Hillary's Bush Connection

http://realnews.org/index.php-option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Itemid=189.htm

In the Clinton's pursuit of power, there is no such thing as a strange bedfellow. One recently exposed inamorata was Norman Hsu, the mysterious businessman from Hong Kong who brought in $850,000 to Hillary Clinton's campaign before being unmasked as a fugitive. Her campaign dismissed Hsu as someone who'd slipped through the cracks of an otherwise unimpeachable system for vetting donors, and perhaps he was. The same cannot be said for the notorious financier Alan Quasha, whose involvement with Clinton is at least as substantial--and still under wraps.

Michael Pollan: Don't Eat Anything That Doesn't Rot

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/13/in_defense_of_food_author_journalist

Why do we eat what we eat? How are our food and dietary choices essentially made for us by food policies that favor one industry over another? Read or watch this interview with acclaimed author, Michael Pollan, author of "Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food." Very interesting stuff.

-peace-

Big Pharma Opens Wallet to Dems

http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/04/news/companies/pharma_votes/index.htm?postversion=2008030714

"Democrats have long served as the traditional enemy of Big Pharma, but in this presidential campaign, the left is taking the lion's share of drugmaker money.

"Democratic senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are the top recipients of donations from the pharmaceutical industry, according to The Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit, non-partisan research group in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, donations to Sen. John McCain, who was recently endorsed by President Bush as the official Republican candidate, pale in comparison."

10,000 Maniacs: Oregonians Exercising Democracy Through "Voter-Owned Elections"

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/07/7531/

Voter Owned Elections is providing a healthy alternative to politics as usual in Portland. Months before a traditionally low-turnout election - a municipal primary, for goodness sakes! - more than 10,000 citizens are already involved giving seven relative newcomers to politics a chance to present themselves to voters. And for those voters, the rest of the campaign will be about what campaigns are supposed to be about - issues, positions, problems, solutions, and conversations between hopeful public servants and the people they seek to represent.

"All the people, that is; have-nots as well as haves; denim pockets as well as deep pockets. Because in Voter Owned Elections, when you ‘max out’ as a donor with a simple $5 contribution, you get more for your money, not less. You get choices. You get hope. You get fairness. You may just get the democracy you deserve."

-peace-

Missile Defense: 'Longest Running Scam' Exposed

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?bid=7&pid=295515

"I believe that the Ballistic Missile Defense program is the longest running scam in the history of the Department of Defense," Cirincione said. "This is an enormous waste of money, and if you leave this decision to the Joint Chiefs they won't spend anything near what this Administration is requesting. In fact, the last time the Joint Chiefs were asked about this in 1993, [they] recommended to then-Pres. Clinton that we spend only $3 billion a year on these kinds of programs, and of that $2.3 billion should be spent on efforts to intercept short-range missiles – the ones that are a real threat to our troops and allies…. We're no further along in our ability to actually hit a real ballistic missile now than we were 20 years ago."

Obama's Answer

http://citizen.typepad.com/watchdog_blog/2008/02/will-obama-opt.html

Reform groups sent an open letter to the Obama campaign encouraging him to enter into a public financing agreement with John McCain for the general election, if the two of them were the nominees of their parties. Here is the Obama campaign response.

Bradley: Bill Clinton's Financial Backers Could Pose Big Problem

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/06/bradley-bill-clintons-f_n_90283.html

Former Senator and Presidential candidate, Bill Bradley, talks about the financial conflicts of interest for the Clinton campaign.