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************************************ GOP's New Man of Steele "The Republican Party's newest rising star has to be Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. Newly inaugurated, Steele may be the first black Republican to hold statewide office in The Free State but he is also one of a growing number of blacks running for and winning elective office as candidates of the GOP. "One idea is that Steele, an ardent Catholic, will mount a challenge to Democrat Sen. Barbara Mikulski if she runs for re-election in 2004. A number of state and national GOP analysts think Steele would cut into Mikulski's support in Baltimore City while winning just about every other county in the state." - Peter Roff, UPI's Capital Comment, 1/29/03 *********************************** Go Forth and e-Multiply If you know someone who might like to receive News & Views, you can sign 'em up at: http://www.chuckmuth.com. ************************************ Return of Monkey Business "Former Sen. Gary Hart of Colorado, the political golden boy of the '80s whose presidential quest was derailed by scandal, has hopes of becoming the 'comeback kid' of the White House race for 2004. . . . He said he would announce his presidential candidacy in March if he decides that voters are receptive. "...Larry Sabato, a professor of government at the University of Virginia, flatly dismissed the likelihood of a Hart candidacy. 'It's lunacy,' he said. 'The Democrats are not about to throw away a decent chance to unseat George W. Bush by nominating a man who is remembered chiefly because he had a Bill Clinton-size problem when it came to scandal.' "Mr. Hart's brush with scandal forced him out of the presidential race of 1988 when he was the Democratic front-runner. His involvement with model Donna Rice, who was photographed sitting on the candidate's lap, as well as a cruise on a boat called 'Monkey Business' capped other rumors about his marital infidelities and ended his run for the White House." - Scripps Howard News Service, 1/29/03 ************************************ RINO Watch "Five Republicans and six Democrats in the Senate are trying to come up with a 'centrist' alternative to President Bush's tax-cut proposal. The Republicans are the usual high-spending, high-taxing suspects: Olympia Snowe, Lincoln Chafee, Susan Collins, George Voinovich ... and one addition to the ranks, Norm Coleman. He is new to the neighborhood, having been elected in November, but already hanging with a bad crowd. "Perhaps Coleman's behavior would make sense if the good people of Minnesota had wanted a senator who would restrain Bush's tax-cutting. But if that's what they wanted, the could have elected Walter Mondale." - National Review editorial ************************************ The Term for Today, Class: "Grade Inflation" "High school seniors are studying less but getting better grades than their predecessors and are spending more time on the computer for both research and fun, according to an annual nationwide study by the University of California at Los Angeles. "...'The best interpretation we can make is that grade inflation has been increasing because of all the pressure on teachers from students and parents to help them become more competitive for college,' said UCLA professor Alexander Astin, director of the school's Higher Education Research Institute and the survey's founder. 'Each year we think it can't inflate anymore. And then it does again. The C-grade is almost a thing of the past.'" - Washington Times, 1/28/03 ************************************ Resident Rates for Legal Residents Only "Lawmakers said yesterday they don't know how many illegal aliens attend Virginia's public colleges and universities, but none of them should get a tuition discount. . . . Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore..., a Republican, is supporting legislation scheduled for debate today in the House of Delegates that would require illegal aliens to pay full tuition while in a Virginia community college, college or university. 'We need to make it crystal clear that illegal aliens are not to receive the state rate,' he said. 'Virginia residents should not be subsidizing illegal activity.'" - Washington Times, 1/29/03 ************************************ Show Me the Money "I am a trial lawyer by profession. As such, I understand that lawyers are sometimes necessary and in my career I've obviously participated in my share of lawsuits. That being said, sometimes I am really embarrassed by my former colleagues. Some of them will pursue any lawsuit, regardless of its merit, if they think they can make a buck. There is always some great imagined wrong to be righted, or some huge superfluous injury to be redressed, but the fact is, they just want the money." - California State Assemblyman Ray Haynes *********************************** Doc Crisis Hits Two More States "More than 800 doctors in Florida, and a dozen more in Mississippi, stayed off the job yesterday to protest rising malpractice-insurance costs. . . . Complaints about higher insurance rates, driven in part by jury awards for malpractice, are being heard from doctors around the country." - Associated Press, 1/28/03 ********************************** Breast Implants & the Trial Lawyers "Silicone breast implants are coming back. That's good news for breast cancer survivors and other women who want implants. Blocking the way, though, are junk science-fueled, anti-implant activists and their personal injury lawyer-sponsors who may be poised to steer the outcome of an upcoming federal report on SBI safety. "...SBIs are the poster child of 1990s' junk science. That decade saw personal lawyers generate about 170,000 plaintiffs, now in the final stages of extorting a $4.5 billion settlement from former SBI manufacturers. "Yet no scientific evidence supported claims that SBIs caused disease -- so concluded a comprehensive 1999 review of the relevant scientific data by multidisciplinary experts at the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine. "But the report came too late to prevent the damage done by Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler's 1992 ban on SBIs. Kessler's shoot-first-ask-questions-later action was a bureaucratic blunder that opened the litigation floodgates. The ban forced implant manufacturers to buy peace from tort lawyers rather than risk unpredictable litigation that might last for decades." - Steve Milloy of JunkScience.com ******************************** Extortionist Disbarred "The Florida Supreme Court has disbarred a Fort Lauderdale attorney accused of filing a string of racial discrimination lawsuits against employers such as Ocean Spray and BellSouth, which a federal judge labeled as extortion. Norman Ganz was disbarred for allowing his paralegal, a convicted felon, to engage in the unlicensed practice of law, charge an excessive fee and represent clients with adverse interests. "...They were accused of filing a string of lawsuits against employers such as Ocean Spray, BellSouth, Broward County, Fla., and the Broward County School Board, then threatening to bring in the NAACP as a plaintiff. In return, the lawyers gave NAACP chapters some of the settlement money. ... The cases also led to the ouster of Roosevelt Walters, former head of the Fort Lauderdale NAACP." - Overlawyered.com, 1/26/03 *********************************** Satan's Highway "New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) is working to change the name of U.S. 666, which runs through the northwestern part of the state. The Biblical number 'discourages tourism and economic development,' officials claim." - Reason Express, 1/28/03 ************************************ Long Savings on Long Distance Just 4.97 cents/minute (5.97 cents for some non-regional bell companies) * All state-to-state calls in the continental U.S. * Residential or commercial * 6-second billing increments after the first 18 seconds * 24 hours/day * 7 days/week * No access codes * No minimums * No activation fees * No monthly service charge unless your bill is less than $20.00 a month (then a $2.50 service charge will apply) * No need to change your local phone company * No hassles * Easy sign-up. *And a small portion of each bill goes to help continue publishing our FREE Chuck Muth's News & Views e-newsletter. go to <http://www.GOPLongDistance.com> today. ********************************* ********************************* Published by The Goldwater Club Chuck Muth Editor/Publisher P.O. Box 15307 Middle River, MD 21220 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The opinions and views expressed in Chuck Muth's News & Views reflect those of the writers, editors and columnists therein and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the sponsors, advertisers ... heck, even some of our readers. To be REMOVED, go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/newsletter/ and complete the removal request instructions you'll find there. Or send your request to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # #
