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October 31st in American History

1864 - Nevada became the 36th state to join the U.S.


1941 - Mount Rushmore was declared complete after 14 years of work. At the time the 60-foot busts of U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln were finished.


October 31, 1968

President Johnson announces bombing halt

In a televised address to the nation five days before the presidential election, President Lyndon Johnson announces that on the basis of developments in the Paris peace negotiations, he has ordered the complete cessation of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam." Accordingly, effective November 1, the U.S. Air Force called a halt to the air raids on North Vietnam known as Operation Rolling Thunder.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=1456

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Not Many People Planning on Signing Up for PelosiCare

After all the fuss, govt health plan to cover few


WASHINGTON – What's all the fuss about? After all the noise over Democrats' push for a government insurance plan to compete with private carriers, coverage numbers are finally in: Two percent.

That's the estimated share of Americans younger than 65 who'd sign up for the public option plan under the health care bill that Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is steering toward House approval.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091031/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_public_plan


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Too Little Too Late for Huckabee

Statement on Doug Hoffman

We commend Dede Scozzafava for stepping aside and in light of her very unselfish announcement, we join the RNC and other Republicans in urging support for Doug Hoffman.
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Gingrich Who First Endorsed Scozzafava, Now Endorses Hoffman

Posted: October 31st, 2009 01:04 PM ET

From

WASHINGTON (CNN)– Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who came under fire from some conservatives for endorsing Dede Scozzafava in next week's special Congressional election in New York, is now backing Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.

Gingrich made the announcement via Twitter shortly after the Republican Party nominee Scozzafava announced she was releasing supporters from their commitment to back her.

"Scozzafava dropping out leaves hoffman as only anti-tax anti-pelosi vote in ny 23 Every voter opposed to tax increases support doug hoffman," Gingrich wrote on Twitter. (Tweet shown as it appeared)

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Election Boycott

Afghan Challenger to Call
For Election Boycott

President Karzai's opponent Abdullah Abdullah will ask voters to forgo runoff election in hopes of forcing delay
Tags: Afghanistan  
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What Great News for a Saturday Morning: Scozzafava Quits

Republican Scozzafava Suspends New York Congressional Campaign

The move comes on the heels of a new poll that showed Republican Dede Scozzafava had fallen behind her two competitors in a race too close.

Republican state Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava has suspended her campaign for upstate New York's 23rd Congressional seat, leaving Democratic nominee Bill Owens and Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman in the race that will conclude Tuesday. 

The move comes on the heels of a new poll that showed Scozzafava had fallen behind her two competitors in a race too close.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/31/republican-scozzafava-suspends-new-york-congressional-campaign/

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Gavin "I Love Sanctuary Cities" Newson Drops Out of Governor Race

Gavin Newsom drops out of California governor's race

The San Francisco mayor makes the decision amid lackluster poll numbers and meager fund-raising receipts. Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, expected to run, is left with little Democratic primary opposition.

October 31, 2009

Reporting from San Francisco and Sacramento - San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom abruptly abandoned his run for California governor Friday, folding in the face of weak poll numbers and a skimpy bank account and leaving state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown as the only major candidate bidding for the Democratic nomination.

Newsom's announcement in a statement issued just after 3 p.m. was surprising mainly for its timing, a full seven months before the primary. For weeks, rumors had circulated among political insiders that Newsom would leave the race absent a dramatic turnabout in his fortunes. The arrival of his first child, a daughter born seven weeks ago, increased that speculation.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-newsom-out31-2009oct31,0,7017003.story



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House Ethics Report Leaked by Accident

Dozens in Congress under ethics inquiry

AN ACCIDENTAL DISCLOSURE
Document was found on file-sharing network


Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 30, 2009

House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/29/AR2009102904597.html


7 on defense panel scrutinized

Separate probes focus on ties to lobbying firm founded by Hill aide

By Carol D. Leonnig Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 30, 2009

Nearly half the members of a powerful House subcommittee in control of Pentagon spending are under scrutiny by ethics investigators in Congress, who have trained their lens on the relationships between seven panel members and an influential lobbying firm founded by a former Capitol Hill aide.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/29/AR2009102904699.html

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If Biden is Going, Dems Must be Very Worried

Biden campaigning for Owens in NY 23

The White House is sending Vice President Joe Biden to upstate New York to campaign for Democrat Bill Owens in a last-minute push to help Democrats pick up the longtime Republican House seat.

The Biden rally will be taking place next Monday morning in Watertown.
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Lieberman to Campaign for Republican Candidates in 2010 Congressional Election

Lieberman Marching Further Right in 2010

Subway Series: Former Dem Veep Candidate Plans to Campaign for GOP



http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/independent-sen-joe-lieberman-hell-back-republicans-2010/story?id=8952240
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October 30th in American History

1938 - Orson Welles' "The War of the Worlds" aired on CBS radio. The belief that the realistic radio dramatization was a live news event about a Martian invasion caused panic among listeners.


October 30, 1941

FDR approves Lend-Lease aid to the USSR

On this day in 1941, President Roosevelt, determined to keep the United States out of the war while helping those allies already mired in it, approves $1 billion in Lend-Lease loans to the Soviet Union. The terms: no interest and repayment did not have to start until five years after the war was over.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=6633

1953 - General George C. Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

October 30, 1953

Eisenhower approves NSC 162/2

On October 30, 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally approves National Security Council Paper No. 162/2 (NSC 162/2). The top secret document made clear that America's nuclear arsenal must be maintained and expanded to meet the communist threat. It also made clear the connection between military spending and a sound American economy.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=2469


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New Poll Numbers from New Jersey

Election 2009: New Jersey Governor
New Jersey Governor’s Race Still Shows Christie with Slight Edge

Republican Chris Christie continues to hold a three-point advantage over incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine in New Jersey's down-to-the-wire race for governor.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state, conducted Thursday night, shows Christie with 46% of the vote and Corzine with 43%. Those numbers are unchanged from earlier in the week and little changed from polling conducted the week before.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2009/new_jersey/election_2009_new_jersey_governor
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Poll Reflects Words Really Matter

The Public Option in the NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll

Last week I argued that question wording might be influencing polling outcomes on the public option - generally skewing the results closer to the Democratic side of the ledger because of contested buzzwords like "choice," "competition," and "option."

I noted at the time that the best way to test this theory was via an apples-to-apples scenario in which we can hold the pollster, the methodology, and the time of the poll constant. That's why I thought the Rasmussen results were significant: Rasmussen changed the wording of questions on the public option and found markedly different results.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/horseraceblog/2009/10/the_public_option_in_the_nbc_n.html

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'Where Rohde Leads'

Where Rohde Leads
The story of a reporter kidnapped by the Taliban and what it reveals.

By Clifford D. May

Almost a year ago, New York Times correspondent David Rohde was abducted by the Taliban. I was in Afghanistan at the time and, like many Westerners in the country, I heard about it but agreed not to write about it. Publicity, it was thought, could increase the danger Rohde faced. Even so, over the months that followed, many people figured he would not be seen again — except, perhaps, on a videotape with hooded jihadis ecstatically applying a butcher knife to his infidel throat, as they had to Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

But Rohde survived seven months and ten days in captivity — briefly, in Afghanistan, then in the Taliban-controlled areas of Pakistan — before managing to escape. His account of this period, published in The Times last week, is riveting. It is revealing, too — though sometimes in ways Rohde does not articulate and may not even intend.

http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=OWU0MGQzMTU2ZjZiMWZiOGNkODg1ZGNjMTMwNjAzOTg=
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'Three Envelopes'

The Three Envelopes
by Charles Krauthammer

WASHINGTON -- Old Soviet joke:

Moscow, 1953. Stalin calls in Khrushchev.

"Niki, I'm dying. Don't have much to leave you. Just three envelopes. Open them, one at a time, when you get into big trouble."

A few years later, first crisis. Khrushchev opens envelope 1: "Blame everything on me. Uncle Joe."

A few years later, a really big crisis. Opens envelope 2: "Blame everything on me. Again. Good luck, Uncle Joe."

Third crisis. Opens envelope 3: "Prepare three envelopes."

In the Barack Obama version, there are 50 or so such blame-Bush free passes before the gig is up. By my calculation, Obama has already burned through a good 49. Is there anything he hasn't blamed George W. Bush for? The economy, global warming, the credit crisis, Middle East stalemate, the deficit, anti-Americanism abroad -- everything but swine flu.

http://townhall.com/columnists/CharlesKrauthammer/2009/10/30/the_three_envelopes#at


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