links for 2009-10-01

"Elizabeth was read portions of Young's book proposal, and she flipped out," a source told the Enquirer. "What really pushed her over the edge is Young's allegation that John had other affairs with women on the campaign trail. Elizabeth basically told John that if she found out that was true, she'd have to divorce him because then he'd be a 'serial cheater.'"

The Enquirer has another source that says John Edwards is denying the allegations, telling his wife, "Young's book is a pack of lies."

The paper reports that Elizabeth Edwards' divorce threats include taking half of their joint $53 million worth and going public with political secrets in open divorce court.

If Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat, is successful in passing her bill to reduce carbon emissions, commonly called cap and trade, it would only be the fourth bill she's championed that's signed into law during her three terms as a U.S. senator.

When Mrs. Boxer, joined by former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, brought their 821-page Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act to the floor Wednesday, critics noted that only three of the nearly 400 bills she has sponsored have ever been passed.

Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in an e-mail that Mrs. Boxer's record could be summed up in three words: "Ineffective, polarizing and partisan."

Polls conducted in 2009 have found fewer Americans expressing support for abortion than in previous years. In Pew Research Center polls in 2007 and 2008, supporters of legal abortion clearly outnumbered opponents; now Americans are evenly divided on the question, and there have been modest increases in the numbers who favor reducing abortions or making them harder to obtain. Less support for abortion is evident among most demographic and political groups.

Early last year, Senator John Ensign contacted a small circle of political and corporate supporters back home in Nevada — a casino designer, an airline executive, the head of a utility and several political consultants — seeking work for a close friend and top Washington aide, Douglas Hampton.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has blocked Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-S.C.) trip to Honduras slated to begin Friday, according to DeMint's office.

But the chairman's office claimed that the DeMint trip was stopped because the South Carolina Republican is blocking two of President Barack Obama's nominations: Auturo Valenzuela, Obama’s nominee to be assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, and Tom Shannon, the current assistant secretary and nominee to be ambassador to Brazil.

DeMint’s office informed The Hill of Kerry’s decision Thursday afternoon.

Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin said today Republicans will not be at the table when the Senate merges the health-care bills from two committees before sending one to the floor.

Harkin, a Democrat and chairman of one of the committees, also said any bill that passes Congress will include a government-run insurance option for Americans to buy.

“We will have a bill on the president’s desk before Christmas, a health-reform bill. It will have a lot of good stuff in it. It will have a lot of prevention and wellness programs in there that I’ve been fighting for,” Harkin told reporters in a morning conference call. “And it will have a public option.”

“The question of if it doesn’t isn’t even an option,” he added.

Another American died in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the final day of September–and exactly one month after the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan sent a confidential war assessment to the Obama administration, warning that more forces are needed–soon.

The as-yet-unnamed American serviceman who died on Wednesday was caught in a suicide attack in Khost Province, in eastern Afghanistan, press reports said.

On August 30, Gen. Stanley McChrystal sent Defense Secretary Robert Gates a war assessment in which he said more U.S. troops–and a new U.S. strategy–are needed if the U.S. is to defeat the insurgents in Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser has called it quits.

The White House says Mark Lippert is leaving the administration to return to active duty in the U.S. Navy.

Obama said in a statement Thursday that he was not surprised when Lippert broke the news because he is "passionate about the Navy." Obama says he admires and respects Lippert's devotion to his country and that he's answering the call to active duty service.

Lippert also had been chief of staff for the National Security Council. He served as Obama's national security adviser during the presidential campaign.