Beer Lobby Joins Fight Against Push To Legalize Weed

The California Beer and Beverage Distributors has given $10,000 to the committee that is opposing Proposition 19 in California, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, a non-profit group based in Washington, D.C. Click here for more on the story…

Business Group Goes After Crist

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has launched an ad blitz in Florida to attack Senate candidate Charlie Crist (I) over what the group is calling a “flip-flop” on President Obama’s healthcare law.

“Florida’s voters want a candidate who will consistently stand up for policies that create jobs,” said Bill Miller, national political director for the Chamber. “This ad will remind the state’s voters that Charlie Crist not only flip flopped on health care reform, he’s now supporting this job-killing law.”

The Chamber is endorsing conservative Republican Marco Rubio over Crist, the state’s Governor.

Israel, Gaza Bombed Amid Peace Talks

While Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mediates peace talks between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, both country’s continue to wage war on each other.

The Associated Press is reporting that militants launched mortar shells into Israel and Israeli jets bombed targets in Gaza just over an hour’s drive from where the leaders reconvened a second day of negotiations. 

Gaza militants opposed to peace with Israel have threatened to derail the fledgling negotiations, and the Israeli military said eight mortars and one rocket hit Israel by mid-afternoon, the highest daily total since March 2009. 

Israeli warplanes responded by bombing a smuggling tunnel along the Gaza-Egypt border.

Read more… 

Clinton: 2010 GOP Field Makes Bush Seem Liberal

Former President Bill Clinton told guests at a fundraisder yesterday that his successor in the White House wouldn’t compare with the current crop of Tea Party-backed Republicans running for Congress.

“A lot of their candidates today, they make him look like a liberal,” Clinton said of George W. Bush.

The former president was campagining for Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Mark Dayton.

Obama Pleased With Hiker's Release

President Barack Obama made the following statement today after the release of Sarah Shourd, one of three American hikers detained in Iran on espionage allegations:

“I am very pleased that Sarah Shourd has been released by the Iranian government, and will soon be united with her family. All Americans join with her courageous mother and family in celebrating her long-awaited return home. We are grateful to the Swiss, the Sultanate of Oman, and other friends and allies around the world who have worked tirelessly and admirably over the past several months to bring about this joyous reunion.

“While Sarah has been released, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal remain prisoners in Iran who have committed no crime.  We remain hopeful that Iran will demonstrate renewed compassion by ensuring the return of Shane, Josh and all the other missing or detained Americans in Iran.  We salute the courage and strength of the Shourd, Bauer, and Fattal families, who have endured the unimaginable absence of their loved ones.  We have gained strength from their resolve, and will continue do everything we can to secure the release of their loved ones.”

Added U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “I welcome Sarah Shourd’s release from detention in Iran, and am pleased that she will soon be reunited with her family. I appreciate the efforts of all those who have worked for her release, in particular the Swiss Protecting Power in Tehran, the Omani Government, and the many other world leaders who have raised this case and the cases of other detained or missing American citizens. Sarah’s fiancé Shane Bauer, Joshua Fattal, and other U.S. citizens remain detained or missing in Iran. We urge Iranian authorities to extend the same consideration to them by resolving their cases without delay and allowing them to immediately return to their families.”