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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jackhach who wrote (499182)	11/26/2003 3:00:52 PM
From: Skywatcher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

the great Gropenator.....FULL OF CRAP as are all PUBLICANS.... "I won't take special interest money" he bangs on the DULY ELECTED GOV DAVIS for taking contributions from the prison GUARDS.....and now THIS! Prison Firm Donates to Governor By Dan Morain, Times Staff Writer SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who rejects donations from the state prison guards union, accepted $53,000 last week from a corporation that operates private prisons and has clashed with the union over private lockups. The money came as the state prepared to close a 224-bed Wackenhut Corrections Corp. facility Dec. 31 in the Central Valley town of McFarland. Wackenhut made the donation after its president read a news report in which Schwarzenegger voiced support for prison privatization, the executive said. The firm also gave $5,000 to Schwarzenegger's recall campaign. The $58,000 amounts to the largest contribution the company has given to any California politician. In a telephone interview, Wayne H. Calabrese, president of Wackenhut, based in Boca Raton, Fla., said Schwarzenegger did not solicit the contribution and might know nothing about the company and its dealings in California. "We have a large investment in California, in infrastructure and our employees," Calabrese said. "We want to do everything we can to preserve our business base in California." Last year, in a move fought by Wackenhut and other prison companies, former Gov. Gray Davis canceled state contracts with three private prisons — to save money, he said. The California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. had pushed for the closure. The union has long opposed private prisons and was one of Davis' biggest benefactors, giving him $1.4 million during his first term. "We were frustrated with the previous administration," Calabrese said. "We thought we should support a candidate and governor who has articulated support for public-private partnerships." The company gave to Schwarzenegger's gubernatorial campaign and to a separate fund he established to support the recall of Davis, a top company executive said. Schwarzenegger spokesman Vince Sollitto, asked whether the donations would affect the administration's decision on the Wackenhut contract, said, "Of course not." The contract won't "rise to the level of the governor's consideration," he said. Corporations operate nine private facilities in California that house 3,000 minimum-security inmates, although three of the lockups are slated to close next month. Wackenhut has four, including the one in McFarland. Payments from the facility represent less than 1% of Wackenhut's revenue. Whether or not the state continues to send inmates to McFarland, the company is obligated to make $5 million in lease payments, according to a recent Wackenhut filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company holds out hope that it can reverse the decision to close the facility. The firm's Florida lobbyist, David L. Ericks, is close to Schwarzenegger's finance director, Donna Arduin, who was Florida's budget director before coming to Sacramento. Ericks was in Sacramento last week when the governor was sworn in. He could not be reached Tuesday for comment Schwarzenegger spokesman H.D. Palmer said California's Department of Finance would have no role in deciding whether to extend Wackenhut's contract. "We don't do line approval," he said. "That is handled by agencies." Palmer said Ericks' relationship with Arduin would have "zero" impact on such a decision. "He is a registered lobbyist in the state of Florida," Palmer said. "He is not registered in California." The governor has raised more than $1.2 million since the Oct. 7 recall election and plans fund-raisers starting next week to repay $4.5 million in bank loans he took out to help finance his campaign. Schwarzenegger has a policy of refusing campaign donations from public employee unions, including that of the guards. He has said he does not want to take donations from such unions because he must negotiate pay and other labor issues with them. "It sounds to me that Wackenhut is doing exactly what they accuse us of doing — getting involved in 'pay to play,' " said Lance Corcoran, executive vice president of the guards union. "Wackenhut is a savvy corporate entity," he added. "They have great influence in other states. I'm sure they are bringing that playbook to California." Corcoran said he doubted that Schwarzenegger would be influenced by the donations: "Ultimately, he will do the right thing for public safety." Corcoran said the union opposed private prisons because "corrections is a public function and should not be sold to the lowest bidder." Advocates of private prisons have said that the union opposes their efforts because it fears that they could reduce the need for state-employed prison officers. CC

To: jackhach who wrote (499182)	11/26/2003 3:03:51 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769670

Federal Reserve Reports Signs of Economic Strength By Fred Barbash Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, November 26, 2003; 3:01 PM A series of generally positive economic reports today provided Americans with their rosiest pre-holiday outlook in two years. Retail spending is expected to grow. Home resales are strong. Tourism is rebounding, with mountain resorts fully booked over Thanksgiving. Manufacturing is improving. Employment is stabilizing after a long period of weakness. And expectations for holiday shopping are broadly optimistic. All of the above came from the Federal Reserve's regular "beige book" survey of the economic outlook around the country, based on data collected in October and early November. Also today, the Commerce Department reported that new orders for durable goods, or comparatively expensive manufactured products, rose in October by 3.3 percent, the largest gain in more than a year. That was up from a 2.1 percent increase in September. And the Labor Department reported that first-time claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 11,000 to 351,000 in the week ended Nov. 22. That was the lowest level since January 2001, before the economy slipped into recession. The positive reports were in line with a Commerce Department revised estimate Tuesday that economic output--the broadest measure of the economy's size--grew at a blistering annual rate of 8.2 percent in the third quarter of the year. That rate, which the Bush administration attributed to wallets fattened by tax cuts, is the fastest since 1984. Most economists expect growth to slow to between 3 percent and 4 percent. Supporting that expectation today was a Commerce Department report showing no growth in consumer spending last month. Analysts had expected a slight pickup in spending. Even with the modest slowdown in spending, 3 percent or 4 percent economic growth for the year would be considered significant, especially in the wake of the country's mild 2001 recession. The Federal Reserve Board was relatively upbeat in its generally cautious "beige book" survey of economic activity, based largely on informal interviews with the business community conducted by Federal Reserve officials across the country. "Improvements appeared to be reasonably broadly based," said the report, with most parts of the country "noting growth in a number of industries" and improvement in the labor market. Most regions, it reported, are experiencing a "slowing in layoffs and stronger demand for temporary workers." The job picture also appears to be raising hopes for the holidays. With a few exceptions, all the regional Federal Reserve banks expect holiday sales to "match or exceed last year's levels," the report said. That could further boost the economy as the country enters a presidential election year, since roughly two-thirds of all economic activity is associated with consumer spending. The Fed survey reported continuing concerns about rising health care costs, however, as well as weak demand for commercial real estate and relatively high commercial building vacancy rates. In the report on durable goods for October, economists were particularly encouraged by growth in demand for non-defense items, generally a good indicator of the overall health of manufacturing. "The rise in non-defense goods orders is telling us that firms are really beginning to open up their purse strings when it comes to capital spending," economist Eric Green of BNP Paribas in New York told the Associated Press.

To: jackhach who wrote (499182)	11/26/2003 3:05:15 PM
From: Jerrel Peters	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Time to go long the USDollar. It's no wonder you leftist liberals sit around here posting so much...you lost all your money because you are idiots. Go read a Martin Pring trading book or something...see if you can find a chapter on Bullish divergence. If not start here... To understand what a Bullish Divergence is go here: marketscreen.com Go down to the example and look at the area marked with a letter "C". Then look at the $USD chart: stockcharts.com[w,a]waclyyay[pb10!b20!f][vc60][iUo14!Lya7,14,28]&pref=G