AP: Senators Seek Strong Vote for Program Link

Democratic lawmakers persisted Thursday in their efforts to persuade President Bush to set aside his veto threat of a large spending increase for a children's health insurance program.

The Senate is expected later in the day to vote for a $35 billion increase in funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program, a federal-state partnership that subsidizes health coverage for low-income families.

At a news conference leading up to the vote, Democrats said they believe most Americans support the additional funding and that's reflected in widespread support by governors as well as both chambers of Congress.

"There's time yet for him to make a smart decision here," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. More

The Hill: Debate Cheats U.S. Troops (Sen. John Kerry) Ran in hard copy with picture Link

We have overly politicized, overly polarized debate, which doesn’t do justice to the facts on the ground or give the troops a policy that actually represents those realities and their best interests.

I believe that if everybody comes to the Senate floor and says there’s no military solution, then the significant question is: where’s the political solution? If the Iraqi politicians know that our troops are going to be there as a backstop until next summer, and at the same level as last summer, there’s no leverage for them whatsoever to make any compromises.

So our troops are trapped in a dangerous cycle, the outcome of which they can’t change — and, as a country, we’ve taken away the real leverage on the Iraqis themselves to make the compromises necessary to resolve a civil war.

Al-Qaeda, dangerous as it is in the world and real as it is in limited ways in Iraq, is not the principal problem for our troops. The principal problem for our troops is the violence between Shia and Sunni, and the unwillingness of Iraqi politicians to compromise and take away the rationale for that violence.

So I think that the administration has succeeded in backing some of these guys off from the change that they promised would occur, and that most people believe that change is critical to a positive outcome.

Consumer Affairs: Sen. Kerry Wants New Broadband Policy Link

With studies finding that the United States is falling further behind other countries in development of broadband access, Congress is beginning to consider new alternatives to the current telecom-cable stranglehold.

Too many sections of the country have no broadband at all and in others, the price is prohibitive for working families and small businesses, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) said, as the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship opened hearings on the issue yesterday.

"We cannot expect small businesses to fairly compete against more technologically advanced competitors," Kerry said. "Some experts estimate that universal broadband would add $500 billion to the U.S. economy and create 1.2 million jobs. With numbers like these beckoning, we need to focus on reestablishing our technological edge."

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The Hill: Kerry blasts Limbaugh over ‘phony soldiers’ remark Link

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) on Thursday demanded an apology from conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, who called soldiers who oppose the Iraq war “phony.”

“This disgusting attack from Rush Limbaugh, cheerleader for the chicken-hawk wing of the far right, is an insult to American troops,” Kerry said. “Mr. Limbaugh owes an apology to everyone who has ever worn the uniform of our country, and an apology to the families of every soldier buried in Arlington National Cemetery.”

Boston Globe: State is awarded $3m from USDA Link

Massachusetts will receive $3 million from the US Department of Agriculture in recognition of the state's successful administration of food stamps, according to a statement released by Senator John F. Kerry and Senator Edward M. Kennedy yesterday. The funding is divided into two awards; $1,726,484 for the most improved program access and $1,290,453 for timely application processing. The awards were authorized by the 2002 Farm Bill, which grants high-performance bonuses worth $12 million to eight states that have displayed good performance in providing access to their programs. An additional $6 million was awarded to the six states that processed food stamp applications in the timeliest manner. A total of $18 million dollars was distributed to 14 states.

Cable360.net: Broadcast indecency debate reignites while commissioners face critics on host of other issues. Link

The FCC was blasted by consumer groups for the agency's handling of the DTV transition at the agency's first DTV consumer education workshop yesterday, reports CableFAX.

Separately, Adelstein and Copps addressed the agency's need to step up in bringing broadband to the masses and small businesses, in their comments to a Senate Small Business Committee meeting chaired by Sen. John Kerry.

Japan Economic Newswire: U.S. Senate resolution to urge China, Japan to act on Myanmar Link

The U.S. Senate is set to introduce a draft resolution as early as Friday condemning the Myanmar junta's crackdown on demonstrators that will call on China to halt its military assistance to the country and encourage Japan, one of Myanmar's largest aid donors, to use its influence on the military government, congressional sources said.

Sen. John Kerry, a 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, is the primary sponsor of the Senate resolution, which was co-sponsored by around 15 bipartisan members of the chamber as of Thursday afternoon, the sources said.

Washington Post: Detroit's Creative Bargain Link

The General Motors contract with the United Auto Workers shows how companies and workers can come together when both understand the economic threat facing American manufacturing and when workers have a place at the table to protect their most important interests.

John Kerry resolutely declined to criticize or advise any of them and was quite candid about what he thinks he did wrong in his 2004 campaign. His core mistake, he thinks, was not giving voters enough reassurance on security issues related to terrorism.

Reuters: Obama Team Insists He Still Can Catch Clinton Link

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama emerged on Thursday from the latest campaign debate with aides insisting he can still catch front-runner Hillary Clinton and defending his decision not to go on the attack against her.

As an example that an early front-runner does not always last, Axelrod urged reporters to consider the case of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who was leading the polls at this stage of the 2004 Democratic campaign and was defeated by Sen. John Kerry.

Wall Street Journal: Democrats and Iran Link

Kudos to Hillary Clinton -- yes, you read that right -- for her Senate vote this week urging the U.S. to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a foreign terrorist organization. That's more than can be said for her primary competition of Barack Obama, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson and John Edwards, who assailed her on this score at Wednesday's Democratic Presidential candidates debate at Dartmouth. These are men who seem to fear the Netroots more than the mullahs.

Mrs. Clinton's vote was on a symbolic amendment offered by Connecticut maverick Joe Lieberman and Republicans Jon Kyl and Norm Coleman. After marshaling the evidence of Iran's terrorist activities in Iraq, the amendment stated that "it is a critical national interest of the United States to prevent [Iran] from turning Shi'a militia into a Hezbollah-like force that could serve its interests inside Iraq." Twenty-one Democrats, including Joe Biden and John Kerry, apparently found this too shocking to support and voted nay, as did Republicans Chuck Hagel and Dick Lugar.

AP: Roots of Iraq Weapon Probes Date to 2004 Link

WASHINGTON (AP) -- As President Bush and Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry clashed in late 2004 over the direction of the Iraq war, a rising Army star joined the debate. Then-Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, head of a new command overseeing the training and equipping of Iraq's security forces, said headway was being made.

AP: Wyoming's Early Contest Lures Candidates Link

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) -- For Wyoming Republicans, a decision to jump ahead of other states in the presidential nominating process has paid off: former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson is coming to town.

Presidential candidates campaign in Wyoming, the least populated state with about 500,000 people. In 2004, neither President Bush nor Sen. John Kerry visited the state for public campaign stops.

LA Times: The GOP's fairness fakery Link

A show of hands: What words do you associate with Americans? No, not "no money down." Name one quality we like to think matters most to us.

Fairness, right? That makes us decent people, but it also makes us suckers. Tell us we're being unfair and we're spoiling to prove you wrong.

That's how California Republicans are playing us for fools.

The GOP's plan for "fixing" this is to change the rules, handing out electoral votes by congressional district. Whichever candidate wins the district gets its electoral vote. No surprise that under these rules, in 2004, George W. Bush would have taken 22 California electoral votes away from John Kerry, who won the state by 1.2 million votes.

The Columbus Dispatch: Bishop preaches tough Communion rule Link

St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke, a veteran of clashes between Catholic bishops and politicians, has attempted for years to enlist fellow bishops to deny Holy Communion to wayward politicians.

In 2004, Burke and a handful of other bishops said they would refuse Communion to presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. Burke also said Catholics who voted for pro-abortion-rights politicians, such as Kerry, should refrain from taking the sacrament until they confessed their "mortal sin."

Baltimore Sun: Explosive 'Kingdom,' Taut and tense, Peter Berg's intelligent, finely acted thriller keeps the action coming Link

If the anti-terrorist thriller The Kingdom had been released in 2004, it might have helped John Kerry win the presidential election.

With eye-opening audacity, it adopts the same message that brought ridicule on Kerry: The fight against terrorism should be a massive police action, not a war. And director Peter Berg, who directed the movie Friday Night Lights and is the creative force behind the TV show of the same name (one of the best network episodic dramas ever), fills out the theme with potency and thrust.

The Oakland Press: COUNTDOWN - TO – SHUTDOWN, Granholm prepares to close services Link

Gov. Jennifer Granholm has ordered her Cabinet to implement a partial state government shutdown at midnight Sunday, while leaving the door open for a budget deal to resolve a $1.75 billion deficit.

"Dillon ought to dock his own majority caucus for not putting up the votes for the spending they voted for," Moss said. "I'm not in favor of tax hikes but it's his House; they're in the majority. Blaming the Republicans is like blaming John Kerry for George Bush's Iraq policies."