Some States Recieve Little Funding

The Consolidated Federal Funds Report released by the US Department of Commerce shows a vast inequity in the Federal Government’s distribution of funds between the states. The following map shows that while 6 states recieve under $6,500 per capita from the federal government, some states recieve well over $9,000 per capita a year. While 30 states recieve more in federal funds than they give, taxpayers from Mississippi, West Virginia, and New Mexico all recieve an average of $3 for every dollar they send to Wasington D.C.. Delaware, on the other hand, recieves a mere 42 cents on the dollar. Read the full report (120-page PDF)

North Korea Accused of Spreading WMD Technology

The White House claimed that Syrian nuclear facilities bombed by Israel in 2007 were capable of producing weapons grade plutonium which is more highly enriched than nuclear material used for energy production would be. Citing similarities between Syrian and North Korean technology, the Bush Administration believes that North Korea supplied the technology and information necessary to advance a nuclear weapons program. The picture below was released as an example of similarities.

The White House made these statements after CIA officials had briefed members of congress on the theory of North Korean involvement. The Administration further cites the secrecy that has shrouded the site, the effort by the Syrian government to hide the remains of the destroyed site, and meetings between the heads of the North Korean and Syrian nuclear programs as further evidence that the site was not intended for the production of energy grade plutonium. The Syrian Ambassador to the UN has denied the charges.

The 6 Party Talks have been very productive thus far, having produced an agreement between North Korea, its neighbors, and the US. Kim Jung Ill has also tried to give the west a more positive view of North Korea by inviting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to play in Pyongyang and giving western journalists limited tours. However, the North Korean government has failed to declare all of its nuclear material by the deadline. This new development will undoubtedly hamper the progress of that agreement.

Violence in Somalia

In recent months, Ethiopia has stationed it’s troops across neighboring Somalia in an attempt to curb the power of the country’s strong radical Islamist movement. International Observers have claimed that Ethiopian troops have perpetrated violent acts against Somali citizens. The army has recently been acused of storming a mosque, killing 20 Somalis, and capturing 40 Somali children. The Ethiopian government denies that the incident happened and the Somalian government has not asked Ethiopian soldiers to leave.

General Petraeus

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has recommended General Petraeus to head US Central Command (CentCom), citing his work as commander of US Forces in Iraq over the last year. CentCom is a military region that contains everywhere from the Horn of Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, etc.) to Central Asia. Responsibilities include oversight of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

 

Clinton Wins Pennsylvania Primary

CNN and MSNBC have both projected a Clinton win. With half of precincts reporting, Clinton leads Obama 54% to 46%. However, her victory will likely put only a small dent in Senator Obama’s delegate lead. CNN projects that when all is said and done, Obama will lead Clinton 1,648 to 1,504 delegates out of the 2025 delegates to nominate. Senator Clinton’s best chance for clinching the nomination remains in convincing the Democratic Super-Delegates that she can win traditionally Democratic voters and states as well as large swing states like Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Primary

The Pennsylvania polls opened today at 7 A.M. Eastern Time. The latest Zogby poll, published by the Huffington Post, has Clinton at 51%, Obama at 41% and 6% undecided. Look for Penn State to give a significant boost to Obama. At campus, about 1,500 people attended the Clinton rally while it was reported that nearly 22,000 attended the Obama rally. Clinton’s stunningly small turnout shows just how difficult certain counties could be for her. A big turnout in Philly will also be crucial for Obama to close the gap.

-Bob

 

American Solutions’ Princella Smith joins us Sunday

Princella Smith, the Chief Advocate of Newt Gingrich’s organization, American Solutions, will be joins Ben, Tom, and the panel this Sunday.

For the second half of the show, a PA Preview, a review of the debate, the Pope, McCain’s tax returns and more!

For More info about Princella Smith or American Solutions go to:

http://www.americansolutions.com/

http://www.americansolutions.com/Blog/Read.aspx?guid=a78f62ba-35fd-4422-a803-fe94a447489a

Gravel Interview Recap

Thank you to everyone who tuned in yesterday. We had a great interview with Former Senator Mike Gravel, who is running for the libertarian nomination.

If you would like to listen to the entire broadcast, click here.

The topics covered (in order of discussion on the interview):

Libertarianism, endorsements, economy, fair tax, boycotting the Olympics, universal healthcare (caller), national initiative, fair tax rebates (caller), President Carter meeting with Hamas, Israel/Palestine, Supreme Court nominees, term limits, civil disobedience and Iraq War, transparency in politics, Israel/Palestine (caller), LGBT rights and gay marriage, genocide in Darfur, global warming.

Gravel links:

www.gravel2008.us (campaign website)

www.ni4d.us (national initiative)

www.citizen-power.us (Sen. Gravel’s book: Citizen Power)

The Kingmakers (out June 2008)- Senator Gravel’s new book about the Media in this election cycle

A Political Odyssey (out May, 2008) – A book about Sen. Gravel’s journey in attempt to dismantle the military-industrial complex

We hope you tune in next week at 10pm EST for another exciting edition of The Weekly Filibuster

Sunday Morning Political Breakfast

Each week, “The Daily Filibuster” hopes to sum up the conventional wisdom from the beltway titans of Sunday morning political talk in the “Sunday Morning Political Breakfast”.

Meet The Press (NBC): First up is the gold standard in Sunday talk. Today there’s a pundit panel with Republican strategists Mike Murphy and Mary Matalin, and Democratic strategists Bob Shrum and James Carville. Russert reminds us that there are only nine days left until the Pennsylvania primary.

State of the Race: Obama has 1,416 pledged delegates and 230 superdelegates, for a total of 1,646 delegates. Clinton has 1,252 pledged delegates and 259 superdelegates, for a total of 1,511 delegates. Obama has won 28 states and 13.4 million votes to Clinton’s 14 states and 12.7 million votes. The latest Time Magazine poll of Pennsylvania shows Clinton leading 44% to 38%, a six point spread. In Indiana, a recent poll shows Clinton leading 49% to 46%, while Obama leads 35% to 26% in North Carolina, where 39% of voters are undecided.

The first topic is the one that will largely dominate the conversation this morning, Obama’s “bitter” quote during a San Francisco fundraiser.

“Speaking Sunday at a closed-door fundraiser, Obama said he understands why some working-class voters become frustrated and vote on single issues.

“It’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations,” he said, according to the Huffington Post Web site.”

Clinton responded, saying she was “taken aback” by the comments she viewed as “elitist” and “demeaning to small town America”. Obama fired back at a town hall, saying that he’s really the one in touch with small town America, mentioning McCain’s fumbling on the “home foreclosure issue” and Clinton’s vote for “a credit card sponsored bankruptcy bill” that “makes it harder for people to get out of debt”. He admitted that he could’ve phrased what he meant in his “bitter” comments better.

The Ragin’ Cajun argues that Obama doesn’t understand the relationship between the people of Pennsylvania and their guns.

Shrum admits that there’s an element of truth in what Obama said, and that Obama’s opponents want to tag him as elitist. He also suggets that Clinton wants to use this to draw attention attention away from Bill’s recent comments on the Bosnia sniper story.

Matalin observes that Obama isn’t the type of Democrat America wants, and that these comments would be a general election nightmare.

Murphy adds that Obama’s comments were “beyond beautiful” from a Republican point of view, but that Barack still prevails. Answers his own question of “how the hell do working class whites still vote republican” by bringing up the Democrat’s failure to connect culturally.

Shrum inserts that this is certain to be a subject brought up at the debate Wednesday. Make sure to check back to our blog this Wednesday for live coverage of the ABC Democratic debate.

Matalin insists “He’s not the candidate he promised to be … he promised to be this great new communicator of the Democratic party”. Shrum, rightly, finds that rich considering McCain’s multiple Sunni/Shiite misflaps.

The topic switches to Bill Clinton’s Bosnia comments. Four videos of Senator Clinton repeating the sniper claims, from different days and hours, are played. Carville laughs and recalls a lesson president Clinton once taught him, “every time we make it about us, we lose; every time we make it about them (the voters), we win”. Smiled and admitted that Senator Clinton’s advice to her husband to “shut up” was good advice. Murphy suggests the real problem is that president Clinton has become a “self-parody”.

Topic switches to Penn firing, which happened after the Sunday shows last week. Shrum says that Penn’s “original sin” wasn’t the Columbian meeting, but “coming up with a strategy that left [Clinton] as the establishment candidate in a year of change”.

Carville attempts to make Indiana the “tie-breaker”, quoting Obama. He’s asked if he’s “clinging to Indiana like a life preserver”.

Carville says he’s “happy” that he made the Judas comment in regards to Bill Richardson, and suggests that Richardson isn’t telling the truth.

Veepstakes: McCain: a credible governor, Pawlenty, Ridge, or Romney. Obama: anti-war general, Wes Clark, Bloomberg, General James Jones, or Hagel.

Carville and Shrum laugh when Matalin suggests that people are “sick of bush bashing” and Dick Cheney is “a brilliant man”.

This Week With George Stephanopoulos (ABC): From Katmandu, where he’s monitoring the election, is former President Jimmy Carter, who suggests that we shouldn’t boycott the Olympics in Beijing. On his scheduled meeting with the leader of Hamas, which has drawn negative attention from the White House: says that he’ll be meeting with a whole gamut of people who have a role to play in an Israeli peace treaty and that a recent poll of the Israeli people shows that they want direct negotiations to occur.

Some of the negative attention has come from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has said that Carter should be disinvited to the Democratic Convention. The presidential candidates and major Democratic politicians have suggested they wouldn’t have such a meeting, citing that Hamas is a known terrorist group. Carter that he wasn’t surprised that those “in the midst of campaigns” would distance themselves.

Carter played coy on whether he supported Obama, and told Stephanopoulos he’d make his endorsement at the convention. He agrees with Pelosi’s litmus test for the nomination, but also says that superdelegates are free to support whomever they want. Guinea Worm Disease is likely to be eradicated by next year, Carter reports.

Next up is National Security Advisor Hadley, who fails to answer that question of whether or not Bush will be present at the Olympic opening ceremonies. Reports that the Iraqi government will soon be financing 75% of their security force costs.

The Roundtable: ABC News Correspondent George Will, Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile, ABC News Correspondent Torie Clarke, and Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin.

Will thinks Obama’s “bitter” comments are a big deal. He refers to past comments about arugula, and Michelle Obama talking about dance class bills. Halperin says that Clinton will have an easier time making the “elitist” argument because it’s one she really believes. Clarke says that Obama can easily recover and that Clinton has to be careful to not “overplay her hand”. Brazile says that Obama speaks in a manner that attempts to educate people, a product of his days as a constitutional law professor.

Should Obama give a “Race Speech II” about patriotism and values? Consensus is no. Clarke argues that Pennsylvania voters respond better to more practical approaches. Halperin predicts that Senator Casey will come out today and help cover for Obama (see “Late Edition” coverage below) and hints that there is video out there that would keep the story around much longer.

On Bill Clinton’s Bosnia comments, Halperin jokes that it “takes someone pretty eloquent to cram that many mistakes into one soundbite”, says that Obama’s gaffe really helped the Clinton campaign divert attention away from the story.

Stephanopoulos mentions this story about president Clinton’s connections to a firm that has worked with China to crackdown on Tibet.

My favorite “Sunday Funny”, Colbert’s joint Obama-McCain commercial, suggesting they’d pick up the phone at 3PM and Clinton wouldn’t, because she’d be too busy sleeping from being up all night.

The Chris Matthews Show (NBC): This week’s panel consists of NBC News corespondent Kelly O’Donnell, Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page, New York Times reporter Elisabeth Bumiller, and New York Times columnist David Brooks. Because this show is taped a few days in advance, there’s an absence of any talk on Obama’s comments.

Can McCain be the candidate of change? 64% of Americans don’t think he is, likening his policies to Bush’s.

Let’s go to the Matthews Meter: McCain Vs. Obama, who does better with independents? Obama 10-2. McCain Vs. Clinton, who does better with independents? McCain 11-1.

The panelists find Bill’s comment as destructive as I do, pointing out that this doesn’t bode well for her “3AM” argument. A rather humorous video of president Clinton continuing to speak after Bush has taken office is played. Brooks jokes that nobody over sixty forgets being shot at.

Will white women vote for Obama in the fall? The Gallup Poll has him rising 8 points with white Democratic women in the past three weeks. The Matthews Meter says 10-2 that “white female Dems” will “vote for Obama like they did for Kerry and Gore”. Bumiller says that women are upset that Obama has taken their narrative of making history and that if Clinton were to lose the nomination, she would help Obama with women in the fall because she wants “a future in the party”. Brooks suggests that it’s actually non-partisan women Obama should be worried about.

Let’s tell Chris Matthews something he doesn’t know: McCain doesn’t necessarily need a friendship with his future VP pick, Bush will probably go to the Olympics, McCain and Powell haven’t talked in months, and things are in the works for Clinton to become governor of New York.

Will McCain pick Rice or a more traditional VP? The consensus is that he’ll go a more traditional route, a sitting Governor most likely. Matthews predicts Senator Thume of South Dakota.

McCain will be a guest on Hardball’s College Tour this Wednesday. Also, make sure to read this fascinating New York Times Magazine profile on Chris Matthews (nytimes.com account needed).

Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer (CNN): Senator Casey (D-PA), who has endorsed Obama, comments on the “bitter” remarks. Thinks it’s “ridiculous to suggest that Obama is elitist”, who was just trying to “express the frustrations that people are feeling about special interests having a stranglehold on our politics”. Says he “knows Obama” and doesn’t think the people of Pennsylvania will solely judge Obama on this statement.

Mike Gravel This Sunday

Make sure to tune into the show this Sunday, April 13th at 10pm for our interview with former Senator (D-AK) and Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel. Among the topics discussed will be his recently announced run for the Libertarian Party nomination. Join the Facebook event as a reminder and make sure to invite your friends as well.

 

New Site

Hey Everyone -

The team of The Weekly Filibuster is re-vamping our site. For now, this site will serve as a portal to our weekly show at 10pm on Sunday nights.

Check out our archives for our previous broadcasts!
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