Most Dangerous Nation in the World,” and much to the dismay of the Bush administration and their PR fronts like Freedoms Watch, isn’t about Iran OR Iraq. “Today no other country on earth is arguably more dangerous than Pakistan.”
Click through to watch the video.

FNS: The politicization of FEMA (by Nicole Belle at Crooks and Liars)
While there is some truth to Mara Liasson’s statement that simply the Bush administration has learned to avoid the bad p.r. they got after Katrina (although not completely), there’s no denying that, as Juan Williams points out, with the wildfires, it was Bush’s base that was affected.  However, leave it to Bill “I get everything wrong, but I have a direct line to the White House” Kristol, to claim the difference lies in the fact the political affiliations of the respective states’ governors.
Click through to watch the video.

Karen Hughes Plant Alert: Bush the Embracer (by Paul Farhi, Washington Post)
The wildfires in Southern California this week have served to remind the world once more about one of the singular and underappreciated skills of George W. Bush: The man is a generous hugger.
Thanks to digby.

FEMA official involved in fake press conference resigns.
On Tuesday, while “wildfires raged” in California, FEMA staged a live press conference at which agency staffers posed as journalists and asked softball questions. One of those staffers, Director of External Affairs John “Pat” Philbin, has now resigned. He has instead landed an “amazing opportunity” to head public affairs at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Oh, good, now he gets to make up stories about Iran.

The End Is Near! Post Publishes Column Defending Social Security (by Dean Baker)
Is that a trumpet I hear in the distance? Why are the rivers flowing backwards? And who are those four guys on horses? Yes, the Washington Post has published a column arguing against the Social Security crisis story. Robert Ball, the former Social Security commissioner, a member of the 1983 Greenspan commission, and a great defender of the system got 700 words in the paper this morning to make the case. Read it carefully, most of us will probably not live to see another such piece in the pages in the Post.

Campaign Coverage Still Focuses On ‘Horse Race,’ Says Study
The report, from the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University also found that news outlets gave Barack Obama the most favorable treatment, while John McCain received the least favorable.

Matthews on White House Crime & Media Failure (by Ari Melber, The Nation)
[Chris] Matthews’ entire show [Thursday night], which included an interview with Valerie Wilson, did not even mention the current White House attempt to grant amnesty to telephone companies that allegedly helped the administration break the law to spy on Americans. It’s not just Matthews, either. The New York Times is still ignoring the new face-off over the surveillance bill… Does this mean that Chris Dodd, the leader of the fight against telecom amnesty, is getting no coverage in the Times? Of course not. [Friday] the Times published an article about his haircuts.

Tim Russert Accuses Senator Dodd Of Using FISA Hold For Political Purposes (by Logan Murphy at Crooks and Liars)
Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd has been front and center in the fight to protect civil liberties by putting a hold on the latest FISA legislation which gives immunity to telecom companies for illegally turning over customer data to our government. [Sunday] morning on Meet The Press Tim Russert, armed with all the Bush talking points, ambushed Dodd and directly accused him of using the FISA issue for purely political purposes.
Can’t get more political than standing up for constitutional rights.  Click through to watch the video.

The Colbert Nation Quickly Colonizes Facebook
Stephen Colbert’s presidential candidacy may be phony, but his Facebook supporters have become the most popular political group on the site by far.

Quote of the Day (by Melissa McEwan at Shakesville))
“What is more troubling than [Stephen Colbert's] quest for a status his own mother won’t grant him (favorite son) are his ties to the salty food industry. As the candidate of Doritos, his hands are stained by corporate corruption and nacho cheese. John Edwards has never taken a dime from taco chip lobbyists and America deserves a President who isn’t in the pocket of the snack food special interests.” – Edwards spokesperson Teresa Wells on Colbert’s Dorito-sponsored presidential campaign.
And Edwards isn’t the only comedian running for president.  See below.

Dave Barry for President!
Dave Barry is running for president (yes, of the United States). He is currently leading every single poll by a wide margin, although you will read nothing about this in the so-called “mainstream” media. You can, however, find out where Dave stands on the issues by reading this Q&A, which consists of Q’s submitted by actual humans (we think) followed by Dave’s answers.
Click through to ask the candidate a question.

Media Matters for America headlines

Discussing reasons for Ron Paul’s “groundswell,” Tucker panel ignored his opposition to Iraq war

Ignoring Bush comment, Hume asserted president declined to compare CA wildfire response to Katrina

Echoing previous remarks, BBC’s Kay claims that Clinton has to “appear particularly tough, because she’s a female candidate”

Fox News’ MacCallum on alleged plot against Giuliani: “Does it make him, you know, even more, sort of, invincible?”

Friends of Clarence Thomas Speak Out
They’re calling themselves “Friends of Justice Thomas,” and they say that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his bestselling memoir have gotten a bum rap from the “mainstream media.”

Regrets? I’ve had a few, but then again… (by Jeff Jarvis)
Craig Silverman, author of Regret the Error, the terrific blog chronicling uh-oh moments in news, now has a book of the same title coming out imminently and on the book’s site, he’s already posting errors and corrections readers have sent him. Goose, gander. The book is wonderful and important and I recommend it highly.

“Liberal Fascism,” Book By Columnist Jonah Goldberg, Hacked at Amazon.com
NEW YORK Jonah Goldberg, the conservative Los Angeles Times and syndicated columnist, has been working on a book called “Liberal Fascism” for quite some time, long enough for it to undergo at least a couple of name changes. Now someone–presumably not a fan–has hacked the book’s entry at online bookseller amazon.com. Its current title — at least momentarily at that site — is “Liberal Fascism: The Totalitarian Temptation from When I Got My Advance Until I Finally Hand in the Manuscript in 2011.” The cover on the page shows a smiley face with a Hitler moustache.

XM in the red on eve of merger
Red ink is flowing at XM Satellite Radio on the eve of its proposed merger with Sirius Satellite Radio as expenses grew faster than revenue during the third quarter.

F.C.C. Set to End Sole Cable Deals for Apartments
Hoping to reduce spiraling cable TV costs, the F.C.C. plans to strike down contracts giving cable companies exclusive rights to service individual apartment buildings.

Could Cows Power Cheap Laptops?
The One Laptop Per Child Project (OLPC) is toying with a novel source of power for its low-cost XO laptops: cows. “We plan to drive a dynamo (taken from an old Fiat) through a system of belts and pulleys using cows/cattle,” wrote OLPC’s Arjun Sarwal, in an e-mail dated Oct. 21 and posted to one of the group’s discussion lists… The goal is to develop a low-cost energy source that can be used in Indian villages.

Internet pioneer leaves oversight group
NEW YORK – In the 1970s, Vint Cerf played a leading role in developing the Internet’s technical foundation. For the past seven years, he’s faced the more daunting task of leading a key agency that oversees his creation.

AT&T Scales Back St. Louis Wi-Fi Plan
ST. LOUIS (AP) – AT&T Inc. has scaled back its plan to blanket the city’s 62 square miles with Wi-Fi signals, the wireless Internet service now found in airports and coffee shops. Instead, AT&T said Friday it will build a Wi-Fi pilot project in the downtown core.

PDF files used to attack computers: security firm
HELSINKI (Reuters) – Emails containing malicious PDF files have been putting computers at risk since Friday, Finnish security software firm F-Secure said on Saturday.

Fighting depression so easy a caveman could do it
[O]bservational data has lead [psychologist Dr. Steve] Ilardi and his University of Kansas team to develop an innovative approach to treating depression called Therapeutic Lifestyle Change for Depression (TLC) and recently referred in the media as “living like a caveman.”… Ilardi believes that instead of popping pills, we need to go outside, get physical, chat with our neighbors, and live more as we did in our Paleolithic past.
When I was being treated for depression, none of this was even considered.

New Guidelines Should Improve Ovarian Cancer Detection
Early diagnosis is vital; symptoms can often mimic digestive problems.

Cloning may be horse racing’s next horizon
Horse racing leaders acknowledge that a lack of continuity is a problem in trying to rebuild interest in the sport. But that doesn’t mean they are stampeding to embrace an emerging technology that some advocates say could restore some balance to the economic equation: equine cloning.

Why Beasts Stick Together
A new study could explain why birds flock, wildebeest herd, bees swarm and fish school: They are less likely to become a predator’s next meal if they stick together. Rather than a food-sharing issue, the reason for lion prides, for example, could have more to do with territory defense and protection of their young.

Major archaeological find in Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – U.S. and Puerto Rican archaeologists say they have found the best-preserved pre-Columbian site in the Caribbean, which could shed light on virtually every aspect of Indian life in the region, from sacred rituals to eating habits.

Ga. astronomy village fills up quickly
The 96-acre village in rural Taliaferro County in eastern Georgia is designed for amateur stargazers looking for total darkness and wide-open spaces to build weekend homes.

NASA to search files for UFO incident
NASA has agreed to search its archives once again for documents on a 1965 UFO incident in Pennsylvania, a step the space agency fought in federal court.

Astronauts Open Space Station Addition
Wearing goggles and surgical masks, the commander of the international space station and an Italian astronaut opened the hatch to christen the complex’s brand new room, expanding the space station’s living area by 18 percent.

Astronauts to Move Solar Array Truss
HOUSTON (AP) – Astronauts plowed ahead Monday with the mammoth job of moving a 17 1/2-ton solar array truss on the international space station, a task made even more crucial following the discovery of contamination in an important part of the orbiting lab’s power system.

Moon to Block Bright Star Nov. 3
If you live in the southern or western parts of the United States, you’ll have an opportunity on Saturday morning, Nov. 3, to see a fat waning crescent moon gradually drift toward and ultimately hide the 1st-magnitude star, Regulus, the brightest star of the constellation Leo, the Lion.

Scientists Say Dark Matter Doesn’t Exist
Two Canadian astronomers think there is a good reason dark matter, a mysterious substance thought to make up the bulk of matter in the universe, has never been directly detected: It doesn’t exist. 

Pollution Threat from California Fires
Air quality remained poor in the central San Bernardino Mountains and parts of the San Bernardino Valley, as well as swaths of Orange and Riverside Counties. In San Diego County, where only two of five major fires were more than 50 percent contained, the air was especially dismal Friday.

Warming Revives Flora and Fauna in Greenland
As the climate warms, Greenlandic farmers are experimenting with vegetables that have previously never been grown in the country.

Bacteria Species May Help Ethanol Production
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — Scientists say a new bacteria species discovered in Yellowstone’s thermal pools could improve the use of bacteria to produce ethanol.
The use of bacteria should help create biofuels from the parts of plants that would otherwise go to waste, instead of the part that we humans can eat.  See below.

UN Expert Calls Biofuel ‘Crime Against Humanity’
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. expert on Friday called the growing practice of converting food crops into biofuel “a crime against humanity,” saying it is creating food shortages and price jumps that cause millions of poor people to go hungry.

Global warming may hit kids harder, pediatrics group says
Global warming is likely to disproportionately harm the health of children, and politicians should launch “aggressive policies” to curb climate change, the American Academy of Pediatrics said today.

Coal Use Grows Despite Warming Worries
JUNGAR QI, China (AP) – Almost nonstop, gargantuan 145-ton trucks rumble through China’s biggest open-pit coal mine, sending up clouds of soot as they dump their loads into mechanized sorters.

China birth defects soar due to pollution: report
Birth defects in Chinese infants have soared nearly 40 percent since 2001, a government report said, and officials linked the rise to China’s worsening environmental degradation.

Eco-Cities Take Root
Public policy, innovative companies, breakthroughs in sustainable design and consumer demand are all converging to reimagine and reshape human habitat, starting in an unlikely place: Chinese gated communities.

Indonesia Seeks Allies for Pay-for-Forests Plan
The Indonesian government spent much of the past week recruiting countries to join it in pressing richer nations to provide incentives to reduce carbon emissions.

Human-generated ozone will damage crops, according to MIT study
A novel MIT study concludes that increasing levels of ozone due to the growing use of fossil fuels will damage global vegetation, resulting in serious costs to the world’s economy. The analysis, reported in the November issue of Energy Policy, focused on how three environmental changes (increases in temperature, carbon dioxide and ozone) associated with human activity will affect crops, pastures and forests.

Logging Is Part of a Plan to Preserve 161,000 Acres in the Adirondacks Purchased by a Conservation Group
After purchasing a vast unbroken wilderness in Adirondack Park that only loggers and a few hunters have ever seen, the Nature Conservancy will not preserve it all as public land.
It makes sense.  Allowing logging in part of the preserve can help pay to protect the rest of it.  Would that we had that policy with our federal lands.

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The quote below is dedicated to those who said Louisiana shouldn’t be rebuilt.
Quote of the Day

Every area in the country is subject to some kind of disaster – flood, hurricane, earthquake, to name a few. Even man-made disasters – oil spill, civil unrest, fire – can devastate the surrounding neighborhood and economy. Even though an area has never been damaged before, there is no guarantee that it will not happen tomorrow.
 – Carol Chastang

Penrose on Politics

The Swamp, Chicago Tribune

Bush tours wildfires, pumps up California governor

by Mark Silva

Was there a little dig for the Democrats in Louisiana in President Bush’s words of commendation for Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the scene of wildfire recovery today?

“There is no hill he’s not willing to charge, no problem he’s not willing to solve,’’ Bush said of the California governor. “It makes a significant difference when you have somebody in the statehouse willing to take the lead.”

Unlike, say, Louisana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who was faulted perhaps as much as the Federal Emergency Management Agency was for inadequate preparation and response for Hurricane Katrina’s assault on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast?…

Posted by Mark Silva on October 25, 2007

Crooks and Liars

Bush visits California, takes a shot at Louisiana
By: Steve Benen on Friday, October 26th, 2007 at 3:00 PM – PDT

… Two years later, and the president is still trying pass the buck.

For her part, Blanco said in a press statement that it took federal forces nearly a week to arrive in Louisiana after the storm. “I was the only game in town, leading for nearly a week without the president’s help,” Blanco said. “Of all the lessons learned from Katrina now being put into place in California, I would hope the one he would remember is that politics has no place in any disaster.”

So much for that idea.

McClatchy Newspapers

Who’s counting? When it comes to Bush, lots of people

By William Douglas | McClatchy Newspapers

Posted on Friday, October 26, 2007

WASHINGTON – As Campaign ’08 rages on and Hillary, Rudy, Barack and Mitt buttons dot the political landscape, a deeply unpopular President Bush is proving that he may be going but he’s clearly not forgotten.

Key chain-sized clocks that count down the remaining days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the end of the Bush administration have become hot items for Democrats – and some Republicans – who probably don’t hum “Never Can Say Goodbye” when they think of Bush.

“The clocks give people hope. It’s a countdown to a new start, a fresh beginning,” said Vince Ponzo, a 33-year-old New York City Democrat who began selling the key chain-sized digital clocks shortly after Bush’s second inauguration in 2004. “We’ve sold about 110,000.”

Business has been so good that Ponzo started selling larger desktop and wall-sized countdown clocks at his http://www.backwardsbush.com/ Web site…

Buck Fush

Associated Press

updated 9:25 p.m. EDT, Fri October 26, 2007

Putin compares U.S. plan to Cuban missile crisis

MAFRA, Portugal (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday compared the U.S. proposal to build a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe to the Cuban missile crisis of the 1960s.

“Analogous actions by the Soviet Union, when it deployed missiles in Cuba, prompted the ‘Caribbean crisis,”‘ Putin said at a news conference at the end of a European Union-Russian summit in Portugal, using the Russian term for the Cuban missile crisis.

“Such a threat is being set up on our borders,” he said…

Associated Press

Turkey: We will make Kurd rebels grieve

By DAVID RISING, Associated Press Writer
Sat Oct 27, 2:24 PM ET

Turkey’s top military commander promised Saturday to make Iraq-based Kurdish rebels “grieve with an intensity that they cannot imagine,” while the prime minister said his nation would fight “when needed,” regardless of international pressure.

The military chief, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, said Friday that Turkey would wait until Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with President Bush in Washington on Nov. 5 before deciding on any cross-border offensive.

But Erdogan said his country could not be pinned down by dates in deciding whether to attack.

“We can’t say when or how we will do it, we will just do it,” he said…

McClatchy Newspapers

Iran courting Arab countries to blunt U.S. hostility

By Hannah Allam | McClatchy Newspapers

Posted on Friday, October 26, 2007

CAIRO, Egypt — Iran is intensifying its efforts win over its Arab neighbors with a campaign of high-level diplomatic visits, lucrative investment deals and a series of public statements that call for Muslim unity in the face of U.S. and Israeli “aggression” in the Middle East.

The goal, experts say, is to reassure Sunni Muslim leaders that they have nothing to fear from their Shiite Muslim neighbor’s ascension as a regional power — and to make sure no Arab state backs a U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

So far, the campaign has achieved mixed results: While Arab rulers publicly support stronger Arab-Persian ties, they still harbor deep-seated fears about Iran’s long-term ambitions. They also face strong U.S. pressure to keep Tehran isolated…

The Heretik

Reuters

Rights groups file French torture case vs Rumsfeld

Fri Oct 26, 2007 10:53am EDT

PARIS (Reuters) – Human rights groups have filed a lawsuit in France alleging that former U.S. defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld allowed torture at U.S.-run detention centers in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

The plaintiffs, which include the French-based International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) and the U.S. Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), say Rumsfeld authorized interrogation techniques that led to rights abuses.

The United States says it does not torture, though it has authorized several methods widely condemned by rights groups such as exposure to extreme temperatures and ‘waterboarding’, or simulated drowning…

Rice Says ‘Hole’ in U.S. Law Shields Contractors in Iraq
WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice conceded on Thursday that there was a “hole” in United States law that had allowed Blackwater USA employees and other armed contractors in Iraq to escape legal jeopardy for crimes possibly committed there.

State Dept. promotions show a ‘perverted system of government’
[Thursday], the Blackwater scandal claimed its first administration victim. Richard Griffin, the State Department’s top diplomatic security official, agreed to resign, effectively taking the fall for the department’s non-existent oversight. That’s the good news. The bad news, as ABC News’ Rhonda Schwartz and Justin Rood noted, is that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice “quietly promoted” two other senior staffers who directly oversaw Blackwater’s security operations.

State Dept. To Order Diplomats To Iraq
The State Department will order as many as 50 U.S. diplomats to take posts in Iraq next year because of expected shortfalls in filling openings there, the first such large-scale forced assignment since the Vietnam War.

State Dept. reviews ties with firm criticized for Iraq embassy flaws
WASHINGTON — The State Department is reviewing its relationship with the Kuwaiti company building the trouble-plagued new U.S. Embassy in Iraq, senior U.S. officials said Friday… The company’s future role in the lucrative embassy construction business, they said, depends on how quickly it resolves the problems in Baghdad, where the massive $740 million embassy complex is behind schedule due to a series of fire safety, electrical and other flaws.

U.S. ignores angry reaction to secret poppy spraying test
WASHINGTON — In 2004, U.S.-contracted aircraft secretly sprayed harmless plastic granules over poppy fields in Afghanistan to gauge public reaction to using herbicides to kill the opium poppies that help fund the Taliban and al Qaida… U.S. officials declined to identify the agency that oversaw the test spraying, but pointed out that the State Department oversees U.S. counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan.

All Hat No Cattle

The American Prospect

Bush’s Last Resort

Despite the White House’s leap to claim victory on S-CHIP, in reality Bush is playing defense, forced to rely on vetoes and executive orders to swat down the progressive legislation Congress has sent his way.

Amanda Terkel | October 23, 2007

There was no shortage of chest-thumping last week at the White House. When House conservatives voted to sustain President Bush’s veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), White House spokeswoman Dana Perino gleefully told reporters, “We won this round on S-CHIP.” Earlier in the week, Bush justified denying health insurance to four million children by claiming that vetoes show he is still “relevant.” “That’s one way to ensure that I’m in the process,” he said during a press conference.

The media happily joined this celebration, picking up the White House’s talking points…

Since when did the veto become an indicator of a president’s strength? In reality, Bush is playing defense, forced to rely on vetoes and executive orders. The Democratic-led Congress has backed him into a corner, refusing to take up his policy priorities and instead sending him progressive bills he opposes. Congress passes bills, Bush swats them down.

The veto is actually a tool of last resort. As Rutgers University professor Ross K. Baker told the Associated Press, “It’s the veto, and the veto alone, that is the last line of defense for a president whose administration’s life is waning away.”…

TPM Muckraker

House Dems Moving Towards Contempt Vote
By Paul Kiel – October 26, 2007, 12:32PM

Better late than never. Three weeks ago, we reported that the House leadership seemed to be wavering in its pursuit of contempt citations for White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers. Both of them, remember, refused to even show up in response to a House Judiciary Committee subpoena relating to the U.S. attorney firings.

But now things seem to be moving along again. The Politico reports that vote counting has begun and quotes a House aide as saying that a vote is likely in the next couple of weeks…

Washington Wire, Wall Street Journal

October 26, 2007, 11:25 am

Edwards Gets Tough on Business

Susan Davis reports on the presidential race.

John Edwards s targeting Corporate America and what he argues are its corrupt and greedy practices. In a speech today in Des Moines, Iowa, he is outlining his plan to renew the “social contract” between business and government if elected president. “In corporate America, where a broader sense of social responsibility once held sway, a culture of greed has taken over. Instead of treating their employees fairly, being accountable to their shareholders and contributing to America’s prosperity, CEOs act like their corporations exist just to build their own massive fortunes,” says Edwards, according to speech excerpts provided to Washington Wire by his campaign.

Edwards is proposing, among other things, universal retirement accounts that employers would be required to provide if they don’t offer pension programs. Workers’ contributions would be matched dollar-for-dollar on the first $500 through a proposed “Get Ahead” tax credit. The plan would also allow workers to put their savings into government-sponsored annuities that would be run through the existing federal retirement savings plan or the Social Security Administration.

Edwards is also proposing stronger protections for workers seeking to unionize and increased shareholder rights. And he’s proposing to cap tax-deferred compensation funds for top executives at $1 million annually, and pushing for more disclosure of corporate governance structures, the pay and demographics of top corporate officers, as well as political contributions, government contracts, and taxes paid…