Your State of the Union

So you think you have what it takes?

Here is your chance to deliver your State of the Union Address....but in 6 words or less!

The State of the Union is....

$1.35 Trillion

The Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday called the U.S. budget outlook "bleak," in a forecast that hurts the chances for extending Bush-era tax cuts and raises pressure for fiscal belt-tightening.

In its annual report, the nonpartisan CBO pegged the 2010 U.S. budget deficit at $1.35 trillion, a slight decrease from the $1.4 trillion 2009 deficit that set a post-World War II record.

The report also contained grim projections for Americans looking for a brighter employment picture. The CBO predicts that unemployment, currently 10%, won't return to 5% until the middle of the decade. The report projects slightly lower growth in the near term compared with last year's estimates, because of the extent of damage from the recession.

The CBO said the government will run an aggregate deficit of about $6 trillion during the next decade, a level that many economists worry could lead to currency shock, inflation, crippling interest rates or other economic maladies.

The Obama administration is proposing freezing non-discretionary spending as an effort to tackle the deficit. The News Hub panel discusses the possible political fallout.

At the end of 2009, debt held by the public exceeded $7.5 trillion, or about 53% of GDP, the CBO said in the report. By the end of 2020, "debt is projected to climb to $15 trillion, or 67% of GDP," CBO director Doug Elmendorf said on his blog post. "With such a large increase in debt…interest payments on the debt are poised to skyrocket."

The CBO estimate is almost certainly an understatement of the deficit problem. For example, the CBO is assuming that annual spending will rise with inflation, but Congress in recent years—even before the recent recession—has been boosting spending at higher rates. And President Barack Obama and many lawmakers in both parties want to extend at least some of the Bush-era tax cuts that are set to expire at year end, though the dire CBO estimate could give ammunition to those who want to extend the tax breaks only on a temporary basis.

President Barack Obama is preparing for his first State of the Union speech. Media specialist T.J. Walker tells WSJ's Kelsey Hubbard what techniques he can employ to convince Americans he will deliver on his promises.

The administration also has been considering ways to develop a broadly bipartisan deficit-reduction plan—for example, through a commission that would develop plans for long-term spending cuts and revenue increases.

But the Senate on Tuesday rejected a relatively powerful version of the commission idea, with top Democrats and many Republicans joining in opposition.

That could lead the administration or Congress to create a watered-down version, leaving the U.S. government's finances adrift for another year, some budget hawks worry.

The projected cumulative deficit for 2010-19 is slightly lower than previous estimates, thanks to higher corporate profits and wages, lower anticipated interest rates, and lower expected costs for some bailout programs. On the other hand, the CBO has assumed higher inflation.

To dramatize its concern over the deficit, the Obama administration on Monday said it is proposing a three-year freeze on some types of domestic spending. But House Republicans were pushing back.

"Since 2007, Democrats in Congress have increased the national debt by 38%," said Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, head of the conservative Republican Study Committee.

"A freeze at anything over prebailout and prestimulus spending levels is a faux freeze," he said.

Dems Differ on Advice for SOTU

President Barack Obama will deliver his State of the Union address Wednesday night to a deeply divided country — and a deeply divided party. Amid plummeting polls, a wave of retirements and a sobering loss in Massachusetts, Democrats say they’re looking for leadership from the president.

But they want him to lead them in different directions.

Some want him to go down fighting on health care reform.

Others say he should try one last time and then move on. Some applaud his plan for a partial freeze on federal spending. Others say it will kill the social safety net. Some say it’s time for Obama to reach across the aisle. Others want him fired up and ready to go all over again, but some wonder whether he’s lost his 2008 campaign magic.

POLITICO asked Democrats on Capitol Hill and in statehouses around the country what they want to hear from Obama Wednesday.

Here is what they said.

Show your anger

Rep. Dennis Cardoza, a Blue Dog Democrat from the central part of California, is in the frustrated crowd.

“I want to hear what he’s going to do about foreclosures and the economy,” Cardoza told POLITICO. “I want to hear what he has planned for my state. He’s barely been visible there, and as far as I’m concerned, “The Jay Leno Show” doesn’t count.

“The early parts of this administration, they had attention-deficit syndrome. They would go from one issue to the other, there was a new initiative every day, and they didn’t do the confidence building that would lead the American people in the right direction.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell wants Obama to keep amping up his newfound, more confrontational side. “I sure as hell know that if we sit around and do nothing, we’re going to get shellacked,” Rendell added. “It’s time to rock ’n’ roll.”

Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly wants the president to ditch the cool Obama: “I want to see the passionate Obama, not just the cerebral Obama.”

Talk about jobs

The half-dozen Democratic governors interviewed by POLITICO face high unemployment and crunched state budgets, and they have only one concern.

“All I care about is jobs,” Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm told POLITICO in an interview, her hand audibly banging the table. “How to get them, how to keep them, how to grow them. That’s it. That’s topic No. 1 — and topic No. 20.”

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III also had parochial concerns, including energy independence and domestic manufacturing jobs.

“I’ve been saying that for 15 years. If you think it’s not about jobs, ask someone that doesn’t have a job. Ask somebody that basically has one but needs to improve that job skill. You ask the people out there in the marketplace. ... If you want to give a person dignity and respect ... provide good jobs.”

Manchin, Rendell and Granholm all want specifics, whether it’s loan guarantees, tax credits for small businesses or infrastructure investment.

Make a decision on health care

Talk about contradictory advice. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said he’d be “surprised” if Obama offers specifics on how he hopes to pass health care legislation. He admitted there are “pluses and minuses” to letting health care die.

“I think the president will speak to health care; I don’t want to imply that he will only speak about jobs and fiscal responsibility,” Hoyer said. “I think he’ll talk about both of those as major items of focus in this coming year.

But there are other issues ... health care is certainly one of them.” Rendell wants Obama to “double-down” on health care. “If we’re going to go down in 2010, let’s do something. If I’m a congressman who has lost, I want to be able to look back and say, ‘I was there. I got 30 million people health care,’” Rendell said. “Remember, Medicare was really unpopular when it passed ... and now you can’t pry it away from a senior citizen with a howitzer.”

And Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin thinks the president should “paint the picture of where we are and what’s happening to the average American out there.” Connolly wants bipartisan outreach: “We’ve got to say, ‘Here are the six, seven, whatever elements of health care we want to get passed. [We] hope we can get some bipartisan backing; we’re willing to meet you halfway.’ And then we’ve got to move on.”

Bash Wall Street

The left wants the president to continue the populist tone and connect with Main Street by bashing Wall Street. Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee said Obama should “balance the Wall Street voices” in his administration, like those of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, and add professorial types like former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Reich.

Washington Rep. Jim McDermott, a two-decade veteran of Congress, said Obama needs a little more Bill Clinton-style “I feel your pain” politics. “I think the president has to indicate that he understands the nature of [voters’] concern,” McDermott said.

Keep blaming Republicans

This never gets old for some Democrats. First, keep blaming George W. Bush. Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota: “I would say this — ‘Look, he inherited this mess, he didn’t create it.’ Somehow people have to be reminded, how did we get into this ditch?

We were on the brink of global financial collapse. He wasn’t in office.” Next, toss it back on Republicans. “I think the president may not have fully understood how determined the Republicans were to destroy him at any cost,” McDermott said.

Say what you want

Rep. Danny Davis has faith in his fellow Illinoisan. If Obama sticks to his script, he said, “he’ll be fine.” “My daddy used to tell us, ‘You don’t give a lot of advice because a wise man won’t need it and a fool won’t heed it,’” Davis said.

Highways For Hitler?

It's a small sign igniting a big debate. An official state of Colorado Adopt-a-Highway placard announcing that a one-mile long stretch of US Highway 85 is sponsored not by the Boy Scouts or the Lions Club, but by the Nazi Party of Colorado.Members call themselves the National Socialist Movement. They are inspired by teachings of Hitler, believe interracial relationships and homosexuality should be crimes, and they want to start a separate all-white country.

The Adopt-a-Highway program, they say, is a good PR move for them and a recruiting tool."We want to let them know that we're here and we do good things," Unit leader Dean Lane told FOX 31 News. "We're upstanding citizens, try to be good people, and try to portray ourselves that way.

"When the Nazi's first applied for the stretch of highway just south of Bromley lane in Brighton, the Colorado Department of Transportation called to say thanks, but no thanks. But the law, it turns out, was on the Nazi's side."

Courts around the country have allowed white supremacists to sponsor highway signs," says Anti-Defamation League Director Bruce DeBoskey. So although the Anti-Defamation League couldn't be more opposed to the Nazi movement, it advised the state to put the application through.

"To have our freedom we have to have all kinds of speech, and this is a case where hate speech is protected," DeBoskey said. "This organization stands for hate. It's a white supremacist group. It is a neo-Nazi group."

CDOT says the Nazi's have yet to actually pick up any trash on the road. And officials will be watching to make sure the group fulfills its obligation. CDOT will also pull the group's sponsorship if it creates a distraction or hazard on the road.

SCOTUS Opens New Front on Campaign Finance Reform

The long-awaited Supreme Court decision on campaign spending by corporate interests was every bit as bad as public interest groups had feared it would be. They are ready for the next battle in the long war over campaign finance reform.

In its 5-4 ruling, the court said that corporations can spend as much as they want to support or oppose candidates for president and Congress, undoing decades-old limits on corporate spending in federal campaigns.

The court overturned a 20-year-old ruling that said corporate interests can be prohibited from producing their own campaign ads. But it did leave in place a prohibition on direct contributions to candidates from corporations and unions.

In his dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens said, “The court’s ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions around the nation.” Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor joined Stevens’s dissent.

The 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation, at the center of the court ruling, was an attempt to limit money and influence on politics. But it has pretty much failed. Rather than a stemming of direct contributions by special interests, the past seven years have seen a burgeoning of unregulated, independent expenditures for campaign advertising.

Common Cause and other campaign reform supporters are working on the next generation of reform, which Arn Pearson, a campaign finance lawyer and vice president at the organization, said will focus on trying to increase the number and amount of small political donations.

Advocates will also seek to add more public money to the system, rather than limiting large donations from corporate and special interests.

“You’re not going to get rid of the big money. It’s not really the amount of money that’s being spent; it’s where it comes from that matters,” Pearson said.

Pearson suggested that advocates are never going to beat the conservative, libertarian-leaning Supreme Court, so they have to find another approach.

“The Supreme Court is making it increasingly difficult to do anything to change the influence of money in politics,” said Pearson.

Reform advocates want to create a system where big money and independent expenditures don’t matter as much and are counterweighed by small contributions from individuals.

“The idea is to change the balance of where money comes from by making it easier and more attractive to raise small-donor money,” Pearson said.

That’s the idea behind a joint study recently released by the Campaign Finance Institute, the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute called Reform in an Age of Networked Campaigns: How to Foster Citizen Participation Through Small Donors and Volunteers.

Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution and Norman Ornstein of the Amerian Enterprise Institute were involved in the project, which proposes to expand the playing field of campaign donors. “Instead of focusing on attempts to further restrict the wealthy few,” Mann and Ornstein want to “focus on activating the many.”

They propose a new system of partial public financing in the form of matching funds for small contributions.

Given the current economic climate and the public’s mood about politics and Washington, such an approach could be a very hard sell. But it’s worth a shot. It’s clear that reform can’t stand up to the current Supreme Court, and McCain-Feingold has proved a toothless tiger in the effort to rein in influence and money in politics.

Indie Voters Leaving Dems

WASHINGTON—Democrats' loss in Tuesday's race for a Massachusetts Senate seat is a stark illustration of how support from independent voters has collapsed, a phenomenon that's prompting party leaders to revamp their playbook for this year's midterm elections.

Independent voters—typically centrist, white and working-class—backed President Barack Obama and the Democrats in 2008. But Massachusetts is now the third Obama-won state in the past three months where independents have swung decisively Republican.

Polls in the days leading up to the vote suggested the lead for Republican Scott Brown came about largely because of his advantage among independents over Democrat Martha Coakley.

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that Mr. Obama's job-approval rating among independents nationwide is 41%. That's an 11-point drop from his performance on Election Day in 2008, when he won 52% of independents, and a near-20-point decline among that group from the heights of his popularity soon after taking office.

"The independents are the fulcrum of the American electorate," said Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who conducted the Journal survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff. "Simply put, for the Democrats and Barack Obama, the arrows have been pointing down."

With Ms. Coakley's loss, a debate erupted late Tuesday among Democratic leaders and activists over how to win back independents. Liberal groups, such as union officials, demanded the party stick to its guns on core issues such as health care.

But party leaders called for shifting to a populist message talking about the economy and bashing Wall Street. Democrats plan to blame Republicans for the economy and align GOP candidates with their unpopular national leadership.

"The message needs to be on jobs, fiscal responsibility, and reminding people that if you turn back the clock, you're going to get the same policies that got us into this mess in the first place," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.), chairman of the Democrats' House campaign committee. "You can talk about health care in that context, but clearly not leading with health care."

Democratic strategists worry the numbers paint a gloomy picture in states with competitive House, Senate and gubernatorial races this year, especially those where independent voters hold sway, including Colorado, Wisconsin, Florida and Ohio. Those states weigh heavy on the White House because they will be battlegrounds for Mr. Obama's re-election campaign.

Massachusetts could be problematic again in November when Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick is up for re-election amid dropping approval ratings. Unexpected blue-state contests could erupt for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) and Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland.

Republicans in November won the Virginia and New Jersey governorships by winning independents by two-to-one margins. In those states and Massachusetts, polls showed that independents were anxious about the economy and the rising jobless rate, with health care a less important issue.

Celinda Lake, Ms. Coakley's pollster, said angry voters want someone to blame for lousy economic conditions and political infighting in Washington. "Unless we ascribe blame to someone, they're going to blame us."

The Journal poll shows independent voters aren't enamored of the GOP either, and could be lured back to the Democrats again if the economy improves. Only about one-fourth of independents feel positively toward either party, according to the survey.

In Massachusetts, Ms. Coakley's eleventh-hour efforts to adopt the populist strategy—she attacked Mr. Brown for his opposition to the Obama administration's new bank tax—didn't seem to work. Republican strategists say that the line fails to address voters' worries about joblessness and government spending.

"The voters don't want a boogeyman; they want less spending," said Nick Ayers, director of the Republican Governors Association.

Ms. Coakley's supporters credited Mr. Brown with successfully tapping into anxiety over employment and government spending.

"There are a lot of people who've lost their jobs, even some laid-off Teamsters, and they're frustrated," said Steve Sullivan, government-affairs liaison for Teamsters Local 25 in Boston.

41

Republican Scott Brown has won the Massachusetts special election to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the late Edward Kennedy.

Brown, who beat the state's Democratic attorney general, Martha Coakley, will become the 41st Republican vote in the Senate, a shift in power that could block President Obama's health care legislation if it comes up for a vote later this year.

"The president congratulated Senator Brown on his victory and a well-run campaign," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement. "The president told Senator Brown that he looks forward to working with him on the urgent economic challenges facing Massachusetts families and struggling families across our nation."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, released a statement arguing that, "Massachusetts voters sent a clear message to the nation in favor of fiscal responsibility and checks-and-balances in Washington."

“Even in the bluest of blue states, Scott Brown’s message resonated with families, seniors, and small business owners who have rejected President Obama’s massive health care takeover and the Democrats’ out-of-control spending agenda in Washington," he said.

A Republican candidate has not won a Senate seat in the Bay State since 1972. Kennedy, who died of brain cancer last year, had held the seat for 47 years. Coakley had started off the campaign with a double-digit lead, according to polls, but the race tightened in recent weeks.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada released a statement welcoming Brown to the Senate. He said the Senate would seat Brown "as soon as the proper paperwork has been received."

"While Senator-elect Brown’s victory changes the political math in the Senate, we remain committed to strengthening our economy, creating good paying jobs and ensuring all Americans can access affordable health care," Reid said. "We hope that Scott Brown will join us in these efforts. There is much work to do to address the problems Democrats inherited last year, and we plan to move full speed ahead."

Republicans argued that the win forecast serious problems for Democrats in the fall congressional elections.

"Scott Brown’s win confirms the serious ramifications that will haunt Democrats all the way to the November elections," National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said in a statement. "No matter how Democrats want to spin it, there is a movement building in America that threatens their majority in Congress."

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said the party would work hard for at-risk House Democrats this year. "Elections are about choices," he said, "and this year’s midterms will be a choice between continuing the economic progress and independent leadership that House Democrats are delivering for their districts versus Republicans who are eager to turn back the clock to the same failed Bush-Cheney policies that brought our economy to the brink of collapse.”

Who Would Jesus Scope?

Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.

The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. The maker of the sights, Trijicon, has a $660 million multi-year contract to provide up to 800,000 sights to the Marine Corps, and additional contracts to provide sights to the U.S. Army.

U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the proselytizing of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan and were drawn up in order to prevent criticism that the U.S. was embarked on a religious "Crusade" in its war against al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents.

One of the citations on the gun sights, 2COR4:6, is an apparent reference to Second Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament, which reads: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

Other references include citations from the books of Revelation, Matthew and John dealing with Jesus as "the light of the world." John 8:12, referred to on the gun sights as JN8:12, reads, "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Trijicon confirmed to ABCNews.com that it adds the biblical codes to the sights sold to the U.S. military. Tom Munson, director of sales and marketing for Trijicon, which is based in Wixom, Michigan, said the inscriptions "have always been there" and said there was nothing wrong or illegal with adding them. Munson said the issue was being raised by a group that is "not Christian." The company has said the practice began under its founder, Glyn Bindon, a devout Christian from South Africa who was killed in a 2003 plane crash.

'It violates the Constitution'

The company's vision is described on its Web site: "Guided by our values, we endeavor to have our products used wherever precision aiming solutions are required to protect individual freedom."

"We believe that America is great when its people are good," says the Web site. "This goodness has been based on Biblical standards throughout our history, and we will strive to follow those morals."

Spokespeople for the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps both said their services were unaware of the biblical markings. They said officials were discussing what steps, if any, to take in the wake of the ABCNews.com report. It is not known how many Trijicon sights are currently in use by the U.S. military.

The biblical references appear in the same type font and size as the model numbers on the company's Advanced Combat Optical Guides, called the ACOG.
A photo on a Department of Defense Web site shows Iraqi soldiers being trained by U.S. troops with a rifle equipped with the bible-coded sights.

"It's wrong, it violates the Constitution, it violates a number of federal laws," said Michael "Mikey" Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group that seeks to preserve the separation of church and state in the military.

'Firearms of Jesus Christ'

"It allows the Mujahedeen, the Taliban, al Qaeda and the insurrectionists and jihadists to claim they're being shot by Jesus rifles," he said.

Weinstein, an attorney and former Air Force officer, said many members of his group who currently serve in the military have complained about the markings on the sights. He also claims they've told him that commanders have referred to weapons with the sights as "spiritually transformed firearm[s] of Jesus Christ."

He said coded biblical inscriptions play into the hands of "those who are calling this a Crusade."
According to a government contracting watchdog group, fedspending.org, Trijicon had more than $100 million in government contracts in fiscal year 2008. The Michigan company won a $33 million Pentagon contract in July, 2009 for a new machine gun optic, according to Defense Industry Daily. The company's earnings from the U.S. military jumped significantly after 2005, when it won a $660 million long-term contract to supply the Marine Corps with sights.

"This is probably the best example of violation of the separation of church and state in this country," said Weinstein. "It's literally pushing fundamentalist Christianity at the point of a gun against the people that we're fighting. We're emboldening an enemy."

*******UPDATE******** Jan. 22

WASHINGTON — A Michigan-based company will stop putting biblical references on weapon scopes and other products made for the U.S. military and is sending the Pentagon kits to remove the references from weaponry already in the hands of American troops.

Trijicon Inc. announced the change in policy Thursday after it was learned through media reports that the company has for decades placed Christian references on rifle sights used by the military. The company defended the practice in a statement Wednesday saying it included the biblical references as "part of our faith and our belief in service to our country."

Today, however, after the Army and the Marine Corps said they would review the practice — which came as a surprise to both — the company opted to change its practice, it said, "in response to concerns raised by the Department of Defense."

Trijicon said it would remove the references from future U.S. military products as well as those already manufactured but not yet shipped and would send 100 modification kits to forces in the field to remove the references already on optical sights in use.

Stephen Bindon, Trijicon's president and chief executive officer, called the decisions "prudent and appropriate," but otherwise gave no reason for the change in policy. The company also did not say whether sights for hunting weapons would continue to carry the references and calls to the company were not immediately returned.

Trijicon employs more than 250 people, producing light-aiming systems for riflescopes and other users. In recent years, it has sold thousands of scopes to the U.S. military, winning a $33 million contract from the Navy last year to provide weapons optics, according to Defense Industry Daily. In 2005, it won a $660 million multiyear contract from the Marines for power scopes.

The biblical references were first reported last week by ABC News, revealing codes on the gun sights that related to biblical citations. For instance, one gun sight included a stamp which said 2COR4:6, what ABC said was "an apparent reference" to Second Corinthians, Chapter 4, Verse 6. Another popular model of scope, the Free Press reported this week, has on it JN8:12, a reference to the Book of John, Chapter 8, Verse 12 in which Jesus says, "Whoever follows me ... will have the light of life."

Military officials said early this week they did not believe the manufacturer stamps which included the references violated the military's ban on proselytizing because soldiers weren't actively using the verses to spread religion. But a Marine Corps spokeswoman said there were concerns about how it could be perceived and there were plans to discuss the issue with Trijicon.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Eyes of the Country on Mass.

A U.S. Senate race widely labeled a yawner just weeks ago reaches a thunderous finish today as Bay State voters cast ballots that could upend Barack Obama’s health-care plan and change the course of his presidency.

Republican state Sen. Scott Brown, 50, of Wrentham faces off against Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley, 56, of Medford in the pivotal contest to fill the remaining two-year term of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

At stake in their intense battle is President Obama’s health-care reform goal, Democrats’ fillibuster-proof majority in the Senate, and the state’s long-held reputation as a bastion of blue.
The candidates continued their barnstorming yesterday, with Brown - who has stunned the nation with his longshot surge - striking a populist tone on his “Bold New Leadership Tour” and Coakley - previously expected to cruise to election - seeking to redirect widespread anger at the government on her “Fighting for You Tour.”

“Do not forget they were problems that were not created by, but inherited by our president Barack Obama,” Coakley told a crowd at the Hub’s Martin Luther King Day breakfast.
Fresh off his 11th-hour stump for Coakley in the Hub, Obama took to the airwaves in a TV ad and declared “Every vote matters, every voice matters.”

Brown’s meteoric rise in the polls has energized Republicans and activists nationwide, sparking a mass pilgrimage to the Bay State by members of the Tea Party movement, who view him as the answer to the Democrat-dominated Congress.

Crowds lining Main Street in North Andover blasted a boat horn for Brown and shouted, “Scott, you can do it!”

“This is unbelievable,” Brown later told a cheering group of supporters in Littleton. “The energy you’re giving me and I’m feeding off of is unbelievable.”

Tension was high on the campaign trail as Coakley was accused of politicizing the Martin Luther King Day breakfast and as Brown weathered allegations that he smiled at a crude remark about Coakley by one of his supporters.

“You’re seeing the Tea Party movement and the center-right movement rally behind him as a practical matter to hopefully derail Obamacare,” said John M. O’Hara of Chicago, a Needham native who has written a book about the Tea Party protests. “It’s a shot over the bow of incumbents on both sides and a real signal coming into the 2010 election.”

Organizing For America, a spinoff of Obama’s army of campaign volunteers, has been deployed to aid Coakley’s ground game.

David Kravitz, co-founder of Democratic blog Blue Mass. Group, said “the perfect storm of factors” has hindered Coakley.

“It’s a combination of disenchantment with Democratic leadership, the fairly well-organized invasion of Tea Partiers . . . and a lot of mistakes by the Coakley campaign,” Kravitz said.
That the late Kennedy’s legacy on health care will either be protected or pummeled by his successor only adds to the high drama.

“It would certainly be a really sad irony if Scott Brown wins the race and ends up being the vote that derails the bill that Ted Kennedy wanted,” Kravitz said.

Secretary of State William F. Galvin projects between 1.6 million and 2.2 million voters, out of a total of 4 million, will show up at the polls today despite weather predictions of a mix of rain and snow. More than 105,000 voters have applied for absentee ballots.

Also on the ballot is unenrolled candidate Joseph L. Kennedy, of no relation to the famous family.
“The level of interest has clearly picked up,” Galvin said. “I’ve never seen a negative commercial on the Weather Channel before.”

No Food, No Water...and Gutters Running With Blood

Tens of thousands of people are facing a second catastrophe tonight as they struggled for survival on the devastated island of Haiti.

With no food, no water and no shelter, aid agencies were in a desperate race against time to save the victims of the earthquake

Witnesses described gutters running with blood and children sleeping among heaps of dead bodies after becoming separated from their parents

There are growing fears that lack of basic sanitation and disease could claim thousands more lives.

Gordon Brown described the situation as a 'tragedy beyond imagination' and urged people to support emergency appeals. The government has already pledged £10million in aid.

Rescue teams from around the world - including the UK - are descending on the stricken island.
But international aid is still only trickling through, hampered by poor communications and damaged roads.

Many rescuers were forced to dig with their hands to free survivors trapped under tons of rubble.

Residents of the capital Port-au-Prince were squatting in makeshift refugee camps, parks and sports grounds around the ravaged city.

There were reports of looting and members of the UN peacekeeping force, whose own headquarters has been destroyed, attemped to keep order.

Laura Bickle, an American working at an orphanage in Port-au-Prince, told the BBC: 'All the parks are filled with people - they either have no home to go to or they are too scared to go home.

'They are pulling people out of the rubble, literally with blood running in the gutter like water.'
Gareth Owen, Save the Children's director of emergencies, believes that up to two million children have been affected by the earthquake. Many were in school when it struck.

'This is an unbelievably traumatic experience for children in Haiti. We believe up to two million could be affected, and the emotional damage of what they’re going through could last their entire lives.

'Thousands more will have lost all contact with their families and friends and are now struggling to survive alone in the rubble.

'As well as getting basic supplies in, it's crucial that children struggling on their own are protected from being crushed by more debris and are kept safe from abuse on the streets.

'This is not a safe place for children. We know that the prison has collapsed and lone children are incredibly vulnerable.

'Children are petrified and in danger. Many will have been orphaned or be badly injured themselves and in urgent need of medical help.

'They are sleeping on their own, trying to cope with the trauma of seeing dead bodies, and will have no idea where to go for help.'

Mr Owen added that there was growing concern for 20 Save the Children staff who had been missing since the earthquake.

'This is much worse than a hurricane,' said Jimitre Coquillon, a doctor's assistant working at a triage center set up in a hotel parking lot.

'There's no water. There's nothing. Thirsty people are going to die.'

Estimates for the number of fatalities vary but the Haitian Red Cross today said at least 50,000 are likely to have died.

Among the missing are 14 British nationals who live in Port-au-Prince.
US President Barack Obama announced that 'one of the largest relief efforts in our recent history' is moving towards Haiti with thousands of troops and civilians on the way.

His Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the damage as 'Biblical', and likened the disaster to the 2004 Asian tsunami.

'This is going to (be) one of the highest in terms of loss of life in recent years,' she said

On the streets of Haiti, rescuers were forced to turn pickup trucks into ambulances and doors intro stretchers.

Planes carrying teams from China and France, Spain and the United States landed at Port-au-Prince's airport with searchers and tons of water, food, medicine and other supplies - with more promised from around the globe.

It took six hours to unload a Chinese plane because the airport lacked the needed equipment.
The Red Cross estimates three million people - a third of the population - may need emergency relief.

Survivors have been forced to scavenge food from the rubble.

Bodies lay in the street, covered by white sheets. Some people dragged the dust-covered dead along the roads, trying to reach a hospital where they might leave them.

Others tried to carry dead relatives to nearby hills for impromptu burials, prompting Brazil's military - the biggest continent among UN peacekeepers - to warn the practice could lead to an epidemic.

It said it is asking local authorities to create a new cemetery.

Hospitals, too, are barely functioning.

Charity Doctors Without Borders treated wounded at two that had withstood the quake and set up tent clinics elsewhere to replace its damaged facilities.

Robertson on Haiti: "Swore Pact to the Devil"

PAT ROBERTSON: And, you know, Kristi, something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, "We will serve you if you will get us free from the French."

True story.

And so, the devil said, "OK, it's a deal."And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other. Desperately poor. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It's cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti; on the other side is the Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, et cetera.

Haiti is in desperate poverty.

Same island.

They need to have and we need to pray for them a great turning to God. And out of this tragedy, I'm optimistic something good may come. But right now, we're helping the suffering people, and the suffering is unimaginable.

KRISTI WATTS (co-host): Absolutely, Pat.

The O'Palin Factor

In her debut as a contributor to Fox News, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin admitted Tuesday that leading up to her 2008 vice presidential debate she thought Iraq may have been behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Interviewed by Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly on his show “The O’Reilly Factor,” Palin trashed many of the critical accounts of her candidacy in the new book “Game Change.” But one story from the book that Palin did not say was “made up” or “a lie” was the description of her uncertainty as to whether Iraq had a hand in the planning of the September 11 attacks.

“I did talk a lot to [campaign strategist] Steve Schmidt about the history of the war and where the attackers could have come from,” Palin said of her debate prep during the fall of 2008 – more than five years after the start of the war in Iraq and seven years after the terrorist attacks that hit New York and Washington.

“I do admit to asking questions about that,” she said.

Palin appeared for the first time as a paid contributor on the network, smiling and eagerly answering each of O’Reilly’s questions. “I’m grinning today and I’m so appreciative to be here with you today and the team at Fox News for the fair and balanced news that voters of America deserve,” she said.

Overall, Palin had a very negative take on the book written by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann.

“These reporters were not any part of what I was doing there as the VP candidate,” she said. “I don’t know who they are. I haven’t met these guys.”

Asked about the book’s assertion that she did not know that the Korean peninsula was separated into two vastly different countries, Palin responded: “That’s a lie.”

“It’s pretty made up,” Palin said of the book, which she said she has not read. Palin said she did not watch interviews with the two reporters or Schmidt on CBS’s “60 Minutes” Sunday because she was warned it was “bull.”

During the “60 Minutes” interview, Schmidt relayed a story about how he was told Palin’s debate performance would be a “debacle of historic and epic proportions.”

Palin disputed Schmidt’s account, saying that the story “was not true. And Steve Schmidt told us how overjoyed he was by the debate.”

“I felt good about it,” she said of the debate. “Steve Schmidt felt great about it”
Palin said she was not worried by what Schmidt or the reporters said on the program because “the American people are immediately neutralizing programs like ‘60 Minutes.’”

But while Palin had issues with her depiction, she had no problem seizing on quotes within the book from Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) who credited President Barack Obama’s attractiveness as a candidate to his lighter skin color and lack of a “Negro dialect.”

“You can’t defend those comments,” she said. “His thinking and articulation of that thought are quite perplexing.”

When O’Reilly pointed out to Palin that Reid was not standing by the remark, the former Republican governor responded: “He says he’s sorry.”

Murder or Manslaughter?

The trial set to begin Wednesday for a man who admitted killing one of the nation's few late-term abortion providers was thrown into limbo when the Kansas Supreme Court ordered the judge to reconsider his decision to keep jury selection secret.

The court ruled late Tuesday that Sedgwick County Judge Warren Wilbert did not provide the public and media enough time to respond before he closed the proceedings and sealed the jury questionnaire in the first-degree murder case of Scott Roeder. The Kansas City, Mo., man is accused of shooting Dr. George Tiller inside a Wichita church in May.

The Supreme Court ordered Wilbert to reconsider requests from four media outlets, including The Associated Press, that wanted access. Wilbert wasn't ordered to open the proceedings but was expected to meet with a media attorney, prosecutors and defense lawyers Wednesday morning before jury selection began.

Earlier Tuesday, Wilbert allowed Roeder the chance to build a defense based on Roeder's belief that his actions were justified to save unborn children. But the judge said it remained to be seen whether the evidence would suffice to instruct jurors, after the defense rested its case, that they could consider the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter.

"I am going to make every effort to try this case as a criminal, first-degree murder trial," Wilbert said. "Admittedly Mr. Roeder's beliefs may come into play and as a defendant he is entitled to present a defense."

The judge said he would rule on a witness-by-witness, question-by-question basis as necessary throughout the trial on whether to allow jurors to hear specific evidence on Roeder's beliefs about abortion.

"This is not going to be a debate about abortion," Wilbert said, adding that attorneys will have to convince him at trial that any evidence offered in that regard will have to be part of what Roeder believed on May 31 when Tiller was killed.

Roeder has "a formidable and daunting task" to present such evidence, Wilbert said.
The facts of the case are not in dispute: As Sunday morning services were starting, Roeder got up from a pew at Wichita's Reformation Lutheran Church and walked to the foyer, where Tiller and a fellow usher were chatting. He put the barrel of a .22-caliber handgun to Tiller's forehead and pulled the trigger.

Roeder, 51, has publicly admitted to reporters and the court to killing Tiller. He also faces two counts of aggravated assault for allegedly threatening two ushers who tried to stop him from fleeing after the shooting. He has pleaded not guilty.

But what had been expected to be a straightforward trial was upended on Friday when Wilbert refused to bar Roeder's lawyers from building the defense calling for a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. The judge prohibited only a so-called necessity defense that would argue Roeder should be acquitted because the doctor's killing was necessary.

Kansas law defines voluntary manslaughter as "an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified deadly force." A conviction could bring a prison sentence closer to five years, instead of a life term for first-degree murder.

The Kansas chapter of the National Organization for Women immediately condemned the judge's decision, saying it opens the door for a society that would condone vigilantism and violence against abortion providers.

Prosecutors had filed a motion Monday saying the voluntary manslaughter defense was invalid because there was no evidence Tiller posed an imminent threat at the time of the killing.
The defense argued that the prosecution misinterpreted case law, saying any rulings about evidence should be made at the time of its presentation as is typical in any other criminal trial.

"This trial is going to be on TV, but it is not a TV trial — it is a real trial," defense attorney Mark Rudy said.

Obama to Request Record $708 Billion

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama will ask Congress for an additional $33 billion to fight unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on top of a record $708 billion for the Defense Department next year, The Associated Press has learned - a request that could be an especially hard sell to some of the administration's Democratic allies.

The extra $33 billion in 2010 would mostly go toward the expansion of the war in Afghanistan. Obama ordered an extra 30,000 troops for that war as part of an overhaul of the war strategy late last year.

Military officials have suggested that the 2011 request would top $700 billion for the first time, but the precise figure has not been made public.

The administration also plans to tell Congress next month that its central military objectives for the next four years will include winning the current wars while preventing new ones and that its core missions will include both counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations.

The administration's Quadrennial Defense Review, the main articulation of U.S. military doctrine, is due to Congress on Feb. 1. Top military commanders were briefed on the document at the Pentagon on Monday and Tuesday. They also received a preview of the administration's budget plans through 2015.

The four-year review outlines six key mission areas and spells out capabilities and goals the Pentagon wants to develop. The pilotless drones used for surveillance and attack missions in Afghanistan and Pakistan are a priority, with the goals of speeding up the purchase of new Reaper drones and expanding Predator and Reaper drone flights through 2013.

U.S. officials outlined the coming requests on condition of anonymity because the budget request will not be sent to Congress until later this month.

Obama's request for more war spending is likely to receive support on Capitol Hill, where Republicans will join moderate Democrats to pass the bill.

But the budget debate is also likely to expose a widening rift between Obama's administration and Democratic leaders, who have watched public opinion turn against the military campaign.
"The president's going to have to make his case," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters last month at her year-end briefing.

The 2010 budget contains about $128 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
That figure would rise to $159 billion next year under the proposals prepared for Congress.

The Pentagon projects that war funding would drop sharply in 2012, to $50 billion, and remain there through 2015. That is a calculation that the United States will save money from the withdrawal of forces in Iraq, as well as a prediction that the Afghanistan war will begin to wind down in the middle of 2011.

Obama has promised that U.S. forces will begin to withdraw from Afghanistan in July 2011, but his defense advisers have set no time limit for the war.

The Pentagon projects that overall defense spending would be $616 billion in 2012; $632 billion in 2013; $648 billion in 2014; and $666 billion in 2015. Congress sets little store by such predictions, which typically have fallen short of actual requests and spending.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are expected to testify to Congress about the budget and the policy review in February.

The four-year policy statement is a more important statement of administration goals. For the current wars, the policy statement focuses on efforts to refocus money and talent on beefing up special operations forces, countering weapons of mass destruction and terrorism threats, and maintaining cyber security.

For example, the Pentagon would like to expand special operations aviation by expanding the gunship fleet from 25 to 33.

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