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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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Welcome back to the Hardball Briefing...Returning from my sojourn it appears at this
hour the three big stories we're working on today are Iraq, Hillary and offshore tax
havens...In the A block, Barnicle will do Bibi and Peter Arnett on the Iraq stuff...
Fred Dicker (remember him from the old days? He's the NY Post's Albany chief) and
Christopher Hitchens will do the Hillary segment...Apparently she was on the war path
at that DLC conference...We're tracking down the sound on it but I got the stories
below...This segment will be so much fun we're not even going to save it for the
Buzz...We're putting it in B!...Btw, Hitchens has a new book coming out soon: "Why
Orwell Matters"...
Mortman is still working out topics for the "Real Deal" and the D block debate will be
on companies incorporating in places like Bermuda to avoid high taxes...John Barry of
the Tax Foundation supports it and TBD opposes it...Is this the next target in the
corporate crackdown front? You may not believe it, but the issue is creating some
waves in the Homeland Security legislation...BTW, Bush signed the corporate reform
bill today...Story below
The buzz guests are still TBD at this point (We may have a Racicot/McAuliffe matchup)
but look for some DLC sound of Dems bashing Bush and Dems bashing Gore's 2000
message...Why did Lieberman join the bandwagon? You make the call...
In other news, Condit said some goofy stuff in an Esquire magazine interview...I got
that below and we may even excerpt some of it on air tonight...I don't know why, but
that seems to be the only Washington story people outside the Beltway want to talk
about...Honestly, I don't have any more idea what actually happened than you..
Btw, for the Hollywood subscribers out there...Let me know your thoughts on the just
released "The Kid Stays in the Picture" flick...It doesn't open here until August
9th...According to Lloyd Grove today, Evans is a closet Republican...
Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Hardball Briefing to the soulful sounds
of a DC native, Marvin Gaye, in Washington, DC
Because the U.S. would have to pay most of the cost and bear the brunt of any oil
price shock, an American attack on Iraq could profoundly affect the economy. (NY
Times)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=68&ncid=68&e=2&u=/nyt/20020730/ts_nyt/profound_effect_on_u_s__economy_seen_in_a_war_on_iraq
Destroying Iraqi weapons with bombs is difficult because Baghdad hides its weapons,
moves them and knows U.S. secrets for detecting them, Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld says. (Associated Press)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20020730/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_19&e=1
King Abdullah of Jordan said Tuesday the Arabs have little trust in the United States
using its influence to pressure Israel to give up the West Bank, Gaza and part of
Jerusalem. (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=540&ncid=721&e=6&u=/ap/20020730/ap_on_re_mi_ea/us_mideast_5
Howie Kurtz: Message to Iraq: We're Coming (Maybe)...Why don't we just e-mail Saddam
Hussein one of those Yahoo maps, showing the exact invasion route?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20283-2002Jul30.html
D Block backgrounder: Congress Targets Tax Havens...House Vote Shows Perception of
Corporate Abuse http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18751-2002Jul29.html
Hoping to restore investor confidence, President Bush signed into law the most
far-reaching government crackdown on business fraud since the post-Depression era.
(AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=544&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20020730/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_business_scandals_12
Fun Hillary News...
Previewing an expected Democratic campaign theme in the fall elections, Sen. Hillary
Clinton said yesterday that President Bush and congressional Republicans have
squandered the economic gains made when her husband was President. (NY Daily News)
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/7002p-6517c.html
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton attacked President Bush yesterday using an anecdote
about hard-drinking President Ulysses S. Grant, in an episode that left some
suspecting the reference was a not so subtle dig at Bush's own past drinking problem.
(NewsMax) http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/7/30/80226
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton stole the show at a New York gabfest of 2004 Democratic
presidential wannabes yesterday with a passionate defense of her husband's policies
and a sharp attack on President Bush's team as pals of the rich (NY Post)
http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/53683.htm
Sen. John Edwards told centrist Democrats Tuesday that fiscal responsibility has
vanished from the government since Republicans claimed the White House from the
Clinton administration. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=548&u=/ap/20020730/ap_on_el_ge/democrats_24&ncid=703
A phalanx of potential presidential contenders ganged up on President Bush yesterday,
accusing him of undermining the economy and weakening the stock market. (The
Washington Times) http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20020730-1122536.htm
Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 2000, joined other
centrist Democrats on Monday in blaming the populist message that Al Gore adopted in
that campaign for their election loss (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020730/4316856s.htm
Leading Democrats launched a series of stinging attacks on President Bush here today,
challenging his handling of the economy, response to corporate accountability scandals
and conduct of the war on terrorism while charging there is a "leadership deficit" in
Washington that they are prepared to fill. (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18568-2002Jul29.html?referer=email
Confidence in President Bush's handling of the economy is eroding as Americans worry
about the turmoil on Wall Street and corporate corruption scandals, a USA
TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll released Monday shows.
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020730/4316890s.htm
The Senate will not vote on its bill to create a Department of Homeland Security until
it returns from a summer recess after Labor Day, all but dashing the hopes of
establishing the new agency by the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. (The
Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18738-2002Jul29.html?referer=email
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was in Southeast Asia yesterday to discuss
terrorism with his counterparts in the region where, according to a fresh,
meticulously researched assessment, Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terror network is
pervasive and will be hard to dislodge. (The Washington Times)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20020730-6419379.htm
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday that air strikes alone cannot
destroy Saddam Hussein's buried and mobile sites for weapons of mass destruction. (The
Washington Times) http://washingtontimes.com/national/20020730-83465321.htm
The Bush White House has decided to transform what was a temporary effort to rebut
Taliban disinformation about the Afghan war into a permanent, fully staffed "Office of
Global Communications" to coordinate the administration's foreign policy message and
supervise America's image abroad, according to senior officials. (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18822-2002Jul29.html
Senate Majority at Risk in Torricelli's Ethics Ruling (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18676-2002Jul29.html?referer=email
Suicide bomber hits Jerusalem...A suspected Palestinian suicide bomber detonated
explosives Tuesday in central Jerusalem, killing himself and injuring four Israelis,
police said.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/677951.asp
Giuliani touting Dole...Former New York mayor stumps for Senate candidate (Raleigh
News & Observer) http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nc/story/1593930p-1621753c.html
Reliable Source: What in the World Is Gary Condit Thinking?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18299-2002Jul29.html
Rep. Gary Condit claims the media wanted him to say he "did" slain intern Chandra
Levy, and compares newscaster Connie Chung to Russian President Vladimir Putin in an
angry, defiant interview, it was reported today. (NY Post)
http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/53676.htm
Preparing to sentence former Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., a federal judge Tuesday
rejected his argument that he should not be sanctioned because he has already been
punished by expulsion from the House. (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=519&ncid=716&e=7&u=/ap/20020730/ap_on_re_us/traficant_trial_8
Capital Comment: Daily news notes, political rumors and important...events that shape
politics and public policy in Washington and the world
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0702/capital_comment.html
Opinion/Editorial
Invade Iraq, but bring friends...Done right, a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq would be the
single best path to reform the Arab world, writes Fareed Zakaria in Newsweek.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/786598.asp
Fusilli: 'Rising' to the Occasion...Bruce Springsteen on Sept. 11.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110002057
Podhoretz: When President Bush and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill say the economy is
strong, they're not spinning.
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/53592.htm
The Wall Street Journal: O'Neill v. Rubin...Smackdown for Clinton-era financier.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002058
Gaffney: There appears to be surrounding John Ashcroft the sort of Right-Left
Washington mugging that often precedes a Cabinet member's precipitous, and usually
involuntary, departure from office. Don't bet on it this time.
http://washingtontimes.com/commentary/20020730-75784201.htm
Bray: They'll Second That Amendment ...Michigan Democrats embrace gun rights.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/tbray/?id=110002056
The Washington Times: Lieberman's continuing stonewall...Citigroup and its Salomon
Smith Barney unit were primarily responsible for Enron's financial statements not
representing the company's true financial condition.
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20020730-97837236.htm
Horowitz: The Destructive Romance of the Intellectuals
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/horowitz.html
Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/
Mallard Fillmore http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp
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