Democrats Abroad New Zealand
5.31.2007
U.S. Ranks Low, Just Above Iran, in Peace Index (AlertNet.org)
30 May 2007 16:47:40 GMT
By Deborah Charles
WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - The United States is among the least peaceful nations in the world, ranking 96th between Yemen and Iran, according to a new index released on Wednesday that evaluates 121 nations based on their peacefulness.
According to the Global Peace Index, created by The Economist Intelligence Unit, Norway is the most peaceful nation in the world and Iraq is the least, just after Russia, Israel and Sudan.
"The objective of the Global Peace Index was to go beyond a crude measure of wars by systemically exploring the texture of peace," said Global Peace Index President Clyde McConaghy.
He said the inaugural effort proves "peace can and has and will continue to be measured."
The index was compiled based on 24 indicators measuring peace inside and outside of a country. They included the number of wars a country was involved in the past five years, how many soldiers were killed overseas and how much money was made in arms sales.
Domestic indicators included the level of violent crimes, relations with neighboring countries and level of distrust in other citizens.
The results were then reviewed by a panel of international experts.
"We were trying to find out what positive qualities lead to peace," said Leo Abruzzese, the North American editorial director of the intelligence unit that is part of The Economist Group that publishes the well known magazine.
(More ... Reuters > AlertNet) ¶ 08:03 0 comments
By Deborah Charles
WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - The United States is among the least peaceful nations in the world, ranking 96th between Yemen and Iran, according to a new index released on Wednesday that evaluates 121 nations based on their peacefulness.
According to the Global Peace Index, created by The Economist Intelligence Unit, Norway is the most peaceful nation in the world and Iraq is the least, just after Russia, Israel and Sudan.
"The objective of the Global Peace Index was to go beyond a crude measure of wars by systemically exploring the texture of peace," said Global Peace Index President Clyde McConaghy.
He said the inaugural effort proves "peace can and has and will continue to be measured."
The index was compiled based on 24 indicators measuring peace inside and outside of a country. They included the number of wars a country was involved in the past five years, how many soldiers were killed overseas and how much money was made in arms sales.
Domestic indicators included the level of violent crimes, relations with neighboring countries and level of distrust in other citizens.
The results were then reviewed by a panel of international experts.
"We were trying to find out what positive qualities lead to peace," said Leo Abruzzese, the North American editorial director of the intelligence unit that is part of The Economist Group that publishes the well known magazine.
(More ... Reuters > AlertNet) ¶ 08:03 0 comments
5.25.2007
Revolt Against New U.S. ID Card Grows (Reuters.com)
Thu May 24, 2007 4:12PM EDT
By Jason Szep
BOSTON (Reuters) - New Hampshire on Thursday joined a growing list of states to reject a controversial U.S. identification card that opponents say will cost billions of dollars to administer and present a risk to privacy.
The Democratic-controlled state Senate approved legislation to prohibit the Real ID program in a 24-0 vote, and Gov. John Lynch said he would sign the bill, which passed the state House of Representatives on April 6.
New Hampshire becomes the 13th state to oppose the identification card. Another 22 states are considering similar legislation or resolutions to reject it, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
"I applaud the Senate for overwhelmingly rejecting Real ID and for sending a strong message to the federal government," Lynch, a Democrat, said in a statement. "I look forward to signing this legislation, which will ensure the interests of the people of New Hampshire are protected."
The U.S. Congress in 2004 passed a law calling for the national digital identification system. It is intended as a post-September 11 security measure to make more secure the state-issued driver's license that are an ubiquitous form of identification in the United States.
Under the program, states would be required to verify documents presented with license applications and to link their license databases into a national electronic network. The federal law that created the program did not provide states with funds to carry it out.
(More ... Reuters > News > U.S.)
By Jason Szep
BOSTON (Reuters) - New Hampshire on Thursday joined a growing list of states to reject a controversial U.S. identification card that opponents say will cost billions of dollars to administer and present a risk to privacy.
The Democratic-controlled state Senate approved legislation to prohibit the Real ID program in a 24-0 vote, and Gov. John Lynch said he would sign the bill, which passed the state House of Representatives on April 6.
New Hampshire becomes the 13th state to oppose the identification card. Another 22 states are considering similar legislation or resolutions to reject it, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
"I applaud the Senate for overwhelmingly rejecting Real ID and for sending a strong message to the federal government," Lynch, a Democrat, said in a statement. "I look forward to signing this legislation, which will ensure the interests of the people of New Hampshire are protected."
The U.S. Congress in 2004 passed a law calling for the national digital identification system. It is intended as a post-September 11 security measure to make more secure the state-issued driver's license that are an ubiquitous form of identification in the United States.
Under the program, states would be required to verify documents presented with license applications and to link their license databases into a national electronic network. The federal law that created the program did not provide states with funds to carry it out.
(More ... Reuters > News > U.S.)
Labels: Civil Liberties, Reuters
¶ 20:54 0 comments
4.10.2007
Obama Not in 2008 Race for Second Place (Reuters.com)
Tue Apr 10, 2007 2:10AM EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Tuesday dismissed the notion he might consider accepting the No. 2 spot on the 2008 ballot -- with Hillary Rodham Clinton at the top.
"You don't run for second. I don't believe in that," the Illinois Senator said on the talk show "Late Night with David Letterman."
"That would be a powerful ticket," Letterman prodded.
"Which order are we talking?" Obama replied, drawing laughter and applause from the studio audience.
"Let's say you're the presidential candidate and Hillary is the vice presidential candidate. Now if she were sitting here, it would be different from that," Letterman joked.
Obama, a fresh face on the national stage who has served just two years in the U.S. Senate, said last week he had raised $25 million this year, almost matching Clinton and solidifying his bid for the Democratic nomination to seek the presidency in November 2008.
Obama fell only $1 million short of the higher-profile New York senator, despite the huge fund-raising network she developed through her Senate campaigns and the White House races of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
Asked by Letterman whether there were private discussions of the situation going the other way, with Clinton in the No. 2 spot, Obama said the contenders were all in the race to win the party nomination but were on the same team.
(More ... Reuters > News)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Tuesday dismissed the notion he might consider accepting the No. 2 spot on the 2008 ballot -- with Hillary Rodham Clinton at the top.
"You don't run for second. I don't believe in that," the Illinois Senator said on the talk show "Late Night with David Letterman."
"That would be a powerful ticket," Letterman prodded.
"Which order are we talking?" Obama replied, drawing laughter and applause from the studio audience.
"Let's say you're the presidential candidate and Hillary is the vice presidential candidate. Now if she were sitting here, it would be different from that," Letterman joked.
Obama, a fresh face on the national stage who has served just two years in the U.S. Senate, said last week he had raised $25 million this year, almost matching Clinton and solidifying his bid for the Democratic nomination to seek the presidency in November 2008.
Obama fell only $1 million short of the higher-profile New York senator, despite the huge fund-raising network she developed through her Senate campaigns and the White House races of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
Asked by Letterman whether there were private discussions of the situation going the other way, with Clinton in the No. 2 spot, Obama said the contenders were all in the race to win the party nomination but were on the same team.
(More ... Reuters > News)
Labels: 2008 election, Obama, Reuters
¶ 22:00 0 comments
3.18.2007
U.S. Odd Man Out In Climate Consensus (Reuters.com)
Sat Mar 17, 2007 2:05pm ET
By Louis Charbonneau
POTSDAM, Germany (Reuters) - A consensus on the need to protect the world's environment is emerging among rich and developing nations, but the United States remains at odds with other countries on key points, Germany said on Saturday.
Environment ministers of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations, and officials from leading developing countries, were meeting to prepare for a June G8 summit where they plan to discuss specific targets for protecting the environment.
"On two issues, the United States were the only ones who spoke against consensus," German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel told reporters at the end of the two-day meeting, which he chaired on behalf of Germany's G8 presidency.
Gabriel said the U.S. remained opposed to a global carbon emissions trading scheme like the one used in the European Union and rejected the idea that industrialized nations should help achieve a "balance of interests" between developing countries' need for economic growth and environmental protection.
"We find this regrettable," Gabriel said, adding "I would have been disappointed if I'd expected something different."
(More ... Reuters > News > Top News)
By Louis Charbonneau
POTSDAM, Germany (Reuters) - A consensus on the need to protect the world's environment is emerging among rich and developing nations, but the United States remains at odds with other countries on key points, Germany said on Saturday.
Environment ministers of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations, and officials from leading developing countries, were meeting to prepare for a June G8 summit where they plan to discuss specific targets for protecting the environment.
"On two issues, the United States were the only ones who spoke against consensus," German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel told reporters at the end of the two-day meeting, which he chaired on behalf of Germany's G8 presidency.
Gabriel said the U.S. remained opposed to a global carbon emissions trading scheme like the one used in the European Union and rejected the idea that industrialized nations should help achieve a "balance of interests" between developing countries' need for economic growth and environmental protection.
"We find this regrettable," Gabriel said, adding "I would have been disappointed if I'd expected something different."
(More ... Reuters > News > Top News)
Labels: Climate Change, EU, Reuters
¶ 20:49 0 comments
3.02.2007
National Guard Not Fully Equipped at Home (Reuters.com)
Fri Mar 2, 2007 1:58am ET
By JoAnne Allen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is not adequately equipping the National Guard and has not adapted to the increasingly important security role it plays in the post-September 11 environment, an independent commission said in a report to Congress on Thursday.
The report said the global war on terrorism had placed increased demands for the National Guard to provide forces for both overseas and domestic missions, but added that the Defense Department, or DOD, had been slow to adapt to the change.
"DOD's failure to appropriately consider National Guard needs and funding requirements has produced a National Guard that is not fully ready to meet current and emerging missions," the commission concluded.
Among its findings, the 13-member panel said the Defense Department was not adequately equipping the Guard for its domestic missions.
The National Guard's 458,000 citizen-soldiers have a dual mandate to protect the United States both at home and abroad.
Nearly 90 percent of Guard units in the United States are rated "not ready," partly because of equipment shortages, according to Guard data and the findings of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, The Washington Post reported.
National Guard units deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have been required to leave large quantities of gear behind when they return home, the newspaper said.
(More ... Reuters > News > U.S.)
By JoAnne Allen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is not adequately equipping the National Guard and has not adapted to the increasingly important security role it plays in the post-September 11 environment, an independent commission said in a report to Congress on Thursday.
The report said the global war on terrorism had placed increased demands for the National Guard to provide forces for both overseas and domestic missions, but added that the Defense Department, or DOD, had been slow to adapt to the change.
"DOD's failure to appropriately consider National Guard needs and funding requirements has produced a National Guard that is not fully ready to meet current and emerging missions," the commission concluded.
Among its findings, the 13-member panel said the Defense Department was not adequately equipping the Guard for its domestic missions.
The National Guard's 458,000 citizen-soldiers have a dual mandate to protect the United States both at home and abroad.
Nearly 90 percent of Guard units in the United States are rated "not ready," partly because of equipment shortages, according to Guard data and the findings of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, The Washington Post reported.
National Guard units deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have been required to leave large quantities of gear behind when they return home, the newspaper said.
(More ... Reuters > News > U.S.)
Labels: GWOT, National Guard, Reuters, U.S. Military
¶ 21:39 0 comments
1.31.2007
Biden Says Experience Will Fuel White House Run (Reuters.com)
Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:47pm ET135
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden said on Tuesday his foreign policy ideas and experience would be the ideal assets in a crowded and star-studded 2008 White House race that is likely to focus on ways to end the Iraq war.
The six-term Delaware senator, who will announce his presidential candidacy on Wednesday, said he was not worried about competing for money or support against high-profile Democratic contenders like Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.
"It's not so much whether I can compete with their money, but whether they can compete with my ideas and my experience," Biden said in a Reuters interview, adding the rush of publicity around the first campaign trips by Obama and Clinton would fade.
"That was a gigantic response, but now what happens? You have to go town to town and sell yourself," he said. "I'm confident I can compete on any level with any one of them."
The new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who lost a 1988 presidential bid, has been a prominent congressional voice on Iraq, terrorism and foreign policy for decades.
Biden sponsored the nonbinding resolution approved by his Senate committee last week opposing Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq.
He said he had never seen Americans as "sober and serious" about the future as they are now.
(More ... Reuters > News > Politics)
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden said on Tuesday his foreign policy ideas and experience would be the ideal assets in a crowded and star-studded 2008 White House race that is likely to focus on ways to end the Iraq war.
The six-term Delaware senator, who will announce his presidential candidacy on Wednesday, said he was not worried about competing for money or support against high-profile Democratic contenders like Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.
"It's not so much whether I can compete with their money, but whether they can compete with my ideas and my experience," Biden said in a Reuters interview, adding the rush of publicity around the first campaign trips by Obama and Clinton would fade.
"That was a gigantic response, but now what happens? You have to go town to town and sell yourself," he said. "I'm confident I can compete on any level with any one of them."
The new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who lost a 1988 presidential bid, has been a prominent congressional voice on Iraq, terrorism and foreign policy for decades.
Biden sponsored the nonbinding resolution approved by his Senate committee last week opposing Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq.
He said he had never seen Americans as "sober and serious" about the future as they are now.
(More ... Reuters > News > Politics)
Labels: 2008 election, Biden, Reuters
¶ 22:01 0 comments
Bush Pledges Balanced Budget (Reuters.com)
Tue Jan 30, 2007 7:20pm ET146
By Caren Bohan
PEORIA, Illinois (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Tuesday he plans to submit a budget proposal for fiscal 2008 next week that would help the government balance its budget by 2012 while still keeping taxes low.
"I'm going to submit a budget for Congress to look at that shows how we can balance the budget in five years and keep your taxes low," he said in a speech to workers of heavy equipment maker Caterpillar.
It was the first of two speeches Bush is giving on the U.S. economy after his State of the Union address a week ago. The second is scheduled for Wednesday in New York.
The unveiling of Bush's fiscal 2008 budget on Monday will kick off months of wrangling over spending priorities, and some analysts are bracing for the most rancorous debate since a 1996 standoff that led to a temporary shutdown of the government.
The budget deficit was $248 billion in fiscal 2006, down from a record of $413 billion in 2004.
Democrats, now in control of Congress, are concerned that the cost of the Iraq war and Bush's vow to extend his tax cuts will worsen the budget picture.
(More ... Reuters > News > Politics)
By Caren Bohan
PEORIA, Illinois (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Tuesday he plans to submit a budget proposal for fiscal 2008 next week that would help the government balance its budget by 2012 while still keeping taxes low.
"I'm going to submit a budget for Congress to look at that shows how we can balance the budget in five years and keep your taxes low," he said in a speech to workers of heavy equipment maker Caterpillar.
It was the first of two speeches Bush is giving on the U.S. economy after his State of the Union address a week ago. The second is scheduled for Wednesday in New York.
The unveiling of Bush's fiscal 2008 budget on Monday will kick off months of wrangling over spending priorities, and some analysts are bracing for the most rancorous debate since a 1996 standoff that led to a temporary shutdown of the government.
The budget deficit was $248 billion in fiscal 2006, down from a record of $413 billion in 2004.
Democrats, now in control of Congress, are concerned that the cost of the Iraq war and Bush's vow to extend his tax cuts will worsen the budget picture.
(More ... Reuters > News > Politics)
Labels: Budget, Bush, Congress, Reuters
¶ 21:54 0 comments
1.12.2007
More Guns Equals More Murders in U.S. (Reuters.com)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American states where more people own guns have higher murder rates, including murders of children, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health reported on Thursday.
The study, certain to provoke arguments in a country where gun ownership is an important political issue, found that about one in three U.S. households reported firearm ownership.
"Our findings suggest that in the United States, household firearms may be an important source of guns used to kill children, women and men, both on the street and in their homes," said Matthew Miller, assistant professor of health policy and injury prevention, who led the study.
His team used data from a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of 200,000 people in all 50 states.
(More ... Reuters > News > U.S.)
The study, certain to provoke arguments in a country where gun ownership is an important political issue, found that about one in three U.S. households reported firearm ownership.
"Our findings suggest that in the United States, household firearms may be an important source of guns used to kill children, women and men, both on the street and in their homes," said Matthew Miller, assistant professor of health policy and injury prevention, who led the study.
His team used data from a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of 200,000 people in all 50 states.
(More ... Reuters > News > U.S.)
Labels: Gun Control, Reuters
¶ 18:38 0 comments
1.11.2007
Democrat Dodd to Jump Into 2008 White House Race (Reuters.com)
Wed Jan 10, 2007 6:35pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, a five-term Senate veteran and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, will enter the 2008 presidential race on Thursday, party officials said.
Dodd, who considered a White House bid in 2004 but decided against it, will announce his candidacy on an early-morning radio show just hours after President George W. Bush's national address on Iraq.
Dodd has been a frequent visitor in recent months to states with influential early nominating contests like Iowa and New Hampshire as he pondered a presidential bid. Officials said he would formally declare his candidacy and make a visit to Iowa later on Thursday.
"He said he is getting right in the race rather than form an exploratory committee," said New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairwoman Kathy Sullivan, who spoke to Dodd on Wednesday. "He will bring a lot to the race."
Dodd, who is little known outside of his home state of Connecticut, enters a Democratic presidential field with three declared candidates -- former vice presidential nominee John Edwards, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich -- and more expected in the next few weeks.
Likely candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York leads early polls of the race, while rising party star Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois has garnered heavy early attention.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware also are expected to join the race to succeed Bush.
(More ... Reuters > Politics)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, a five-term Senate veteran and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, will enter the 2008 presidential race on Thursday, party officials said.
Dodd, who considered a White House bid in 2004 but decided against it, will announce his candidacy on an early-morning radio show just hours after President George W. Bush's national address on Iraq.
Dodd has been a frequent visitor in recent months to states with influential early nominating contests like Iowa and New Hampshire as he pondered a presidential bid. Officials said he would formally declare his candidacy and make a visit to Iowa later on Thursday.
"He said he is getting right in the race rather than form an exploratory committee," said New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairwoman Kathy Sullivan, who spoke to Dodd on Wednesday. "He will bring a lot to the race."
Dodd, who is little known outside of his home state of Connecticut, enters a Democratic presidential field with three declared candidates -- former vice presidential nominee John Edwards, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich -- and more expected in the next few weeks.
Likely candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York leads early polls of the race, while rising party star Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois has garnered heavy early attention.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware also are expected to join the race to succeed Bush.
(More ... Reuters > Politics)
Labels: 2008 election, Dodd, Reuters
¶ 22:09 0 comments
1.02.2007
Edwards terms Iraq surge "McCain doctrine" (Reuters.com)
Mon Jan 1, 2007 3:08am ET
By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, targeting a potential Republican rival in 2008, dubbed plans for a short-term U.S. troop increase in Iraq "the McCain doctrine," in an interview aired on Sunday.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona, considered likely to be a Republican candidate for president, has been "the most prominent spokesperson for this for some time," Edwards said in an early salvo of the 2008 campaign.
Edwards, a former senator who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2004, made his remarks in an interview on the ABC News program "This Week."
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"I actually, myself, believe that this idea of surging troops, escalating the war -- what Senator McCain has been talking about -- what I would call now the McCain doctrine ... (is) dead wrong," said Edwards.
(More ... Reuters > News > Politics)
By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, targeting a potential Republican rival in 2008, dubbed plans for a short-term U.S. troop increase in Iraq "the McCain doctrine," in an interview aired on Sunday.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona, considered likely to be a Republican candidate for president, has been "the most prominent spokesperson for this for some time," Edwards said in an early salvo of the 2008 campaign.
Edwards, a former senator who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2004, made his remarks in an interview on the ABC News program "This Week."
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"I actually, myself, believe that this idea of surging troops, escalating the war -- what Senator McCain has been talking about -- what I would call now the McCain doctrine ... (is) dead wrong," said Edwards.
(More ... Reuters > News > Politics)
Labels: 2008 election, Edwards, Iraq, McCain, Reuters
¶ 14:08 0 comments
12.02.2006
Republican "Brand" Needs Repair, Governors Told (Reuters.com)
Fri Dec 1, 2006 5:17pm ET29
By Jane Sutton
MIAMI (Reuters) - The Republican "brand" has been tarnished by corruption and poor performance and governors from the party who have presidential ambitions must return to its traditions of tight spending and smaller government.
So concluded Republican governors and their advisers gathered in Miami for a conference that ended on Friday.
The "Grand Old Party" lost control of both houses of Congress and six governorships in the November election. Republican President George W. Bush has seen his job approval rating drop 3 more points to 31 percent since then, according to a Harris Poll.
Outgoing Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, who helped steer Bush's 2004 re-election, blamed the electoral drubbing partly on discontent with the Iraq war and on some candidates' scandals and ethics problems.
But pollsters said voters told them the election was more about competence than war, scandal or any shift in ideology.
They said voters now viewed Democrats as more likely to rein in government spending, cut taxes for the middle class and trim the budget deficit -- things Republicans promised when they took control of Congress in 1994.
(More ... Reuters > News > Politics)
By Jane Sutton
MIAMI (Reuters) - The Republican "brand" has been tarnished by corruption and poor performance and governors from the party who have presidential ambitions must return to its traditions of tight spending and smaller government.
So concluded Republican governors and their advisers gathered in Miami for a conference that ended on Friday.
The "Grand Old Party" lost control of both houses of Congress and six governorships in the November election. Republican President George W. Bush has seen his job approval rating drop 3 more points to 31 percent since then, according to a Harris Poll.
Outgoing Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, who helped steer Bush's 2004 re-election, blamed the electoral drubbing partly on discontent with the Iraq war and on some candidates' scandals and ethics problems.
But pollsters said voters told them the election was more about competence than war, scandal or any shift in ideology.
They said voters now viewed Democrats as more likely to rein in government spending, cut taxes for the middle class and trim the budget deficit -- things Republicans promised when they took control of Congress in 1994.
(More ... Reuters > News > Politics)
Labels: 2006 election, GOP, poll, Reuters
¶ 18:21 0 comments
11.23.2006
Most Americans Favour Guest-worker Programme: Poll (Reuters.com)
Wed Nov 22, 2006 6:02am ET144
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Most Americans believe illegal immigrants should be allowed to become guest workers and eventually U.S. citizens, but Congress should do more to close the border to stop more illegals entering the country, according to a new poll published on Tuesday.
The nationwide poll, conducted by Quinnipiac University, found that by a margin of 69 percent to 27 percent, American voters say illegal immigrants should be allowed into a guest worker program with the ability to work toward citizenship over a period of several years. Such a guest worker program had wide support among voters of all political stripes.
But 71 percent of voters said Congress must do more to deal with illegal immigrants entering the country.
"Two-thirds of Americans favor a guest-worker program with a path to citizenship," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Maybe a lot of Americans think back to the stories of their own immigrant families."
"But Americans also want to close the borders to keep out illegal immigrants in the future," Carroll added. "There are big margins for a tougher border policy among all parties and among men and women."
Sixty-five percent of American voters support -- and 32 percent oppose -- laws in their own community to fine businesses hiring illegal immigrants, according to the poll.
"Americans think more needs to be done to deal with illegal immigration, and they want it done in their own neighborhoods as well," Carroll said.
(More ... Reuters > News > Politics > Most Americans favor guest-worker program: poll)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Most Americans believe illegal immigrants should be allowed to become guest workers and eventually U.S. citizens, but Congress should do more to close the border to stop more illegals entering the country, according to a new poll published on Tuesday.
The nationwide poll, conducted by Quinnipiac University, found that by a margin of 69 percent to 27 percent, American voters say illegal immigrants should be allowed into a guest worker program with the ability to work toward citizenship over a period of several years. Such a guest worker program had wide support among voters of all political stripes.
But 71 percent of voters said Congress must do more to deal with illegal immigrants entering the country.
"Two-thirds of Americans favor a guest-worker program with a path to citizenship," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Maybe a lot of Americans think back to the stories of their own immigrant families."
"But Americans also want to close the borders to keep out illegal immigrants in the future," Carroll added. "There are big margins for a tougher border policy among all parties and among men and women."
Sixty-five percent of American voters support -- and 32 percent oppose -- laws in their own community to fine businesses hiring illegal immigrants, according to the poll.
"Americans think more needs to be done to deal with illegal immigration, and they want it done in their own neighborhoods as well," Carroll said.
(More ... Reuters > News > Politics > Most Americans favor guest-worker program: poll)
Labels: immigration, poll, Reuters
¶ 18:18 0 comments
11.19.2006
Chertoff Says U.S. Threatened by International Law (Reuters.com)
Fri Nov 17, 2006 6:31pm ET
By David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Bush administration official on Friday said the European Union, the United Nations and other international entities increasingly are using international law to challenge U.S. powers to reject treaties and protect itself from attack.
"International law is being used as a rhetorical weapon against us," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, a former federal appellate judge, said in a speech to the Federalist Society, a conservative policy group.
Chertoff cited members of the European Parliament in particular as harboring an "increasingly activist, left-wing and even elitist philosophy of law" at odds with American practices and interests.
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The video game industry's own clash of the titans reboots this week with the midnight launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 and Sunday's debut of Nintendo's Wii.
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But he said the same pattern could be seen in the policies of the United Nations and other international bodies.
"What we see here is a vision of international law that if taken aggressively would literally strike at the heart of some of our basic fundamental principals -- separation of powers, respect for the Senate's ability to ratify treaties and ... reject treaties," Chertoff said.
President George W. Bush's administration has been repeatedly criticized by rights groups and foreign governments, including some allies, over some of the tactics it has used in Washington's war on terrorism since the September 11 attacks.
Critics have aimed at Bush's policies such as the indefinite detention of foreign terrorism suspects at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.
(More ... Reuters > News > Politics > Article)
By David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Bush administration official on Friday said the European Union, the United Nations and other international entities increasingly are using international law to challenge U.S. powers to reject treaties and protect itself from attack.
"International law is being used as a rhetorical weapon against us," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, a former federal appellate judge, said in a speech to the Federalist Society, a conservative policy group.
Chertoff cited members of the European Parliament in particular as harboring an "increasingly activist, left-wing and even elitist philosophy of law" at odds with American practices and interests.
Game Console Wars
Photo
The video game industry's own clash of the titans reboots this week with the midnight launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 and Sunday's debut of Nintendo's Wii.
Full coverage
But he said the same pattern could be seen in the policies of the United Nations and other international bodies.
"What we see here is a vision of international law that if taken aggressively would literally strike at the heart of some of our basic fundamental principals -- separation of powers, respect for the Senate's ability to ratify treaties and ... reject treaties," Chertoff said.
President George W. Bush's administration has been repeatedly criticized by rights groups and foreign governments, including some allies, over some of the tactics it has used in Washington's war on terrorism since the September 11 attacks.
Critics have aimed at Bush's policies such as the indefinite detention of foreign terrorism suspects at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.
(More ... Reuters > News > Politics > Article)
Labels: Homeland Security, International Law, Reuters
¶ 19:45 0 comments
11.16.2006
US Rejects Annan Call to Reduce Geenhouse Gases (Reuters.com)
Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:05am ET
NAIROBI (Reuters) - The United States rejected on Wednesday a plea by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and to join the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol on fighting global warming.
"We think that the United States has been leading in terms of its ground-breaking initiatives," Paula Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, told a news conference during November 6-17 U.N. talks on combating global warming.
Earlier, Annan told environment ministers from 70 nations that there was a "shocking lack of leadership" in cutting emissions. He also said: "I think it would be preferable if they (the United States) signed the Kyoto agreement."
Dobriansky said that the United States was sticking to its goal of braking, rather than capping, the rise in emissions and investing heavily in new technologies to fight global warming.
"We seek to slow, reverse and to really curb emissions," she said.
President George W. Bush pulled out of Kyoto in 2001, saying that caps on emissions of greenhouse gases would cost U.S. jobs and wrongly excluded developing nations from targets for 2012.
(More ... Reuters > News > U.S. > Article)
NAIROBI (Reuters) - The United States rejected on Wednesday a plea by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and to join the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol on fighting global warming.
"We think that the United States has been leading in terms of its ground-breaking initiatives," Paula Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, told a news conference during November 6-17 U.N. talks on combating global warming.
Earlier, Annan told environment ministers from 70 nations that there was a "shocking lack of leadership" in cutting emissions. He also said: "I think it would be preferable if they (the United States) signed the Kyoto agreement."
Dobriansky said that the United States was sticking to its goal of braking, rather than capping, the rise in emissions and investing heavily in new technologies to fight global warming.
"We seek to slow, reverse and to really curb emissions," she said.
President George W. Bush pulled out of Kyoto in 2001, saying that caps on emissions of greenhouse gases would cost U.S. jobs and wrongly excluded developing nations from targets for 2012.
(More ... Reuters > News > U.S. > Article)
Labels: Annan, Bush, Climate Change, Reuters, UN
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UN's Annan Launches Plan to Help Africa on Climate (Reuters.com)
By Daniel Wallis and Gerard Wynn
NAIROBI, Nov 15 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched a plan on Wednesday to help Africa fight global warming, and criticised a "frightening lack of leadership" in confronting what he called one of the world's biggest threats.
"Global climate change must take its place alongside those threats -- conflict, poverty, the proliferation of deadly weapons -- that have traditionally monopolised first-order political attention," he told ministers at a U.N. conference.
Annan announced the plan by six U.N. agencies called the "Nairobi Framework" to help developing nations, especially in Africa, get more funds to promote clean energies such as wind and hydropower. He urged rich donor nations to contribute.
Annan also said the U.N.'s environment and development agencies were launching a scheme to help poor nations factor climate change into development plans, such as building roads, bridges or buildings to withstand more floods or droughts.
"Climate change is not just an environmental issue, as too many people still believe. It is an all-encompassing threat," he said at the talks, which are seeking ways to extend the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol on fighting climate change beyond 2012.
"While the Kyoto Protocol is a crucial step forward, that step is far too small. And as we consider how to go further still, there remains a frightening lack of leadership," he said.
Annan, a Ghanaian who will step down from his U.N. post in December, did not mention any country by name in his address to environment ministers from about 100 nations.
(More ... Reuters > News > World Crises > Article)
NAIROBI, Nov 15 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched a plan on Wednesday to help Africa fight global warming, and criticised a "frightening lack of leadership" in confronting what he called one of the world's biggest threats.
"Global climate change must take its place alongside those threats -- conflict, poverty, the proliferation of deadly weapons -- that have traditionally monopolised first-order political attention," he told ministers at a U.N. conference.
Annan announced the plan by six U.N. agencies called the "Nairobi Framework" to help developing nations, especially in Africa, get more funds to promote clean energies such as wind and hydropower. He urged rich donor nations to contribute.
Annan also said the U.N.'s environment and development agencies were launching a scheme to help poor nations factor climate change into development plans, such as building roads, bridges or buildings to withstand more floods or droughts.
"Climate change is not just an environmental issue, as too many people still believe. It is an all-encompassing threat," he said at the talks, which are seeking ways to extend the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol on fighting climate change beyond 2012.
"While the Kyoto Protocol is a crucial step forward, that step is far too small. And as we consider how to go further still, there remains a frightening lack of leadership," he said.
Annan, a Ghanaian who will step down from his U.N. post in December, did not mention any country by name in his address to environment ministers from about 100 nations.
(More ... Reuters > News > World Crises > Article)
Labels: Annan, Climate Change, Reuters, UN
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