Conservatives Set for Stand on GOP Platform

Issue may test McCain and Obama on their zeal to stop influence of big money

(NEWSER) - Big donors are pumping big money into both party's conventions, one of the last remaining loopholes in the rules governing so-called soft money contributions, the New York Times reports. And while it's all perfectly legal, the issue may test the conviction of both Barack Obama and John McCain on their desire to eliminate the influence of deep-pocketed contributors. More»

They say ad helping other GOP candidates is illegal

(NEWSER) - Democrats are accusing John McCain of violating the campaign finance law he championed based on some new ads in which he supports GOP congressional candidates Ruth McClung and Jesse Kelly. This, says the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in a complaint to the Federal Election Commission, represents an “in kind” donation that exceeds McCain-Feingold’s non-cash donation limit. They also claim it breaks the law’s rule limiting campaign committees to supporting a single candidate, the Washington Post reports. More»

Oil and coal money, gutless lawmakers killed climate bill

(NEWSER) - Climate change legislation looks dead, and Paul Krugman knows what killed it. “It wasn’t the science, the scientists, or the economics,” he writes in the New York Times . It was “the usual suspects: greed and cowardice.” A carbon limitation would put at most a tiny dent in economic growth, but two industries would face negative impacts: oil and coal. Can you guess which industries are the biggest contributors to cap-and-trade’s most vociferous opponents? More»

Left feared disaster then—but they won in November

(NEWSER) - Angry opponents are spewing spittle at the Obama administration over health care and climate change, but progressives should chill out: After all, this has happened before, Ed Kilgore writes in the New Republic. Last August, liberals withered in despair when John McCain tied President Obama at the polls. Just like today, "The diagnosis of the problem was typically that Obama was too passive, and wasn’t articulating a clear enough message." More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama told Pope Benedict XVI yesterday that he would make every effort to reduce the number of abortions in the US, according to a Vatican spokesman. Bioethics and life issues were the focus of the men's 40-minute talk yesterday. The pontiff gave the president a booklet explaining the church's opposition to abortion and stem cell research, Reuters reports. More»