kgw.com | News for Oregon and SW Washington

Politics

HealthWebCenter

Local experts provide the latest information on Healthcare issues that matter to you

Weight Loss

Safety Watch

Professional Eye Care

MyHomeImprovement

Portland local home improvement experts are here to provide home improvement tips and ideas!

03/28/2008

Iraq Violence
U.S. warplanes and troops have now been drawn into the fighting that has erupted in Iraq. Overnight, American soldiers entered Sadr City in Baghdad, after Shiite militias fired more than a dozen mortar rounds into the protected Green Zone killing two Americans. President Bush is expected to be questioned about the rising violence today when he meets with Australian Prime Minister Rudd. The Aussies announced some time back that they plan to have all their troops out of Iraq by June.

03/27/2008

Its the Economy
Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton roll out dueling economic recovery plans today. Depending on the week, this is the #1 issue in the minds of voters. Both are expected to talk about the banking, credit and housing crises. It's also likely that both will continue to squabble over veracity, pastors, delegates, superdelegates, and who can best answer the phone in the middle of the night.

03/26/2008

Iraq Meltdown
Heavy fighting is gripping two of Iraq's largest cities, as Iraqi forces have mounted operations against Shiite militias. Battles are raging in Baghdad and Basra between government troops led by Prime Minister al-Maliki and those controlled by renegade cleric Moktada al-Sadr. All of this is happening as concerns are rising that security gains provide by the U.S. troop surge are eroding. President Bush meets behind closed doors today with his Pentagon advisors to consider what to do next.

03/20/2008

Campaign Pain
It is a race over race, a race over delegates from Michigan and Florida, and maybe a race to explain eight years of White House schedules. Today Barrack Obama is campaigning in West Virginia and Hillary Clinton is in Indiana. Clinton may be asked to explain 11,000 pages of schedules from her years as first lady that appear to show she wasn't as engaged in policy matters as she might like voters to believe. Obama, despite his highly regarded speech on race and religion, may continue to face questions about his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. And with re-votes in Michigan and Florida now down the tubes, does this doom Sen. Clinton's chances to overtake Sen. Obama?

03/10/2008

Cross Border Trucking
Under a "test" program some Mexican trucks can now cross into the U.S. to deliver cargo. American trucks are also allowed into limited areas of Mexico. This cross-border test program is still going on, even though Congress passed and President Bush signed a law intended to cut off funding. Today, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters is holding a news conference to try and keep the program alive. Opponents have sued in federal court to try and get it shut down arguing that Mexican trucks are dangerous and don't meet U.S. safety standards.

02/21/2008

New York Times McCain
The New York Times is reporting that Republican presidential front-runner John McCain had close and possibly improper ties to a female lobbyist nine years ago. The story also suggests a potential conflict with his oft-stated ethical standards. This morning, both McCain and his wife Cindy spoke publicly denying the story, calling it untrue. Expect more fallout from this story today. We'll keep a close eye on the conservative wing of the Republican party to see whether they'll stand with McCain.

02/20/2008

Satellite Shoot Down
The space shuttle Atlantis is now safely on the ground, clearing the way for the Navy to try and shoot down a crippled U.S. spy satellite. The first attempt seems likely to happen late tonight (10:30 p.m. EST / 7:30 p.m. PST) over the Pacific Ocean. The three-stage Navy missile will be fired from a Navy cruiser. The attempt will certainly help the military learn more about anti-satellite technology which has the Russians and Chinese governments on edge. Left alone, the satellite and it's ½ ton of toxic fuel, would reenter during the first week of March, and could scatter debris over a huge swath of the planet.

02/19/2008

Castro
On Cuban TV this morning, they were showing children's cartoons featuring revolutionary guerillas doing battle with Batista soldiers. So far, not one word about Fidel Castro relinquishing power. That may be because while the 81 year old Castro is resigning, he isn't totally going away. Now Castro's 76 year old brother Raul takes power, and the question is will he be able to implement reforms and change the country's relationship with the U.S. President Bush is already calling for a democratic transition in the island nation.

02/12/2008

Clemens Preview
The player witness list has narrowed a day before the long awaited hearing on steroids use on Capitol Hill Wednesday. Now, we'll be seeing just Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee appear before the committee to answer questions. Tuesday, the committee heard from medical experts on other substances reportedly used by ball players including human growth hormone and vitamin B-12.

02/08/2008

McCain Conservatives
Now that Mitt Romney has dropped out, John McCain is the presumptive republican nominee. His biggest problem now is getting the right wing of his own party to vote for him. However, if he tries too hard, he is likely to alienate centrist independents. Without them, he can't win in November either. What to do what to do?

02/04/2008

Super Tuesday Preview
The polls are either tightening or they are getting very weird. Obama has pulled even with Clinton in California and Romney appears to be ahead of McCain there. All the candidates are crisscrossing the country to dig for votes and to get in their final digs at opponents. McCain seems likely to come out of Super Tuesday as the presumptive Republican nominee, but the Democratic race may go on for weeks.

01/30/2008

Candidate Bye Bye
And then there were four, more or less. It appears to be moving day on the campaign trail. Both Rudy Giuliani and John Edwards are throwing in the towel. Rudy is handing his support, for what it may be worth, to John McCain. Edwards apparently isn't picking a candidate, but its likely his supporters will favor Obama over Clinton.

01/29/2008

Economic Stimulus
The House votes today on the $150 billion economic stimulus package. While it is expected to pass, the Senate is moving quickly to complicate matters by changing details of the deal. While home prices continue to plummet, there is some good news. Orders for big-ticket items (think airplanes) are way up. Will we be getting those rebate checks anytime soon?

01/14/2008

Down & Dirty
Issues that stayed below the surface for much of 2007 are now starting to surface as race and to a lesser extent gender are bubbling up in the Democratic Race for President.

01/11/2008

Real ID
Uncle Sam (in the form of DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff) releases the governments plan for Real ID. The national program will require states to begin issuing new more secure drivers licenses designed to make it harder for terrorists, illegal immigrants and con-artists to get government-issued identification. Libertarians on the right and civil liberties groups on the left both oppose the ID's on privacy grounds. 17 states are on record opposing Real ID, including Idaho and Missouri. Similar bills are pending in 19 more states including Arizona, Louisiana, Oregon and Texas. A few states, including Virginia and North Carolina, have already implemented many of the security measures envisioned by Real ID.

01/07/2008

Lethal Injection
The Supreme Court will hear arguments on behalf of two Kentucky death row inmates, that lethal injection is a cruel and unusual punishment, and therefore unconstitutional.

01/04/2008

Recession Here?

08/09/2007

Political Theater
The U.S. Senate pulled an all-nighter Tuesday as the Democrats and Republicans debated Iraq troop withdrawal. The round-the-clock session was called political theater by the Republicans-the same people who called an all night session of the Senate in 2003 when they were in control and wanted Democrats to relent on Judicial Nominations. In deference to the age of some senators Harry Reid cancelled the 3am quorum call.