In the end, rapture believers weren't going anywhere

To many who put stock in Harold Camping's prophecy about the end of the world, disillusionment was profound. It ended up being apocalypse … not.

Keith and Kellie Bauer spent the week touring the country in anticipation of the rapture that Oakland preacher Harold Camping predicted would occur Saturday. Their son Joshua Bauer, 3, and relative Thomas Puff, 4, peer into the closed headquarters of Camping's Family Radio in Oakland.(Rick Loomis, Los Angeles Times / May 22, 2011)

By Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times

May 22, 2011

Sue Espinoza was planted before the television, awaiting news of her father's now infamous prediction: cataclysmic earthquakes auguring the end of humanity.

God's wrath was supposed to begin in New Zealand and then race across the globe, leaving millions of bodies wherever the clock struck 6 p.m. But the hours ticked by, and New Zealand survived. Time zone by time zone, the apocalypse failed to materialize.

On Saturday morning, Espinoza, 60, received a phone call from her father, Harold Camping, the 89-year-old Oakland preacher who has spent some $100 million — and countless hours on his radio and TV show — announcing May 21 as Judgment Day. "He just said, 'I'm a little bewildered that it didn't happen, but it's still May 21 [in the United States],'" Espinoza said, standing in the doorway of her Alameda home. "It's going to be May 21 from now until midnight."

Photos: Waiting for Judgment Day

But to others who put stock in Camping's prophecy, disillusionment was already profound by late morning. To them, it was clear the world and its woes would make it through the weekend.

Keith Bauer, a 38-year-old tractor-trailer driver from Westminster, Md., took last week off from work, packed his wife, young son and a relative in their SUV and crossed the country.

If it was his last week on Earth, he wanted to see parts of it he'd always heard about but missed, such as the Grand Canyon. With maxed-out credit cards and a growing mountain of bills, he said, the rapture would have been a relief.

On Saturday morning, Bauer was parked in front of the Oakland headquarters of Camping's Family Radio empire, half expecting to see an angry mob of disenchanted believers howling for the preacher's head. The office was closed, and the street was mostly deserted save for journalists.

Bauer said he was not bitter. "Worst-case scenario for me, I got to see the country," he said. "If I should be angry at anybody, it should be me."

Tom Evans, who acted as Camping's PR aide in recent months, took his family to Ohio to await the rapture. Early next week, he said, he would be returning to California.

"You can imagine we're pretty disappointed, but the word of God is still true," he said. "We obviously went too far, and that's something we need to learn from."

Despite the failure of Camping's prediction, however, he said he might continue working for him.

"As bad as it appears—and there's no getting around it, it is bad, flat-out—I have not found anything close to the faithfulness of Family Radio," he said.

Others had risked a lot more on Camping's prediction, quitting jobs, abandoning relationships, volunteering months of their time to spread the word. Matt Tuter, the longtime producer of Camping's radio and television call-in show, said Saturday that he expected there to be "a lot of angry people" as reality proved Camping wrong.

Tuter said Family Radio's AM station in Sacramento had been "severely vandalized" Friday night or Saturday morning, with air conditioning units yanked out and $25,000 worth of copper stripped from the equipment. He thinks it must have been an angry listener. He was off Saturday but planned to drive past the headquarters "and make sure nothing's burning."

Camping himself, who has given innumerable interviews in recent months, was staying out of sight Saturday. No one answered the door at his Alameda home, though neighbors said he was there.

By late afternoon, a small crowd had gathered in front of Camping's Oakland headquarters. There were atheists blowing up balloons in human form, which were released into the sky just after 6 p.m. in a mockery of the rapture. Someone played a CD of "The End" by the Doors, amid much laughter.

There were also Christians, like James Bynum, a 45-year-old deacon at Calvary Baptist Church in Milpitas, holding signs that declared Harold Camping a false prophet. He said he was there to comfort disillusioned believers.

"Harold Camping will never hand out poisoned Kool-Aid," Bynum said. "It's not that kind of a cult. But he has set up a system that will destroy some people's lives."

christopher.goffard@latimes.com

Obama sticks to Mideast vision, seeks to calm Israel

U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks to delegates at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference in Washington, May 22, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

By Matt Spetalnick and Caren Bohan

WASHINGTON | Sun May 22, 2011 1:07pm EDT

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Sunday refused to back away from his new Middle East peacemaking vision that has angered Israel, as he addressed the Jewish state's staunchest American supporters amid a deep rift in U.S.-Israeli ties.

But Obama, seeking to soothe Israeli fury over his stance that peace talks should start on the basis of Israel's 1967 borders, made clear he expected Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate land swaps that would allow Israel to keep some Jewish settlements.

Obama spoke to Washington's most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group three days after he endorsed a longstanding Palestinian demand on the borders of their future state that could require big Israeli concessions of occupied land.

The speech followed a testy encounter at the White House on Friday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed Israel would never pull back to its old borders that he regarded as "indefensible."

Obama's appearance before the annual assembly of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) served as a stark reminder that his new formula for Middle East peace could cost him support among Jewish and pro-Israel voters and donors as he runs for re-election in 2012.

"Even while we may at times disagree, as friends sometimes will, the bonds between the United States and Israel are unbreakable, and the commitment of the United States to the security of Israel is ironclad," Obama said to loud applause.

But at one point he faced a light smattering of boos, which were quickly drowned out by loud applause, when he touched upon some of the most controversial issues now dividing the United States and raising doubts whether Obama's peace vision will ever get off the ground.

DIM PEACE PROSPECTS

A week of hectic Middle East diplomacy has laid bare the divide between the Obama administration and one of Washington's closest allies and made the prospects for reviving the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process more remote than ever.

In Sunday's speech, Obama reiterated the peace "principles" he outlined on Thursday in a policy speech on upheaval in the Arab world, but he sought to assuage Israeli concerns that had caused Netanyahu to warn him against pursuing peace "based on illusions."

At issue is Obama's embrace of a long-sought goal by the Palestinians: that the state they seek in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip should largely be drawn along lines that existed before the 1967 war in which Israel captured those territories and East Jerusalem.

The proposal would call for land swaps to compensate for Israel keeping some settlements in the West Bank.

"By definition, it means that the parties themselves - Israelis and Palestinians - will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967. That's what mutually agreed upon swaps means," Obama said.

"It allows the parties themselves to account for the changes that have taken place over the last forty-four years. It allows the parties themselves to take account of those changes, including the new demographic realities on the ground and the needs of both sides," he said.

Obama's reassurances could help ease strains with Netanyahu, who has had a history of tense relations with the president. Obama's stress on 1967 borders went further than before in offering principles for resolving the impasse between Israel and the Palestinians and put the United States formally on record as endorsing the old boundaries as a starting point.

Israeli Culture Minister Limor Livnat of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party welcomed Obama's clarification of his position as "important words."

(Additional reporting by Jasmin Melvin; Editing by Jackie Frank)

Troops retake Afghan building after deadly raid by insurgents, officials say

 

( REUTERS ) - Smoke rises from an Afghan government building after Taliban insurgents stormed the compound in a fatal attack.

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By Joshua Partlow and Sayed Salahuddin, Updated: Sunday, May 22, 7:08 AM

KHOST, Afghanistan — Not long after dawn broke Sunday in this southeastern city, four men dressed as Afghan police drove up to a downtown checkpoint. In the back seat of their white Toyota Corolla were 300 pounds of homemade explosives, wired to a trigger on the driver’s side. Two of the passengers wore suicide vests.

Ten hours later, after an intense day of close-quarters gun battles inside government offices and a suicide blast, three Afghan police officers and two Afghan soldiers were dead, two U.S. soldiers were wounded, and three of the four attackers had been killed. The fighting was the latest attempt by insurgents to target government forces in the heart of major Afghan cities.

Despite the losses, U.S. soldiers who took part in the fighting praised Afghan police for responding quickly, trapping the insurgents inside a government building and preventing more casualties.

“We paid a price today, but I’m very happy,” said Lt. Col. Jesse Pearson, commander of the U.S. battalion that responded to the scene. “We totally spoiled their attack.”

About 5 a.m. Sunday, the Corolla approached a border checkpoint. Border police officers, sensing trouble, opened fire on the car. The insurgents jumped out and fired back, then ran into the nearby headquarters of the Khost city traffic police, killing three policemen at the gate as they entered, officials said.

At nearby Forward Operating Base Salerno, Pearson, who had planned to spend the day visiting his outposts in the province, ordered his troops to the scene. The U.S. soldiers from a military police company who arrived first fired a powerful .50-caliber machine gun from the truck and killed an insurgent who stood about 15 meters away, Pearson said.

By the time Pearson arrived, about 9 a.m., U.S. troops were focused on defusing the car bomb and did not realize that three insurgents remained in the building. As U.S. and Afghan troops began searching the traffic-police headquarters, the insurgents opened fire, he said, prompting a close-range gun battle that stretched over the next four hours.

During the shootout — “back and forth, room to room,” Pearson said — two Afghan soldiers were killed. One of the suicide bombers detonated his vest. An American soldier was injured in the blast but not seriously; another American soldier was shot but was in stable condition, he said.

As troops searched the building, which billowed smoke and fire, one of the attackers was shot and killed and the fourth was arrested unharmed.

“We’ll be spending a lot of time with him,” Pearson said.

Sunday’s attack bore the hallmark of recent insurgent plots, including the use of Afghan security force uniforms as a disguise to target Afghan government bases and troops.

While the Taliban claimed responsibility, the attack was likely the work of the Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based affiliate of the Taliban that has been fighting to regain control of Khost and its surrounding provinces, officials said. The group’s leadership operates out of the Pakistani town of Miramshah, across the border from Khost, in the tribal border region of North Waziristan.

U.S. military officials here said the Haqqani network’s leadership, including brothers Siraj and Badruddin Haqqani, have been urging fighters to keep the pressure up this spring and summer. They asked their foot soldiers not to return to Pakistan this past winter, a time insurgents typically rest for the next fighting season.

The increased U.S. military presence in Khost has taken a toll on the insurgents; hundreds have been killed and captured over the past several months. While the Haqqani network’s ground commanders are under growing pressure, their fighters are still capable of launching high-profile attacks here and in Kabul.

Sunday’s attack came a day after a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up among a group of student doctors at the main military hospital in Kabul, in a highly secure section of the capital, killing at least six and wounding more than 30.

Separately, two Afghan police were wounded after an explosive device attached to a motorcycle went off in an area of southern Kandahar on Sunday, a witness there said.

Salahuddin is a special correspondent. Special correspondent Javed Hamdard in Kabul contributed to this report.

Michelle Obama to mentor Washington girls

Will join staffers Desiree Rogers, Susan Sher, Tina Tchen, Valerie Jarrett

By Katherine SkibaTribune Newspapers

November 2, 2009

WASHINGTON— 

-- First lady Michelle Obama -- and some of her Chicago "sisters" in the White House -- on Monday will launch a first-of-its-kind mentoring program with about 20 high school girls from greater Washington.

As the first anniversary of President Barack Obama's election nears, it's the first lady who is making history now. Call this chapter "Girl Power."

Observers say her leadership and mentoring initiative has not been done by a first lady before. It will see Obama -- and White House staffers including Valerie Jarrett, Tina Tchen, Susan Sher and Desiree Rogers, Chicagoans all -- act as mentors to high school juniors and sophomores. 

Jarrett is a senior White House adviser. Tchen leads its public liaison office. Sher is the first lady's chief of staff. Rogers is White House social secretary.

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The proteges were chosen by high schools, the Girl Scouts and military families, including Gold Star families who have lost a loved one, said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, the first lady's spokeswoman.

A similar initiative for young men is coming later, she said.

Tchen, an attorney from Chicago long active in politics, said the program builds on a March event at the White House that saw high school girls interact with the first lady, White House officials and a cast of celebrities including singers Alicia Keyes and Sheryl Crow; actresses and sisters Debbie Allen andPhylicia Rashad; actress Fran Drescher; and Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to travel into space.

Tchen said the program launch will see proteges visit their mentors' offices and gather as a group for dinner. The inaugural class's duration has not been decided, she said, adding that she expects discussions of college, careers, and balancing work and motherhood. 

The mentors, she said, want to give proteges a "window to a wide variety of different opportunities to play out your dreams." 

Letitia Baldrige, who was a top aide to first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, said the mentoring program was "definitely" a first for a presidential spouse. She called it "wonderfully imaginative," but cautioned it will be difficult in part because of the ongoing commitment it requires. 

"This is not just a nice lecture or community gathering," she said. "Mentoring for their careers, gosh, that's a big commitment." 

Baldrige, a Republican, is a fan of the first lady and thinks the program will burnish her reputation. 

"She'll set a tremendous example," Baldrige said. 

The latest effort comes after Obama has tried to set an example for young people, promoted healthy eating and exercise, lent support to military families and hosted musical events.

"She's really gone in many directions," Baldrige said, "and I think it's fantastic that she has the energy."

Carl S. Anthony, a Los Angeles author and a historian for the National First Ladies' Library in Canton,Ohio, agreed that the mentoring program is a first. 

He predicted it could grow much bigger, noting that Lady Bird Johnson began a committee to beautify the nation's capital, triggering a nationwide effort to plant wildflowers, beautify highways and spruce up parks.

Why Are Pro-Lifers Targeting the Girl Scouts?

by Alizah Salario
May 21, 2011 | 9:58pm


They sell cookies, they earn merit badges, they—promote abortion? Alizah Salario on how two teens from Texas are accusing the Girl Scouts of creating boot-stomping, sexualized radicals.

As devoted members of their local troop, sisters Tess and Sydney Volanski once held the Girl Scouts of the USA in high regard. Even when the girls reached their teens, they intended to stay affiliated with their close-knit troop throughout high school and earn the organization's prestigious Gold Award. But when these sisters from Texas learned what they call "jaw-dropping" information about the GSUSA—an organization they say helped them develop strong friendships and hone their leadership skills for nearly a decade—their plans quickly changed.

The Volanski sisters now believe that the Girl Scouts has a "pro-abortion mind-set" and a "radical feminist agenda." It's a belief that prompted them to abandon the organization in March 2010.

Getty Images

"While we recognize the many good things about the Girl Scouts, we had to ask ourselves: Will we stand for our beliefs, for the dignity of life, the sanctity of marriage, modesty, purity? Or will we remain true to the Girl Scouts? We cannot see any way to truly do both," they state on their website.

To spread the word, the Volanskis started the "Speak Now Girl Scouts" blog (the name is a nod to the title of a Taylor Swift album) to document the ways in which the organization supposedly pushes its radical agenda. They say this includes everything from providing information about reproductive health and birth control, to lauding leaders like Margaret Mead and Hillary Clinton. "The core of our mission is to spread awareness of the truth, and hopefully more media coverage will accomplish that," said Sydney Volanski in an email to The Daily Beast.

Is this beloved, century-old institution really churning out sexualized radicals along with Thin Mints and merit badges? Does the Girl Scouts organization have a "pro-abortion mind-set"?

“Many of them are very extreme, radical, and/or liberals.”

The GSUSA officially maintains a neutral position on abortion and birth control. Because the organization has a two-tiered leadership structure, however, local or regional chapters have the autonomy to partner with organizations of their choice, which may include, say, Planned Parenthood affiliates (or, for that matter, conservative organizations).

"In some areas of the country, Girl Scout troops or groups may choose to hold discussions about human sexuality and may choose to collaborate with a local organization that specializes in these areas," said the GSUSA in a statement. "The topic is discussed from a factual, informative point of view and does not include advocacy or promotion of any social or religious perspective."

Despite this, the Volanskis' opinions have slowly attracted the attention of pro-life organizations nationwide. Two right-wing pro-life groups, the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) and the Family Research Council, have joined the two sisters in condemning the Girl Scouts, elevating a personal story of two teens cutting ties with their local troop to a full-scale assault on an organization known for peddling cookies and building "courage, confidence, and character."

"We think the [Girl Scouts'] national leadership has been infected with a radical feminist agenda," says Terry McKeegan, vice president of C-FAM.

Though the Volanskis didn't solicit the attention, they say they're grateful for the support of the pro-life community and remain focused on speaking out against the GSUSA because the organization directly affected their lives. "We realize that not every family will be concerned with GSUSA's broken promise of neutrality on the issues of a girl's sexuality, abortion, and birth control, but we seek to let everyone know the facts so that they can make an informed decision about supporting this group," said Sydney Volanski in an email.

Both the Volanskis and C-FAM suggest that if girls don't feel compatible with the Girl Scouts, they should seek a scouting alternative such as the American Heritage Girls, a group that reflects a more "traditional" vision. As for the Girl Scouts, "We would like to see them put the focus where it should be, on character building and leadership activities," says Tess Volanski.

But could providing information about reproductive health and offering opportunities to discuss issues affecting girls be exactly what character building and leadership are all about? Girls today are confronted with difficult choices about sex and dating at an increasingly younger age, and part of the Girl Scouts' mission is to provide them with the skills and knowledge to make informed decisions about their futures. The Girl Scout Research Institute, a branch of the GSUSA, found that family confidantes are often unwilling or unable to discuss personal issues related to sex, and that the majority of teens believe they should be getting information about abstinence and contraception, rather than either/or.

The Volanskis' gripe with the Girl Scouts began in earnest last spring, when the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) attended the U.N.'s Commission on the Status of Women. At the conference, 30 to 35 teenagers from around the world participated in the Girls Only Workshop, a panel discussion about global issues affecting girls.

The Volanskis and their supporters say that during the workshop, a brochure about HIV health, family planning, and reproductive rights entitled "Happy, Healthy, and Hot" was distributed to the teen girls. According to the GSUSA, the brochure in question was not distributed at the WAGGGS workshop, but was from a different event at the conference. There was also a march for women's reproductive rights at the conference—rights that include "accessible, affordable, and safe abortions," according to the WAGGGS website.

The events that transpired at the conference, as stated on the Volanskis' blog, were perceived as part of GSUSA's "corrupt" plan to promote "Planned Parenthood, promiscuity, and abortion to their members, as well as a political agenda."

"They have for years steered girls toward sources that have an agenda while saying at the same time they're neutral," says Susan Riedley, the editor of HonestGirlScouts.com, a site that advocates for a return to "traditional" Girl Scout values of "truth" and "purity" and for the elimination of all sex-ed from GSUSA curricula.

This isn't the first time the Girl Scouts have found themselves at the center of controversy. In the 1970s, a Catholic archdiocese cut all funding to the Girl Scouts when it began sex-ed programming, and in 1993 the organization was maligned for making the "God" part of the Girl Scout promise optional: "On my honor, I will try: to serve God and my country, to help people at all times and to live by the Girl Scout Law."

In 2001, GSUSA President Connie Matsui came under fire from the American Family Association for lauding "That's a Family!" a Women's Educational Media video exploring the diversity of the modern family, including same-sex couples with children. Since then, various conservative groups have lambasted the organization because it supposedly "endorses leftist social activism, promiscuity, and the homosexual agenda."

Critics of the GSUSA also take issue with their role models. The Volanskis find it troubling that the sash-wearing sellers of Samoas would honor "radical" heroines like labor organizer Dolores Huerta and French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, and make positive mention of leaders in the arts like the poet Mary Oliver and the Indigo Girls, women who advocate for "same-sex relationship rights," and "are regarded as icons of the movement" as stated on the Volanskis' blog.

"Many of them are very extreme, radical, and/or liberals," says Riedly of the Girl Scouts' heroine list. "There is no balance, with the exception of Mother Teresa. I could certainly think of many women with leadership qualities who could've made the list. Where's Margaret Thatcher? No, they'd prefer to put in Hillary Clinton."

Though the GSUSA feels the assessment of their organization is totally inaccurate, they applaud the Volanskis for speaking out for what they believe in—a quality that the Girl Scouts have worked hard to instill in all their members, past and present.

"As a leadership organization, we must always respect the right of others to express their views and we will continue to support girls who care deeply about an issue and have the courage to stand up and take action," GSUSA spokeswoman Michelle Tompkins told The Daily Beast, "even if we do not agree with what they say."

Alizah Salario is a freelance journalist based in New York. Her work has appeared in Women's eNews, Ms. Magazine, The Huffington Post, at the Poetry Foundation and elsewhere.

Leading GOP Budget Hawk at Odds with Republican Leaders

By JONATHAN KARL (@jonkarl)

May 20, 2011

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) tells ABC News that the federal debt is now so out of control that the credit rating of the United States is in jeopardy and the only way to deal with it is a bipartisan agreement that increases tax revenues.

"The fact is we're at the lowest tax rate this country's been in a hundred years," Coburn said in an interview on ABC's Subway Series with Jonathan Karl. "And nobody believes that we're going to get a bipartisan agreement without some way to increase revenue for the federal government. We're also at the lowest level in a long time in terms of revenues coming in."

Increasing tax revenues, Coburn said, does not mean increasing tax rates. Higher revenues could be accomplished by closing tax loopholes for individuals and/or corporations.

"Do I want tax rates to rise? Absolutely not. Will I fight that? Yeah," Coburn said. "Would I agree to a plan that would create great economy that would markedly increase revenues to the federal government? You bet. And that's what I want to do."

Earlier this week, Coburn dropped out of the so-called Gang of Six, a bipartisan group of Senators that has been working for months to find an agreement to curtail entitlement spending and reduce the deficit.

For many Republicans, increasing tax revenues is a non-starter. In fact, most Republicans in Congress, including Coburn, have signed a pledge written by Americans for Tax Reform, promising to oppose all tax increases -- including closing tax loopholes -- unless off-set by cuts in tax rates.

Grover Norquist, the President of Americans for Tax Reform, recently accused Coburn of "lying his way into Congress" because of his willingness to consider measures that would increase federal tax revenue.

"I don't care what he says," Coburn said of Norquist. "He's like a fly on the wall. If you're scared of Grover Norquist you have no business being up here."

Coburn says he left the Gang of Six because he reached an impasse with Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) about the need for specific cuts to Medicare and other popular entitled programs and needed "a good cooling off period."

"We had a conversation, very frank and where I needed him to go, he couldn't and where I wanted to go, he couldn't so what you need to do is back off and see if you can do something different," Coburn said.

He still hopes the Gang of Six can eventually reconvene and come to an agreement. In the meantime, Coburn is going to put together his own list of spending cuts totaling a whopping $9 trillion over ten years -- a level of spending cuts that would go far beyond even the $6 trillion in cuts proposed by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan.

"What I'm going to do, and what my staff is doing now, is really a fun exercise, we're going to show everybody where you can cut 9 trillion dollars over the next 10 years," Coburn said. "I'm just going to say here, American people, if you want to solve the problem, pick from this group of things. Here's a way to do it. And some of it's painful. Everybody's going to have to have a little pain but if we want opportunity and a prosperous future, we have to take a little discomfort now to get there."

The debt situation is already so bad, Coburn says, that the U.S. government does not deserve Standard & Poor's AAA credit rating.

"We have gross debt at 90% of our GDP. What does that mean?" Coburn said. "You can easily make a case that we don't deserve a AAA rating."

S & P has warned that continued deficit spending could jeopardize that AAA rating in the future.

"I would downgrade us in a minute," Coburn said. "I would knowing what I know."

Herman Cain announces his run for Republican candidate for president at a rally

 

Saturday, May 21, 2011 in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

GREG BLUESTEIN,Associated Press
SHANNON McCAFFREY,Associated Press
SHANNON McCAFFREY,Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) -- Herman Cain has run a pizza chain, hosted a talk radio show and sparred with Bill Clinton over health care. He's never held elected office.

Now Cain, a favorite of the ultraconservative tea party movement, wants to be president.

"I'm running for president of the United States, and I'm not running for second," he told a crowd at Centennial Olympic Park on Saturday. Chants of "Herman" erupted from the crowd of thousands in downtown Atlanta.

The announcement by the black businessman, author and talk radio show host that he was joining the expanding Republican field came after months of traveling around the country to introduce himself to voters.

Now the 65-year-old will see if he can use that grass-roots enthusiasm to turn a long-shot campaign into a credible bid.

Cain supports a strong national defense, opposes abortion, backs replacing the federal income tax with a national sales tax and favors a return to the gold standard. He said President Barack Obama "threw Israel under the bus" because he sought to base Mideast border talks partly on the pre-1967 war lines, and criticized the Justice Department for challenging Arizona's tough crackdown on illegal immigration.

"We shouldn't be suing Arizona," he said to cheers. "We ought to send them a prize."

Cain lost a three-way Republican U.S. Senate primary bid in Georgia in 2004 with one-quarter of the vote. His "Hermanator" political action committee has taken in just over $16,000 this year. Supporters say he taps into the tea party-fueled desire for plain-speaking citizen candidates.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in Atlanta, Cain is the son of a chauffeur and a maid. He attended historically black Morehouse College, earned a master's degree from Purdue University and worked as a mathematician for the Navy before beginning to scale the corporate ladder.

He worked at Coca-Cola, Pillsbury and Burger King before taking the helm of the failing Godfather's Pizza franchise, which he rescued by shuttering hundreds of restaurants.

He burst onto the political stage when he argued with President Bill Clinton over the Democrat's health care plan at a 1994 town hall meeting.

"On behalf of all of those business owners that are in a situation similar to mine," asked Cain, "my question is, quite simply, if I'm forced to do this, what will I tell those people whose jobs I will have to eliminate?"

In his speech Saturday, Cain said the American dream is under attack from runaway debt, a stagnant economy, a muddled foreign policy and an influx of illegal immigrants.

"It's time to get real, folks. Hope and change ain't working," he said. "Hope and change is not a solution. Hope and change is not a job."

Frustrated with Democrats, some large unions cut back on donations

By T.W. Farnam, Published: May 21

( ) -

More On This Story

• Political groups spending heavily ahead of 2012
• ‘Super PAC’ launches TV ads attacking Romney
• Some large unions cut back on donations
• The Fix: The (still) muddled 2012 field

Some of the nation’s largest labor unions are cutting back dramatically on their financial support to the Democratic Party, saying they are highly frustrated with the failure of Democrats to put up stronger resistance to Republican proposals opposed by labor.
The unions have cited what they see as Democrats’ tepid response to Republican efforts to eliminate collective bargaining rights for public sector workers, cut Medicare funding and require voters to show identification at the polls.
“It doesn’t matter if candidates and parties are controlling the wrecking ball or simply standing aside,” said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, in a speechFriday. “The outcome is the same either way. If leaders aren’t blocking the wrecking ball and advancing working families’ interests, working people will not support them.”
The determination of the unions, who have traditionally been among the largest campaign donors, to use money as a carrot and stick over policy matters could ultimately play a significant role in next year’s elections, seriously harming some Democrats’ chances of election.
“We never take anyone’s support for granted,” said Democratic Party spokesman Hari Sevugan. “And we are confident that when working men and women face a choice between a party . . . that wants to end the right to collectively bargain versus one that secured universal health care, expanded middle-class tax cuts and saved the American auto industry, we’ll be working with organized labor to again elect Democrats up and down the ballot next fall.”
Unions are simultaneously shifting their money and attention to focus more on political races at the state level, where several legislatures have targeted bargaining rights for state employees.
In the first quarter of this year, union political action committees sharply cut back funding for House Democrats, according to an analysis of federal disclosure reports by The Washington Post. Those contributions fell by half compared with the first quarter of 2009, from $5.8 million down to $3.1 million.
By comparison, corporate PACs cut their contributions to House Democrats by 26 percent, to a total of $7.2 million. Union contributions to Republicans decreased as well, but by just 13 percent.
The most dramatic shift was in giving by the International Union of Operating Engineers, which represents construction workers and has a large federal PAC. In the first quarter of 2009, the union gave $1.6 million to House Democrats, while the PAC this year has not made a single contribution to either party.
Officials with the engineer’s union said in a statement that high unemployment in the construction sector was its top priority and that it “wants to see Congress more urgently address this issue on a bipartisan basis and move on legislation to create jobs.”
The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners gave $350,000 to House Democrats in the first quarter of 2009 but donated only $148,000 in the first three months of this year. A spokesman for union, which left the AFL-CIO in a 2001 split of the federation, could not be reached.
The International Association of Fire Fighters announced last month that it would indefinitely halt all political giving on the federal level, citing what it said was the weak response of congressional leaders to legislative threats in the states to unions.
“I have not seen our friends in these incredible attacks against us across the country,” said Harold Schaitberger, the union’s president. “Where are our friends in Congress? Where have they been to fight back on our behalf with the same voracity and the same discipline of our enemies?”
Schaitberger also cited major disappointments at the federal level, including the deal between President Obama and Congress to extend Bush-era tax cuts for upper-income Americans and the defeat of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would have made it easier for unions to organize.
“There’s just been a pattern of disappointment and failures in advancing an agenda that helps the working middle class,” he said. “It’s a pattern that goes back years.”
It is unclear whether unions will end up backing Obama in his 2012 reelection campaign with the same enthusiasm as they did in 2008. Trumka voiced muted criticism of the president on Friday, saying he didn’t “make the honor role” for the execution of his agenda. He faulted Obama for losing a message war with Republicans over stimulus funding and pushing a free-trade agreement with Colombia.
Labor’s threats to Democrats follow a major push in last year’s midterm election, when unions spent $8 million backing a liberal challenger to former senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.). The challenger, then-lieutenant governor Bill Halter, lost to Lincoln in a runoff, and a weakened Lincoln went on to lose the general election to Republican John Boozman.
Trumka trumpeted the outcome of that race in a question-and-answer period after his speech Friday. A moderator asked what was different about his latest rhetoric given that unions have threatened to withdraw support for Democrats in the past.
“Ask Blanche Lincoln,” he replied.

Daniels won't run in 2012

By: Maggie Haberman and Jennifer Epstein May 22, 2011 01:31 AM EDT

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels told supporters in an email early Sunday that he will not run for president in 2012, a decision he said ultimately came down to his family's reticence about a campaign.  The announcement by the former Office of Management and Budget director and favorite of much of the Republican establishment will again roil the unsettled GOP field—and likely intensify efforts to convince another major candidate to join the race, such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush or New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.  The Daniels email, obtained by POLITICO, went out from Indiana GOP chief Eric Holcomb, a key Daniels adviser, soon after midnight, with the word "Urgent" in the subject line.  "The following is from Governor Mitch Daniels…." the email began. “I hope this reaches you before the public news does," Daniels wrote. "If so, please respect my confidence for the short time until I can make it known to all." "The counsel and encouragement I received from important citizens like you caused me to think very deeply about becoming a national candidate. In the end, I was able to resolve every competing consideration but one, but that, the interests and wishes of my family, is the most important consideration of all. If I have disappointed you, I will always be sorry." Daniels, who had deep fundraising ties from his time in the Bush administration and his own years in Washington, went on: "If you feel that this was a non-courageous or unpatriotic decision, I understand and will not attempt to persuade you otherwise. I only hope that you will accept my sincerity in the judgment I reached," he wrote. "Many thanks for your help and input during this period of reflection. Please stay in touch if you see ways in which an obscure Midwestern governor might make a constructive contribution to the rebuilding of our economy and our Republic.” The email, which went to a list of supporters but not the Indiana GOP's broader email list, was unusual —pols who bow out of campaigns rarely choose to announce it just after midnight on a Saturday. But it was a reminder that Daniels has always tended to march to the beat of his own political drum, keep his own counsel and do things his own way. Daniels's wife, Cheri, was widely known to be concerned about the impact a campaign would have on their lives, which have followed an unusual path. Cheri Daniels left her husband and their four young daughters in 1993, married a former sweetheart in California, then returned and remarried Daniels - a set of circumstances that the pair would be unable to avoid talking about in the crucible of a campaign. In a statement to the Indianapolis Star about his decision, he highlighted the role his family played in his decision. "On matters affecting us all, our family constitution gives a veto to the women’s caucus, and there is no override provision. Simply put, I find myself caught between two duties. I love my country; I love my family more," he said. He also defended his wife to the paper, saying, "The notion that Cheri ever did or would ‘abandon’ her girls or parental duty is the reverse of the truth and absurd to anyone who knows her, as I do, to be the best mother any daughter ever had." The decision by Daniels, which he stretched on for a month past the close of the Indiana legislative session, ends a season of dithering about his 2012 intentions. His Hamlet-of-the-Heartland contortions about whether to run, combined with public statements showing something less than a fire in the belly, had started to make even his supporters uncomfortable. The late-night move ensures Daniels's decision will be the focus of the Sunday morning talk shows - as opposed to speculation about whether he would pull the trigger on a campaign. It also comes as Daniels is set to make a return trip to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to headline a fundraiser for the committee where he once served as a top staffer, the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Daniels's departure from the race presents a challenge to Republican elites, many of whom are less than enthralled with the current choices in a field that includes Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain and, likely, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who's making his first New Hampshire sojourn and is being met with high hopes by some Republican leaders, is the latest likely entrant to the slow-forming race. "Mitch Daniels will be missed in this presidential debate, but his message about the most immediate threat facing our nation -- this massive debt -- will not go unheard," said Huntsman in a statement to POLITICO early Sunday. Indeed, Daniels's main call to arms was about fixing the nation's budget woes - he made a splash at the conservative confab CPAC in February when he described the United States' growing debt burden as the new "red menace." In bowing out, Daniels joined Mike Huckabee and reality tv star and developer Donald Trump, both of whom announced they would not run in the past week. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a close Daniels friend who'd told the Indiana governor he should consider the race, also dropped out in recent weeks. Daniels's decision would seem on the surface to benefit Pawlenty in Iowa, where he's looking to come in with solid numbers in the caucuses, and Huntsman in New Hampshire, where the former Utah governor is expected to play hard if he runs. But it also is ultimately positive for Romney, who is increasingly able to cast himself as a stronger frontrunner; his aides recently reported raising $10 million in a single fundraising "call day" from Nevada. Still, a group of Iowa donors is set to travel to New Jersey on May 31 to meet with Gov. Chris Christie in the hopes of getting him to join the race. Despite the build-up surrounding Daniels, he carried some baggage in a prospective campaign. Daniels suggested last year that Republicans choose to focus on combating the country s fiscal problems before turning to issues like abortion and gay marriage. The next president, he said, would need to call for a “truce on the so-called social issues.” The notion of a truce irked social conservatives, but attracted the attention of more moderate Republicans hoping for a candidate who could put on a good showing against President Barack Obama in 2012. Nonetheless, in time, Daniels inched away from his proposal, by signing a bill into law earlier this month which imposed some of the nation s strictest restrictions on abortions and making Indiana the first state to stop funding Planned Parenthood. Yet for many, Daniels figured as an ideal potential candidate: Despite his tenure as the George W. Bush's budget director, a post which Democrats would have used against him, he had budget-cutting chops of his own during two terms as Indiana's chief executive. Daniels had made clear all along that there were really only five votes that mattered for him - his wife, and their four grown daughters. Cheri Daniels’s reticence was well-documented. The governor told POLITICO in February that it was “safe to say” that she didn’t welcome the prospect of him running. In late March, she told the Indianapolis Star that if her husband ends up staying out of the race, the impact of a campaign on the family would “definitely be a reason.” She shunned the spotlight for much of her husband's tenure. Her star turn at a state GOP dinner two weeks ago was, sources told POLITICO, something of a testing-the-waters appearance to see how she fared. She was well-received, but the appearance prompted a fresh round of news accounts and reporters' questions about their marital history. Talking to reporters after the state GOP dinner, Cheri Daniels said that she wasn’t the only one in the family uncertain about agreeing to go under the microscope of a presidential campaign. "It’s not just me," she said. "I have four daughters and I have three sons-in-law and everybody has a voice.” Speaking at the same event, her husband wasn’t much clearer about his plans. ”This whole business of running for national office I’m not saying I won’t do it,” he said. ”My friends know it’s never been any intention of mine. I’d like to go to some quiet place where nobody could find me. Like Al Gore’s cable network.” Daniels, 62, is in his second term as Indiana governor. First elected in 2004 after spending two and a half years in the Bush administration as OMB director, Daniels built a reputation as a politician whose interests, first and foremost, are fiscal. As governor, he worked to cut spending and balance the state’s budget, though at OMB he oversaw the shift from annual budget surpluses to a deficit of $400 billion as the Bush administration cut taxes and ramped up spending for the Iraq war.

Protests in Yemen as diplomats wait on Saleh

Saleh supporters surround embassy hosting Gulf and western ambassadors, with Yemeni president still to sign exit deal. Last Modified: 22 May 2011 09:41 Protests in Yemen as diplomats wait on Saleh - Middle East - Al Jazeera English Armed supporters of Ali Abdullah Saleh have surrounded an embassy hosting ambassadors from Gulf and western nations, in protest over the scheduled signing of a deal to force the Yemeni leader out of office. A diplomat told the AFP news agency on Sunday that gunmen had surrounded the Emirati embassy where the head of the GCC, Abdullatif al-Zayani, and ambassadors from Britain, the EU and the US were gathered.  "Everybody is worried. We can't leave the embassy," a Saudi diplomat told the Associated Press. Saleh was expected to sign the deal, brokered by the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), later on Sunday after opposition leaders signed on Saturday. But Saleh's party said earlier that he would not sign a proposed deal to hand over power "behind closed doors", and instead wanted a public event held for all to attend, including opposition leaders. The statement, issued by the ruling General People's Congress (GPC) early on Sunday, is the latest in a series of mixed signals from Yemen's embattled president. Saleh has backed away from signing the deal at least twice before, adding to the opposition's deep mistrust of a leader known for adept political manoeuvring that has kept him in power for decades. The deal calls for Saleh to step down in 30 days in exchange for legal immunity from prosecution. Saleh's party insisted that a public ceremony must be held at the presidential palace, and that all political parties, the GCC secretary general, and foreign ambassadors must attend. Yemen's opposition coalition signed the deal on Saturday, based on what it said were guarantees that the president would sign on Sunday. Click here for more of Al Jazeera's special coverage Jamila Ali Rajaa, a former adviser to the Yemeni foreign minister, told Al Jazeera on Saturday that she was optimistic the president would sign the deal. "I think this time definitely he will," she said. "There is a lot of pressure on him from the GCC, especially Saudi Arabia, and also from America and the European Union." But she said the signing of the pact may not end the protests as demonstrators were not willing to leave the places they were occupying, insisting the opposition did not represent them. Hundreds of thousands poured into a central square that has become the center of opposition protests, waving Yemeni flags and shouting rejection of the deal. They held banners that read: "Now, now Ali, down with the president!" and "Go out Ali!" The protesters say the deal falls short of their demands for Saleh's immediate departure and the dismantling of his regime. They also reject any immunity for the Yemeni leader and say the opposition parties don't speak for their demands. Al-Qaeda threat Saleh said on Saturday that al-Qaeda could take over in many parts of the Arabian Peninsula country if he was forced out of office. "If the system falls ... al-Qaeda will capture Maarib, Hadramout, Shabwa, Abyan and al-Jouf [and] it will control the situation," Saleh said at a ceremony, listing provinces where al-Qaeda's Yemen-based wing has been active. "This is the message that I send to our friends and brothers in the United States and the European Union ... the successor will be worse than what we have currently. "We welcome the Gulf initiative and we say that we will work with it in a positive way for the sake of our homeland, (although) in reality it is a mere coup operation ... and part of foreign pressures and agendas." Saleh has survived many tussles with rivals, and skillfully used patronage and favours to keep tribal and political backers loyal. But some of his allies, including senior army officers, have abandoned him and joined the opposition as his 32-year rule appears to be entering its final days. Yemen has been reeling from months of street protests that have seen tens of thousands of people massing in Sanaa, the focal point of demonstrations. Taiz and the port city of Aden have also been scenes of mass protests.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

The Gingrich Jobs and Prosperity Plan

"Creating jobs and getting back to 4% unemployment is the most important step to a balanced budget." – Newt Gingrich

America only works when Americans are working. Newt has a pro-growth strategy similar to the proven policies used when he was Speaker to balance the budget, pay down the debt, and create jobs. The plan includes:

1. Stop the 2013 tax increases to promote stability in the economy. Job creation moved from stagnant to improving in the three months after Congress extended tax relief for two years. We should continue what has worked by making the rates permanent.
2. Make the United States the most desirable location for new business investmentthrough a bold series of tax cuts, including: Eliminating the capital gains tax to make American entrepreneurs more competitive against those in other countries; Dramatically reducing the corporate income tax (the highest in the world) to 12.5%; Allowing for 100% expensing of new equipment to spur innovation and American manufacturing; Ending the death tax permanently.
3. Move toward an optional flat tax of 15% that would allow Americans the freedom to choose to file their taxes on a postcard, saving hundreds of billions in unnecessary costs each year.
4. Strengthen the dollar by returning to the Reagan-era monetary policies that stopped runaway inflation and reforming the Federal Reserve to promote transparency.
5. Remove obstacles to job creation imposed by destructive and ineffective regulations, programs and bureaucracies. Steps include: Repealing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which did nothing to prevent the financial crisis and is holding companies back from making new investments in the U.S; Repealing the Community Reinvestment Act, the abuse of which helped cause the financial crisis; Breaking up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, moving their smaller successors off government guarantees and into the free market; Replacing the Environmental Protection Agency with an Environmental Solutions Agency that works collaboratively with local government and industry to achieve better results; andModernizing the Food and Drug Administration  to get lifesaving medicines and technologies to patients faster.
6. Implement an American energy policy that removes obstacles to responsible energy development and creates jobs in the United States.
7. Balance the budget by growing the economy, controlling spending, implementing money saving reforms, and replacing destructive policies and regulatory agencies with new approaches.
8. Repeal and replace Obamacare with a pro-jobs, pro-responsibility health plan that puts doctors and patients in charge of health decisions instead of bureaucrats.
   
9. Fundamental reform of entitlement programs with the advice and help of the American people.