Candidates Hold Final Pre-Iowa Debate

Republican candidates will hold their final debate before the Iowa Caucus on Thursday night in Sioux City.

The stage will be filled by seven candidates, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Jon Huntsman, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum, and will likely be treated as the final chance for many of the candidates to give their campaign one final boosts as the primary seasons begin.

The debate will air at 9pm on Fox News.

The Iowa caucus takes place on January 3rd and is followed shortly after by the New Hampshire Primary on January 10th.

U.S. Officially Declares Iraq War Over

The U.S. officially declared an end to the war in Iraq Thursday, holding a ceremony in the country to retire the flag for U.S. forces in Iraq.

The ceremony, attended by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, comes a little over two weeks before all troops are expected leave the country.

The U.S. still has approximately 5,500 soldiers still in the country, according to the American Forces Press Service.

Deepwater Oil Spill Recovery Underway

By Adrianna McGinley

Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar touted the implementation Wednesday of the first phase of restoration projects to the Gulf of Mexico following last year’s oil spill, primarily the lease auction to resume oil exploration efforts along the Louisiana coast.

The first lease for offshore oil and gas development was auctioned off in New Orleans today, just 20 months after the Deepwater Horizon spill, something Salazar said marks a historic success in oil spill recoveries.

“This sale today…marks a milestone with respect to the greatest overhaul of in American history on oil and gas in America’s oceans,” Salazar said. “We are proud of how far we have come.”

Twenty oil and gas companies made 241 bids totaling $712 billion. The highest bid for one block was $103.2 million made by ConocoPhillips.

“What these results demonstrate is that there is a great interest in continuing to develop oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico,” Salazar said.

Senate Dems Intro Bill To Intensify Voter Fraud Penalties

Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation that would intensify penalties against those guilty of voter suppression. 

The Senate duo argued that those convicted of voter suppression and voter fraud “get a slap on the wrist at best” and hope to increase the severity with this new bill. 

“Their ought to be the ability to go after people like that, to prosecute the and to lock them up,” Schumer said. “The legislation that [we] are proposing would finally put some teeth and penalties into this deliberate, despicable effort to suppress voter turnout.” 

The bill, however, was very narrowly crafted so as not to conflict with citizens’ First Amendment rights. Cardin explained that the bill would only apply to certain types of false information during the last 90 days of an election. That includes publicizing inaccurate voter eligibility requirements, listing the wrong date and time for an election or promoting false endorsements. 

“You must have an intent to disenfranchise voters,” Cardin said. “It’s time to protect the most fundamental right of a Democratic society; and that is the right to vote.” 

If passed, similar voter suppression and fraud crimes could be punishable with a prison sentence of up to five years. 

Poll: Ron Paul Holds Second Place In Iowa

Texas Representative Ron Paul is trailing GOP frontrunner Newt Gingrich in Iowa by just one point, according to a survey from Public Policy Polling.

Gingrich holds the top spot at 22 percent while Paul charts at 21 percent. Mitt Romney trails at 16 percent.

If Paul, a libertarian-leaning candidate with an energetic core of supporters, comes in first of second the Hawkeye state, it will likely be perceived as a major upset to Romney and may hurt the former Massachusetts Governor’s standing going into the New Hampshire Primary.

The poll was conducted between December 11^th and 13^th among 555 likely Republican caucus goers.