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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rock_nj who wrote (56050)	1/24/2006 7:37:22 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362336

Some activists, politicians speaking openly about impeachment By Jim Puzzanghera Knight Ridder Newspapers Posted on Tue, Jan. 24, 2006 contracostatimes.com WASHINGTON - The word "impeachment" is popping up increasingly these days and not just off the lips of liberal activists spouting predictable bumper-sticker slogans. After the unfounded claims about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and recent news of domestic spying without warrants, mainstream politicians and ordinary voters are talking openly about the possibility that President Bush could be impeached. So is at least one powerful Republican senator, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. So far, it's just talk. And with Republicans controlling Congress - and memories still fresh of the bitter fight and national distraction inflamed by former President Clinton's 1998 impeachment - even the launching of an official inquiry is a very long shot. But a poll released last week by Zogby International showed 52 percent of American adults thought Congress should consider impeaching Bush if he wiretapped U.S. citizens without court approval, including 59 percent of independents and 23 percent of Republicans. (The survey had a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.) With numbers like that, impeachment could become an issue in this fall's congressional elections - and dramatically raise the stakes. If Democrats win control of the House of Representatives, a leading proponent of starting an official impeachment inquiry, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., would become chairman of the House committee that could pursue it. Conyers introduced legislation last month to create a special panel to investigate the Bush administration's alleged manipulation of pre-Iraq war intelligence and "make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment." He's not the only one dropping the "I word." A day later, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., wrote to four presidential scholars asking whether domestic spying by the National Security Agency was an impeachable offense. Former Vice President Al Gore said last week that the NSA wiretapping could be an impeachable offense. He delivered a blistering speech accusing Bush of "breaking the law repeatedly and insistently" and calling for a special counsel investigation and for Congress to stand up to the Bush White House. Impeachment also came up at a televised town-hall-style forum in San Francisco on Jan. 14 by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Some in the audience chanted for Bush's ouster and booed when the San Francisco Democrat said she wouldn't sign on to Conyers' bill. "I think that we should solve this issue electorally," said Pelosi, who told the crowd to channel its energy toward electing a Democratic House majority. Bush contends that he holds authority as commander in chief to order the eavesdropping on international calls of terrorism suspects without court approval. He also claims that Congress' resolution authorizing him to use force against terrorists implicitly authorized his NSA spying. But a 1978 law requires court-issued warrants for wiretapping people in the United States. And many in Congress, along with the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, said Bush is on shaky legal ground in ordering NSA spying without warrants as required by that 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Tucker Bounds, a Republican National Committee official, said talk of impeachment is "nonsense." But asked Jan. 15 what recourse there would be if Bush broke or ignored the law in authorizing wiretaps, Senate Judiciary Committee chair Specter mentioned impeachment. "I'm not suggesting remotely that there's any basis, but you're asking, really, theory, what's the remedy?" he said on ABC's "This Week." "Impeachment is the remedy." Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., said of a Bush impeachment, "I'm not saying it would happen, but I think it should be explored." She was one of a handful of House members to co-sponsor Conyers' bill, which is unlikely to get a hearing or vote as long as Republicans rule the House of Representatives. Stanford University historian Jack Rakove, a constitutional expert, said breaking the law on domestic spying would qualify as an impeachable offense, but that Congress should be hesitant to pursue it. The Clinton impeachment was a major distraction for the nation, he said. Some have suggested it hurt the U.S. effort against al-Qaida before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Despite such concerns, some liberal activists say it's time to impeach Bush. Bob Fertik, president of Democrats.com, has formed ImpeachPAC to fund campaigns of congressional candidates who support impeachment. It has raised more than $52,000 in 10 weeks. "If the truth comes out," Fertik said, "there will be an open-and-shut case for a high crime of breaking the law."

To: Rock_nj who wrote (56050)	1/24/2006 9:59:12 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362336

India's Central Bank Unexpectedly Raises Policy Rate (Update3) bloomberg.com Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- India's central bank unexpectedly raised its key interest rate for a fourth time in 15 months on concern accelerating economic growth will fuel inflation. The Reserve Bank of India increased its overnight borrowing rate to a three-year high of 5.5 percent from 5.25 percent, the Mumbai-based bank said in a statement today. Eighteen of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected the central bank to keep the rate unchanged. ``Inflationary pressures are not relenting,'' said Siddharth Mathur, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Mumbai, who accurately predicted the rate rise. ``The economy is doing really well. Salary hikes have been phenomenal. All this will translate into manufacturers raising the prices of their products.'' Faster economic growth may boost salaries in India by 7.3 percentage points above inflation in 2006, the biggest increase forecast among 70 countries that includes U.S., U.K. and Japan, according to Mercer Investment Consulting Inc. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government wants to accelerate growth to more than 8 percent a year over the next decade from an average 6 percent between 1980 and 2005. Growth in India's $665 billion economy averaged about 8 percent in the six months to Sept. 30 from 6.9 percent in the year ended March 2005. The central bank today raises its growth forecast for the current fiscal year ending March 31 to as much as 8 percent from 7.5 percent. Currency The Indian currency was little changed after the monetary policy announcement at 44.20 against the dollar as of 12:10 p.m. in Mumbai, from 44.21 yesterday, according to currency broker Kanji Pitamber & Co. ``Indications of a pick-up in aggregate demand are getting stronger. It is important to respond in a timely and pre-emptive manner,'' the central bank said in a report today. ``A measured policy response at this juncture would stabilise inflation expectations and prevent corrosive effects on growth.'' Central bank Governor Yaga Venugopal Reddy has raised the reverse repurchase rate four times in the past 15 months to keep inflation below the bank's forecast of 5 percent to 5.5 percent. The rate was raised by a quarter-point in October and April last year and in October 2004. The repurchase rate, or the rate at which India's central bank adds money to the banking system by buying bonds for a fixed period, was also today increased to 6.5 percent from 6.25 percent. Bank Rate The Reserve Bank left its benchmark lending rate, or the bank rate, unchanged at 6 percent. The bank rate is seen as a policy signal, prompting commercial banks to change lending rates. The bank rate has been held at 6 percent since April 2003, the lowest since May 1973. The central bank has used the reverse repurchase rate as its main policy tool since October 2004 when commercial lenders had surplus cash to fight inflation without increasing lending rates. A higher reverse repurchase rate lures lenders to place more funds with the central bank, leaving them with less cash to lend to companies. Bank lending rose 30.4 percent as on Jan. 6 from a year ago, the Reserve Bank of India said on Jan. 19. The government is forecasting 32 percent growth in loans in the year ending March 31, among the fastest since the central bank began collating the data in 1971. Indian oil companies were limited to a 15 percent increase in gasoline and diesel prices in 2005 by the government to protect the poor from record crude oil prices. Prices for liquified petroleum gas and kerosene, used mainly by the poor for cooking, were left unchanged. `Upward Bias' The central bank today said ``the remaining pass-through of international crude prices into domestic prices of liquified petroleum gas and kerosene portends an upward bias to inflation in 2006-07.'' Hindalco Industries Ltd., India's biggest non-ferrous metals maker, increased prices for a second time this month. Maruti Udyog Ltd., India's biggest carmaker, increased prices of Swift hatchbacks, Esteem sedans and other models for the second time in four months. Wholesale price inflation slowed to 4.24 percent in the week ended Jan. 7, the lowest since Nov. 12, the government said Jan. 19. The average pace of inflation has slowed to 4.26 percent since June from an average 5.66 percent in April and May, the first two months of the current fiscal year, Bloomberg data show. ``Inflation has stayed below the central bank's forecast for the past seven straight months, and so this rate increase was a surprise,'' said D. H. Pai Panandiker, director general at RPG Foundation, an economic policy research group in New Delhi. ``Also, there is a liquidity crunch in the banking system and one thought the bank would leave the rates unchanged.'' Bonds The yield on India's 1-year bonds have risen 54 basis points since Nov. 1 on concern accelerating demand for loans will leave banks with less cash to invest in debt. Surplus cash in the banking system had been scarce since State Bank of India bought the local currency to repay overseas Indians as much as $7.3 billion of overseas deposits that matured on Dec. 29. The central bank added an average 125 billion rupees ($2.8 billion) to banks daily over the past five weeks, indicating banks are left with little cash to buy government securities. Banks hold about 69 percent of the 10 trillion rupees of outstanding government debt, according to the central bank. -- Editor: Dwyer