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AP Political NewsBrief at 6:48 a.m. EST
(AP Online Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Louisiana voters oust indicted Rep. JeffersonNEW ORLEANS (AP) _ In a year when national Republican fortunes took a turn for the worse, Louisiana delivered the GOP two seats in Congress in elections delayed by Hurricane Gustav. Indicted Democratic U.S. Rep. William Jefferson was ousted Saturday from his New Orleans area district, while Republicans narrowly held on to the seat vacated by a retiring incumbent.
Will recession mean a toned-down inauguration?WASHINGTON (AP) _ Unemployment is on the rise. The stock market is in the tank. Is this any time for a party? For the sake of the masses of people expected for President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, let's hope so. While Obama must be sensitive to the nation's time of war and recession, there's still reason to expect a rollicking time.
AP IMPACT: Donors, lobbyists help Obama get readyFaced with hiring a new administration, President-elect Barack Obama is learning how hard it is to keep his promise to avoid aides who have been entangled with the capital's lobbying scene. An Associated Press review of more than 400 members of Obama's transition team identified at least 34 who have registered in recent years to lobby government officials on behalf of clients or employers _ some as recently as this summer. The AP's review represents the most comprehensive examination to date of people working on Obama's incoming administration.
Blackwater guards: Mercenaries or decorated vets?WASHINGTON (AP) _ Defense attorneys on Saturday lambasted U.S. indictments against decorated war veterans for deadly 2007 shootings as Iraqis welcomed the charges against five Blackwater guards in a case that fueled anti-Americanism and roiled diplomacy with Baghdad. Charges against Blackwater security guards will be unsealed Monday, more than a year after the fatal shootings of 17 Iraqi civilians. Iraqis hope the charges will finally bring justice and improve relations with the United States after the gruesome slayings on Sept. 16, 2007.
Rumsfeld nemesis Shinseki to be named VA secretaryWASHINGTON (AP) _ President-elect Barack Obama has chosen retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki to be the next Veterans Affairs secretary, turning to a former Army chief of staff once vilified by the Bush administration for questioning its Iraq war strategy. Obama will announce the selection of Shinseki, the first Army four-star general of Japanese-American ancestry, at a news conference Sunday in Chicago. He will be the first Asian-American to hold the post of Veterans Affairs secretary, adding to the growing diversity of Obama's Cabinet.
Analysis: Obama defense agenda resembles Gates'WASHINGTON (AP) _ For a Democrat whose opposition to the Iraq war was a campaign centerpiece, President-elect Barack Obama is remarkably in sync with Defense Secretary Robert Gates on many core defense and national security issues _ even Iraq. The list of similarities suggests the early focus of Obama's Pentagon may not change dramatically from President George W. Bush's.
Obama banking on large-scale public works projectCHICAGO (AP) _ President-elect Barack Obama said Saturday that he wants to revive the economy and create jobs by upgrading roads, schools and energy efficiency in a public-works program whose scale has been unseen since construction of the interstate highway system in the 1950s. He offered no price estimate for the grand plan, how the money might be divided or the effect on the country's financial health at a time of burgeoning deficits.
With time short, Congress tries to seal auto dealWASHINGTON (AP) _ Racing to seal a deal with the White House, Democratic congressional leaders dispatched aides Saturday to draft an emergency $15 billion aid package to pull Detroit's Big Three automakers from the brink of collapse. Capitol Hill leaders prepared to sell yet another bailout to a skeptical Congress. It is an uphill battle: The anger is fresh over how the Bush administration used the $700 billion Wall Street rescue fund and lawmakers are questioning whether the once-mighty auto giants can survive.
Caroline is latest Kennedy to eye NY Senate seatWASHINGTON (AP) _ Caroline Kennedy _ daughter of a slain president, niece of senators, and zealous guardian of her own privacy _ is interested in the Senate seat once held by her uncle, her cousin says. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he and the rest of the powerful Kennedy clan are urging Caroline to seek the New York governor's appointment to the Senate seat now held by Hillary Rodham Clinton _ and added she is ready and seriously considering it.
Round 2 for trial of Safavian in Abramoff caseWASHINGTON (AP) _ It's time for Round Two in the Justice Department's prosecution of David Safavian, the only person convicted by a jury of corruption charges in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and the only one whose conviction has been overturned on appeal. Safavian, the former chief of staff for the General Services Administration and the only person in the four-year scandal who opted to go to trial rather than accept a government plea deal, faces government prosecutors in U.S. District Court for a second time next week.
Copyright ? 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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