DNC DAILY FLIPPER: Giuliani-Barbour = Christmas Present forDNC Research

The Daily Flipper
Read what the Republicans Wish You Wouldn’t …
December 14, 2007

TOP HEADLINE: Giuliani Firm May Have Violated Federal Law With Florida Client

Rudolph W. Giuliani’s consulting firm was hired in 2002 to help a Florida company build its business under a contract that called for Mr. Giuliani’s firm to be paid in part for lining up work with the federal government and other clients, company records show.

Federal law prohibits payment of a commission in return for a federal contract, a standard that the firm, Giuliani Partners, said it did not violate.

The deal between the firm and the contractor, Seisint of Boca Raton, was signed with the expectation that Mr. Giuliani’s high profile and connections would help the start-up company obtain federal contracts as well as nongovernment work, said Michael Brauser, co-founder of Seisint and once a major shareholder.

“He had a lot of credibility, and half the battle is getting people to listen to you,” Mr. Brauser said Thursday in an interview. “They were being compensated on a success basis. If they bought us to Company X, and Company X hires us or a government agency hires us and we receive fees, they would be compensated.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/us/politics/14giuliani.html?_r=2&ref=politics&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Haley Barbour Floated As Giuliani VP – Because Adding A Tobacco Company Lobbyist to the Ticket Will Distract From Giuliani’s Shady Clients?

Political allies of former Big Apple Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour are actively pushing the two together, with the 9/11 mayor and New Yawker on top of a ticket that would feature the just re-elected drawling hero of his state's Hurricane Katrina victims as veep. They are being dubbed the "Masters of Disasters."
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2007/12/13/a-rudy-haley-ticket-in-play.html?s_cid=rss:a-rudy-haley-ticket-in-play.html

“Read My Lips” Never Really Worked For Anyone. . . Voters Starting To Doubt Giuliani’s Lofty Economic Statements

On the campaign trail, Rudy Giuliani touts the supply-side economics popular among Republicans since Ronald Reagan was president.

Giuliani consistently echoes President Bush’s assertion in February 2006: “You cut taxes and the tax revenues increase.”

But there’s a growing sentiment among many conservative economists — including those who generally support cutting taxes to spur economic growth and job creation — that Giuliani’s statements are simplistic and at worst misleading.

The current conservative consensus is that tax cuts, coupled with reductions in spending, are intended to pare down the size of government; not expand it.

The “On The Issues” section of his website, pointing to his record as New York mayor, says, “City government saw its revenues increase from the lower tax rates.” And in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, Giuliani stated, “I cut taxes 23 times as mayor of New York City with a Democratic City Council and state Assembly, and saw that lower taxes can result in higher revenue.”

But Chris Edwards, tax policy studies director at the libertarian CATO Institute, said: “It sounds like Mr. Giuliani was a little sloppy in his statements there.”

Giuliani’s claim that tax cuts could recoup the trillion or so dollars that the AMT currently collects “seems like a silly argument,” Edwards added.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7257.html

Ross Perot … Katherine Harris … KT McFarland … Mike Huckabee Hires Consultant With A Resume That Looks Like A Jay Leno Monologue

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee scored a major victory Thursday when he secured the support of prominent GOP insider Ed Rollins, who will serve as national chairman of Huckabee’s campaign.
http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/rollins-to-serve-as-huckabees-national-chairman-2007-12-14.html

Did They Arrive By Blimp? Ron Paul Ships Anti-Huck Arkansas Legislators to Iowa

Two former Republican legislators from Mike Huckabee 's home state are in Iowa this week criticizing Huckabee's record on immigration and taxes on trips paid for by Ron Paul, Huckabee's Republican presidential rival.

Paul's campaign said Thursday it was paying former Sen. Jim Holt and former Rep. Randy Minton about $5,000 each to go to Iowa for a series of radio interviews criticizing Huckabee's 10 1/2 years as Arkansas governor.

"We just want to make sure Iowans get the full picture of what Governor Huckabee did when he was in office," said Paul's campaign spokesman, Jesse Benton. "There hasn't been a whole lot of information going out to Iowans and we want to make sure they get the full picture."
http://www.examiner.com/a-1104189~Paul_Brings_Huckabee_Critics_to_Iowa.html

“Mike Huckabee: Building A Bridge To The 19th Century” -- Mike Says Women Should ‘Submit’ To Their Husbands

White House hopeful Mike Huckabee is under fire again in the GOP holy war - this time for endorsing a Baptist church statement years ago saying that women should "graciously submit" to their husbands.

The Baptist preacher and ex-Arkansas governor signed a full-page ad in USA Today in 1998 with 129 other evangelical leaders. His wife, Janet, also endorsed it.

"A wife is to submit graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ," the Southern Baptist Convention says in its statement of faith.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12142007/news/nationalnews/holy_huck_faces_snit_over_gals__submit_887443.htm

Pwned! Fred Thompson Wants In On the Fun, Issues Gotcha Apology To Hucakbee

In what has to be one of the first uses of the fake-out apology in this race, Thompson's staff released a sarcastic press release Thursday, that was full of a mea culpa that was nothing of the sort.

It begins:

"In light of Mike Huckabee's heartfelt apology to Mitt Romney for making reference to Romney's religion in the New York Times Magazine, we at the Thompson Campaign would like to offer Huckabee our own heartfelt apologies for some references we've made about his record as Governor of Arkansas.

We apologize for pointing out that as Governor of Arkansas, Huckabee offered in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. That's something he'd probably just as soon no one talk about. "

It then goes on to mock apologize for mocking Huckabee's past support for lifting the Cuban embargo, tax increases for Arkansans and for " telling reporters that a BA in Biblical Studies from Ouachita Baptist University doesn't, in fact, make Huckabee more qualified to fight the war on terror than say...Fred Thompson."
http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2007/12/fred_goes_borat.html

Giuliani Heavily Investing in NH. . .With Only 12 Staffers?

Giuliani's campaign sees an opportunity in New Hampshire's Jan. 8 primary, campaign manager Michael DuHaime said. First, however, Giuliani must overcome the lead by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who lives less than 50 miles from the New Hampshire border.

Giuliani has 12 campaign workers in New Hampshire and a cadre of volunteers "that has been diligently working over the past few months," campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella said.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-12-13-Giuliani_N.htm

Mayor vs. Mayor: Bloomberg Praises Immigrants; Giuliani Says Send ‘Em Back

For those who had thought the presidential campaign was too small for two divorced mayors of New York who favor gay rights and abortion rights, things certainly are taking an interesting turn. Just as Mayor Bloomberg was in China offering an optimistic vision of the benefits immigrants bring to America, Mayor Giuliani was releasing a television commercial boasting of how he was going to keep immigrants out of America. What a contrast.
. . .

Said Mr. Bloomberg, "America became the world's leading economic nation by welcoming immigrants — and New York became America's leading commercial city by inviting them to stay. …Consider this: Half of the Americans who won Nobel prizes in physics in the past seven years were born abroad; More than half the people with PhDs working in America are immigrants; Revolutionary technology companies like Sun Microsystems, Yahoo, and Google were all founded or co-founded by immigrants. In fact, a quarter of all Silicon Valley companies were started by entrepreneurs from two just countries: China and India.…Right now, our immigration laws are preventing too many of tomorrow's entrepreneurs from working in America."

Mr. Giuliani's campaign commercial, which the campaign said is airing in New Hampshire and Boston, took the opposite approach. It says, "People are frustrated over immigration because the government has been talking about solving this for twenty or twenty-five years, and it's just gotten worse. What we need here is leadership. Build a fence. Train the border patrol. Have a BorderStat system. Have a tamperproof ID card. And then if you become a citizen you have to be able to read English, write English, speak English and understand American civics. We can end illegal immigration. The technology exists to do it, the people exist to do it. Now we need the political leadership and will to get it done. I'm Rudy Giuliani and I approve this message."
http://www.nysun.com/article/68088

Payback is a _____. Pataki Dangles Giuliani Endorsement

Mayor Bloomberg's potential presidential aspirations are now taking their toll on actual candidates. Even as Mayor Giuliani and the other Republican candidates court George Pataki, the former New York governor is staying on the sidelines in part because Mr. Bloomberg is viewed as increasingly likely to run.
. . .
"In a sense it's already a bad story for Giuliani that Pataki has not endorsed him," observed one Republican insider. "But anyone who understands the history understands why this is a tough call for Pataki."

That history begins October 24, 1994, when Mr. Giuliani — one year into his term as the first Republican New York City mayor in decades — snubbed Mr. Pataki by endorsing Mario Cuomo, a Democrat, for governor. To say Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Pataki were enemies isn't much of an exaggeration.
http://www.nysun.com/article/67966

Foul Ball! Jim Bunning Blocks Release of Presidential Records

The bill would nullify the Bush executive order and re-establish procedures to ensure the timely release of presidential records that the Presidential Records Act was designed to ensure. The bill also has broad bipartisan support in the Senate, and cleared the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee by voice vote earlier this year.

We were well on our way to reclaiming our history, when, on Sept.24, Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., objected to floor consideration of H.R. 1255/S. 886 under unanimous consent, holding up a vote on the bill. Despite repeated requests from a host of historical, news media and open government organizations, Bunning has refused to state the reasons for his opposition to the bill. Recently, the White House reiterated its threat to veto the bill should it pass Congress.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071214/OPINION01/712140392/1055/OPINION