links for 2009-05-01

nsurance Commissioner Steve Poizner on Thursday challenged his two GOP rivals, Tom Campbell and Meg Whitman, to debate the May 19 budget ballot measures.

"Surely all three of us can spare an hour for each debate in order to better inform the voters about both our individual positions but also the ballot measures," Poizner wrote of his two proposed hour-long debates in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Campbell, a former state budget director and member of Congress, heartily accepted.

"I enthusiastically look forward to the opportunity to debate both Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner on these important ballot measures," he replied, challenging his opponents to detail "what they propose as a realistic solution to our budget crisis if they oppose" the measures.
Campbell supports Propositions 1A, 1D and 1E.

Whitman declined the invite. "Given the fact that we both stand strongly in opposition to Propositions 1A, 1B, and 1C ‐- the most critical of the Special Election measures

As the secrets about the CIA's interrogation techniques continue to come out, there's new information about the frequency and severity of their use, contradicting an 2007 ABC News report, and a new focus on two private contractors who were apparently directing the brutal sessions that President Obama calls torture.
According to current and former government officials, the CIA's secret waterboarding program was designed and assured to be safe by two well-paid psychologists now working out of an unmarked office building in Spokane, Washington.

Bruce Jessen and Jim Mitchell, former military officers, together founded Mitchell Jessen and Associates.

Both men declined to speak to ABC News citing non-disclosure agreements with the CIA. But sources say Jessen and Mitchell together designed and implemented the CIA's interrogation program.

This report provides population estimates for January 1, 2008 and provisional population estimates for January 1, 2009 for the state, counties and cities, and a calculation of annual percent change.

53 Percent Said Obama Won't Get U.S. Out of Recession by 2012

Apparently the American people are grading on a curve when it comes to their approval of how President Obama is handling the economy. The New York Times/CBS poll asked, "Do you think Barack Obama will be able to get the country out of the economic recession in his first term, or won't he be able to do that?"

Think about that. They're essentially asking, will the recession end by November 2012, or arguably, January 2013!

Overall, 37 percent said Obama will, 53 percent said he will not; 10 percent didn't know or didn't answer.

Among whites, it was 34–56 he won't; among blacks, it was 51–38 he will.

Sounds like the soft bigotry of low expectations.

In the pantheon of unsolved mysteries, few can top the Zodiac, the shadowy killer blamed for five Bay Area murders in the late 1960s and untold numbers of stranger-than-fiction theories ever since.

Add to that roster the tale told Wednesday by Deborah Perez, who announced to a skeptical crowd of reporters and Zodiac aficionados here not only that the killer was her adoptive and long-dead father, Guy Ward Hendrickson, but that she had been present at at least one killing and had even scribbled some of the taunting notes the Zodiac sent to the press and the police.

“I was a child and just thought I was helping my dad,” said Ms. Perez, a 47-year-old real-estate agent from Southern California. “I didn’t know.”

FOX, the only one of the Big Four networks that did not carry Pres. Obama's news conference last night, finished first in the 8pmET hour with a new episode of "Lie to Me." The drama averaged 7.9 million Total Viewers, according to Nielsen overnights.

NBC's coverage of the Obama newser came in second with 6.7 million Total Viewers.

Overall, Obama's news conference was seen by nearly 19 million viewers across NBC, ABC, CBS according to the early numbers. (Reminder: fast nationals measure only timeslot and not actual program data). Final ratings will be released later today.

Sen. John McCain is feeling his oats this morning, tweeting, "President purposes government/union takeover of GM and Chrysler – Lenin would be smiling . . ."

Real change comes not from throwing tea bags at the steps of city hall, but by accumulating political power to effect change. And it is extremely easy to do so at the local level. As a long time activist within the political party and now an elected Republican, I can assure you that very few people ever turn out for a Republican precinct meeting in most areas.

Those who turn out to the precinct meetings elect the precinct leaders. Then they go to the county meetings and elect the county leaders. Then they go to the state and elect the state leaders. Along the way, those people get to vet potential candidates, come up with positions for the party, etc. They accumulate influence and then power.

owa Senator tells reporters Thursday the VP's remarks on avoiding "confined spaces" because of swine flu is "unfortunate."

"I wish the vice president had checked with the Center for Disease Control and preparedness before he made that statement…"

Looking to rebrand a struggling Republican Party, a group of party heavyweights including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) are launching a new group that will hold town halls around the country and look to produce GOP ideas on issues like education and health care.

Republicans will announce today the creation of the "National Council for a New America," a group led by congressional party leaders that includes Bush, McCain, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal as its "national panel of experts."

Campaign cad John Edwards' cheating ways made his wife, Elizabeth, sick to her stomach – literally.

After the former presidential hopeful confessed his betrayal, Elizabeth Edwards writes in her new book, "I cried and screamed, I went to the bathroom and threw up."

Elizabeth, 59, who is terminally ill with cancer, speaks in far more detail than before about her husband's infidelity in her new memoir, "Resilience," due to be published May 12 by Broadway Books. A copy was obtained by the Daily News.

Senior Senate Democrats are objecting to the deal Majority Leader Harry Reid made with Sen. Arlen Specter, saying they will vote against letting the former Republican shoot to the top of powerful committees after he switches parties.

Several Democrats are furious with Sen. Reid (D-Nev.) for agreeing to let Specter (Pa.) keep his seniority, accrued over more than 28 years as a GOP senator. That agreement would allow Specter to leap past senior Democrats on powerful panels — including the Appropriations and Judiciary committees.