KARLULU STIRS AGAIN;
ROVE'S
POLITICAL OPS
INFECTED STATE
DEPARTMENT!
DIPLOMATIC CORPS JOIN GAO, DOJ, ON ROVE'S LIST OF PLACES TO INFLUENCE PERNICIOUSLY
White House aides have conducted at least half a dozen political briefings for the Bush administration's top diplomats, including a PowerPoint presentation for ambassadors with senior adviser Karl Rove that named Democratic incumbents targeted for defeat in 2008 and a "general political briefing" at the Peace Corps headquarters after the 2002 midterm elections.
The briefings, mostly run by Rove's deputies at the White House political affairs office, began in early 2001 and included detailed analyses for senior officials of the political landscape surrounding critical congressional and gubernatorial races, according to documents obtained by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The documents show for the first time how the White House sought to ensure that even its appointees involved in foreign policy were kept attuned to the administration's election goals. (...DOES ANYONE REALLY BELIEVE THIS DOES NOT VIOLATE THE HATCH ACT ?) Such briefings occurred semi-regularly over the past six years (Multiple Hatch Act violations...) for staffers dealing with domestic policy, White House officials have previously acknowledged. In one instance, State Department aides attended a White House meeting at which political officials examined the 55 most critical House races for 2002 and the media markets most critical to battleground states for President Bush's reelection fight in 2004, (and that, by definition, is politicization of the State Department, or better put, a violation of the Hatch Act, just like the GAO and the DOJ and all the other branches)
The briefings, mostly run by Rove's deputies at the White House political affairs office, began in early 2001 and included detailed analyses for senior officials of the political landscape surrounding critical congressional and gubernatorial races, according to documents obtained by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The documents show for the first time how the White House sought to ensure that even its appointees involved in foreign policy were kept attuned to the administration's election goals. (...DOES ANYONE REALLY BELIEVE THIS DOES NOT VIOLATE THE HATCH ACT ?) Such briefings occurred semi-regularly over the past six years (Multiple Hatch Act violations...) for staffers dealing with domestic policy, White House officials have previously acknowledged. In one instance, State Department aides attended a White House meeting at which political officials examined the 55 most critical House races for 2002 and the media markets most critical to battleground states for President Bush's reelection fight in 2004, (and that, by definition, is politicization of the State Department, or better put, a violation of the Hatch Act, just like the GAO and the DOJ and all the other branches)
OIL FUTURES LOCKING IN AT $100 PER BARREL
The $100-a-barrel oil that Goldman Sachs Group said would prevail by 2009 may be only a few months away. Jeffrey Currie, a London-based commodity analyst at the largest brokerage firm, said that $95 crude was quite likely this year unless OPEC unexpectedly increased production and that declining inventories were raising the chances for $100 oil. Jeff Rubin at CIBC World Markets said $100 a barrel could come as soon as next year. John Kilduff of the New York office of the futures trading firm Man Financial said: "We're only a headline of significance away from $100 oil. The unrelenting pressure of increased demand has left the market a coiled spring." New disruptions of Nigerian or Iraqi supplies, Kilduff said, or any military strike against Iran might trigger the rise. (COULD THIS BE THE REAL INCENTIVE FOR THE NEOCONS TO INVADE IRAQ?) Higher prices will increase revenue for energy producers from Exxon Mobil to PetroChina, while eroding profit for airlines and railroads (AND ANYONE ELSE WHO USES GASOLINE) . The United States and other oil-importing nations risk higher inflation, while increased energy costs could restrain growth. The benchmark crude oil future ended last week at $75.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 51 percent since mid-January and twice the level of early 2003. A record number of options have been sold that give the buyer the right to buy crude oil at $100. The contracts, covering 50 million barrels, pay off only if oil were to go above the target price. (THESE GUYS DON'T GAMBLE, THEY INVEST. SO WE CAN COUNT ON THE PRICES MATCHING THEIR PROGNOSTICATIONS SOON)
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