Reuters : Congress set for fiery post-election session

Congress set for fiery post-election session

By Thomas Ferraro | November 15, 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Expect plenty of fireworks when the U.S. Congress meets next week for a post-election session focused largely on the ailing U.S. economy.

With Barack Obama preparing to become the 44th U.S. president on January 20, lawmakers will take another crack at providing fiscal relief to Americans and the U.S. auto industry, and elect leaders for the new Congress set to convene on January 6 with Obama's Democrats in stronger control.

Lawmakers also will move to expel Republican Ted Stevens from the Senate if a protracted ballot count shows that Alaska voters returned the 84-year-old senator to Washington after his conviction for corruption last month.

In addition, Democrats also will decide what, if any, punishment to impose on Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat turned independent, for actively campaigning for Republican John McCain for president ahead of the November 4 election.

Obama has privately opposed ousting Lieberman from the Senate Democratic conference, saying that would break Obama's vow to set aside partisanship, a party source said.

It is unclear what Lieberman would do if stripped of a committee chairmanship, as threatened. But as one Democratic Party aide put it, "He's keeping all his options open," including, apparently, bolting to the Republican Party.

CARMAKERS ON THE LINE

On the economic front, Democrats are working to direct $25 billion in loans to Detroit automakers, who say the action is needed to survive their worst-ever fiscal downturn.

Support, however, is uncertain, especially from Senate Republicans reluctant to legislate yet more money for business rescues. They also are not convinced General Motors Corp, Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co are viable with overall industry sales plunging and consumers moving away from American-made gas guzzlers.

Bailout foes suggest Congress amend a separate $25 billion loan program approved in September for automakers to retool factories necessary to produce electric cars and other more fuel-efficient products.

At the same time, Democrats are clamoring to inject at least tens of billions of dollars into the economy to help ease the worst fiscal crisis since The Great Depression.

But with outgoing President George W. Bush and fellow Republicans wanting to give a new $700 billion rescue package for the financial industry more time to kick in, Obama may have to wait until he takes office to sign any additional economic stimulus into law.

Senate leaders swapped open letters on Friday in advance of next week's showdown.

"The adoption of a robust recovery package should be the top priority," wrote Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, urging Republicans to reconsider apparent plans to block such a measure.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky fired back by complaining that Reid had yet to provide details. "Taxpayers deserve to know if this bailout would increase the national debt and raise their taxes," McConnell wrote.

The Senate is to reconvene on Monday, likely for about a week. House Democrats say they will move quickly to give final approval to any relief measures that win Senate passage.

PARTY LEADERS

Lawmakers will elect party leaders for the new Senate and House of Representatives that will convene in January with their biggest Democratic majorities in years. Democrats will also pick committee chairs.

In the November 4 election, Democrats picked up 22 seats in the 435-member House to raise their majority to 257 with a few races yet to be decided. Democrats gained six Senate seats, increasing their majority in the 100-member chamber to 57.

Three razor-close Senate races have not yet been decided. All involve seats now held by Republicans -- Stevens in Alaska, Norm Coleman in Minnesota and Saxby Chambliss in Georgia.

A final vote count in the Stevens race may come next week. Minnesota and Georgia are headed for a recount and runoff, respectively, next month.

If Democrats capture all three, they would have a majority big enough, 60, to pass legislation over Republican procedural hurdles. "Possible but unlikely," said Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, head of the Senate Democratic campaign committee.

If Stevens wins, senators promise to move to expel him for his conviction last month of lying on Senate disclosure forms by failing to report more than $250,000 in home improvements and other gifts from an oil executive.

Democrats want to move quickly but Republicans may try to wait until after a Stevens appeal. That could take months.

But South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint wants to act now. He is pushing for a vote to strip Stevens of committee assignments and oust him from the Senate Republican conference.

"We should clean our own house," a DeMint aide said.

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Donna Smith and John Crawley, editing by Vicki Allen)

© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

WaPo : Giuliani, Lieberman Will Speak at GOP Convention

Giuliani, Lieberman Will Speak at GOP Convention

By Robert Barnes | Washington Post Staff Writer | August 21, 2008

Socially moderate former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and former Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph I. Lieberman will have featured speaking roles at next month's Republican National Convention, party officials announced yesterday.

Giuliani, who once thought he would be the one accepting the GOP nomination, will deliver the keynote address on the Tuesday night of the convention. The mayor's unorthodox campaign never found favor with the party's faithful, and he ended his presidential bid without winning a single delegate. But he remains a popular figure among Republicans and is thought to appeal to Democrats and independents.

But he fairly quickly gave antiabortion activists in the party something to grouse about. Asked in a conference call with reporters whether Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, could choose a running mate who supports abortion rights, Giuliani said yes.

He said he knew McCain's first criterion would be selecting a person "who could immediately be president of the United States." He added: "If that person happens to be, among other things, pro-choice, the party will support that."

McCain, who adamantly opposes abortion, declined to discuss the running-mate issue yesterday with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, who said that "from the conservative perspective, we are literally imploring you to not turn your back on your great pro-life record over decades."

McCain outraged some conservatives last week when he said in an interview that a potential nominee's views on abortion rights may not be enough to cost a spot on the ticket.

Another abortion-rights supporter is Lieberman, an independent senator from Connecticut. Lieberman, who ran with Democrat Al Gore in 2000, supports his former party enough to give it control of the Senate but is an ardent backer of McCain, a longtime friend and colleague. His address on the opening night of the convention is intended to signal McCain's independence.

"He's known to buck his own party," said a Republican official involved with the planning. "McCain's like that, too, sometimes."

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), said Reid is ambivalent about Lieberman's decision. "Senator Lieberman can speak to whatever group he wants, but it's not going to change the fact that John McCain is a flawed candidate who is wrong on every issue facing the country," Manley said.

Reid has repeatedly deflected questions about Lieberman's status inside the Democratic caucus by noting that his one vote gives the Democrats their majority status in a 51 to 49 chamber. And Lieberman, while traveling in the war-torn nation of Georgia as an unofficial McCain emissary, called Reid on Tuesday night to notify him of his GOP appearance. That conversation led Reid to express "his own misgivings" about McCain but not to a discussion about any retribution to Lieberman, Manley said.

The convention lineup announced yesterday features a long list of McCain's vanquished primary opponents -- including Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and former senator Fred D. Thompson of Tennessee -- as well as most of those mentioned as potential vice presidential nominees -- such as Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who fits on both lists, is scheduled to speak on Wednesday night.

A party source and campaign official said no significance should be attached to the potential vice presidential candidates and their assigned speaking times -- or their absence from the schedule. The lineup could adjust depending on McCain's selection.

The theme for the four-day convention is "Country First," and each night will be organized loosely around four themes: service, reform, prosperity and peace.

"Our convention will showcase a cross section of leaders who will highlight John McCain's long commitment to putting our country first -- before self-interest or politics," said Jill Hazelbaker, McCain's communications director. "The speakers will address John McCain's unmatched record of service and sacrifice for America, and his vision for moving our nation forward to keep us safe and get our economy back on track."

First lady Laura Bush will speak on Monday, the first night of the convention, before her husband and after Vice President Cheney. McCain's wife, Cindy, is scheduled to address the convention on Wednesday night, the same evening as his running mate.

McCain will deliver his acceptance speech Thursday night after 10 p.m. Eastern time -- and after the NFL's opening night game between the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants, convention planners hope. "Don't mention overtime," one said.

Staff writer Paul Kane contributed to this report.

FOX : U.S. Lawmakers Take Aim at Homegrown Terrorist Threat

U.S. Lawmakers Take Aim at Homegrown Terrorist Threat

By Catherine Herridge | August 7, 2008

WASHINGTON — Many Americans believe that the threat of homegrown terrorism is gravest in Europe, but according to the U.S. government, in the last 18 months more than a half-dozen plots were thwarted right here at home.

Sen. Joe Lieberman says the threat is growing.

"Bottom line: There is a threat of homegrown terror in America," he said. "It is not as great as in European cities, but it is growing and we have to take it seriously."

Three young Ohioans were convicted in June on terrorism charges after officials gathered evidence against them that included suicide bomb belts filled with ball bearings.

Mohammed Amawi, Marwan el-Hindi and Wassim Mazloum were part of a terror cell in Toledo that wanted to launch attacks against U.S. troops overseas — made all the easier by their status as Americans.

"Being an American gives you a passport around the world," said Andrew Cochran, chairman of the Counterterrorism Foundation and editor of the Counterterrorism blog. "These again are instances of homegrowns who take it to the limit. ... These people wanted to go all the way to Iraq."

Other homegrown terrorists have planned attacks on the homefront. Derrick Shareef, then just 22, was inspired by a violent Islamist ideology to plan a grenade attack against a shopping mall in Rockford, Ill. He eventually pleaded guilty to terror charges.

The Internet is fast becoming the dominant tool for the training and recruitment of terrorists. Some lawmakers are attempting to shut down such sites and those with the most extreme propaganda tapes, often made by Al Qaeda's media arm, As-Sahab.

"I am continuing to work to try to bring down the terrorist Web sites on the Internet," Lieberman said. "I think the critical role… [is] reaching out to try to stop the problem in local areas before it starts."

The shutting down of certain Web sites is a prospect some critics are dreading.

"We have a First Amendment and we champion the Constitution, and so in no way, shape or form should we engage in censorship of the internet," said Kareem Shora, national executive director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

"But the community recognizes that the Internet can be a dangerous tool for youth," he said, "so we're working on that by giving constructive alternatives to the youth."

Ultimately, experts say, the Web will replace traditional terrorist training with cyber training, making it easier to recruit homegrown terrorists.

"It's not a substitute for physical field training, but it can come close to creating situations on how to train for an urban attack, a mall attack," Cochran said. "It's somewhat like what some of the 9/11 hijackers used in flight simulation software."

According to experts, young, middle-class American Muslims are most at risk — men who don't know a lot about their religion and in an effort to educate themselves fall victim to an extreme ideology.

Yet American Muslim groups say that formula amounts to racial profiling.

"Giving parameters as far as race, religious views or age groups really misses the point. We should be much more sophisticated in the way we approach threats against our country," Shora said.

U.S. lawmakers also are looking at ways of addressing the root causes of homegrown terrorism.

"We also have to ... reach out and grab the hearts and minds, particularly of young Muslim-American males," Lieberman said "We've got to count on their family members and close friends if they see them heading in this direction."

CNN : Lieberman: McCain can reunite our country

Lieberman: McCain can reunite our country

* Sen. Joe Lieberman was Democrats' vice presidential nominee in 2000
* Lieberman broke with Democrats and became an Independent
* McCain picked up endorsements from The Des Moines Register, The Boston Globe
* McCain tied for second among GOP candidates in New Hampshire

December 17, 2007

(CNN) -- Sen. Joe Lieberman is crossing party lines and endorsing Republican Sen. John McCain for president.

"Being a Republican is important. Being a Democrat is important. But you know what's more important than that? The interest and well-being of the United States of America," the Democrat-turned Independent said in announcing his decision Monday morning in New Hampshire.

"Let's put the United States first again, and John McCain is the man as president who will help us do that," he said.

Lieberman, the Democrats' vice presidential nominee in 2000, said the next president needs to "break through the reflexive partisanship that is poisoning our politics today and stopping us from getting anything done in Washington."

In accepting Lieberman's backing, McCain said, "It is one of the great honors of my political career to have known him, to have worked with him and to have received his endorsement."

The Connecticut senator decided to endorse McCain because he considers him "the most capable to be commander in chief on day one of his administration, and the most capable of uniting the country so that we can prevail against Islamic extremism," a Lieberman aide said earlier.

The Lieberman aide insists the senator does not see this as a "commentary on or an endorsement of the Republican party, only the person."

The endorsement could help emphasize McCain's experience on national security issues, demonstrate his ability to work across party lines and perhaps help persuade Independent voters in New Hampshire to support his 2008 presidential bid, as many of them did during his first campaign in 2000.

McCain also picked up key endorsements this weekend from two of the most influential papers for voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, The Des Moines Register and The Boston Globe.

Lieberman, who broke with the Democratic Party over Iraq, won re-election as an Independent after losing the party's Senate nomination to an anti-war challenger in 2006.

He still caucuses with the Democrats, giving them their razor-thin majority in the chamber. Lieberman chairs the Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee, and he still attends weekly Democratic strategy meetings. But his adviser said the endorsement appears to be a "hangover" from the 2006 race, when top Democrats backed the Democratic nominee, Ned Lamont, rather than support Lieberman's Independent candidacy.

"I have the greatest respect for Joe, but I simply have to disagree with his decision to endorse Senator McCain," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, told CNN in a written statement.

Lieberman's office called Reid's office Sunday to inform the Democratic leader of his decision to endorse a Republican, a Reid spokesman said.

In response to the endorsement, Al From, founder and CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council, said, "I am very saddened by Senator Lieberman's choice, and profoundly disagree with it. We need to elect a Democratic president in 2008."

Lieberman and McCain co-sponsored the 2002 resolution that authorized the U.S. invasion of Iraq the following March, and Lieberman has remained a supporter of the nearly 5-year-old war in Iraq at a time when Democratic leaders are trying to bring the conflict to an end.

He had not planned to endorse anyone until after the primary season, but McCain asked for his endorsement a few days after the two men returned from a Thanksgiving trip to Iraq together, the aide said.

A CNN/WMUR poll released last week found McCain tied for second in the New Hampshire, which hosts the first primary of the 2008 presidential race in January.

He and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani both rated 19 percent support among New Hampshire Republicans, while Mitt Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts, led the race with 32 percent.

The poll of 354 likely Republican primary voters was conducted from December 6 through December 10. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.