South Side Neighborhood Plan is on the web in a PDF

Welcome to the South Side - Pittsburgh: "Neighborhood Plan Update

Draft Now Available

South Side Planning Forum has made available for review a draft version of the South Side Neighborhood Plan Update. Click here to access a pdf version: 2007 NP Update Draft Final

China to track food safety at Olympic Games

SI.com - More Sports - China to track food safety at Games China to track food safety at Games

So will we.

Missed Boxing Day? Let us help. I've got a bunch of boxes 4 U

Moving?

Do you need some boxes?

We've got a bunch of boxes that I'd love to get to a new home. Some are gently used. Some are nearly new. Many are from Budget Truck Rental.

Our need for boxes is much less. We've been moving about within our house. Next up -- move these boxes to you. Partial orders welcomed.

Giggle at the PG: Invisible Men feature on the home page

Check out the P-G home page today. There is a link about 'Invisible men.' If you click on it, it goes to a page with an invisible article.

The link is on the right, down past half way. Look near the Steelers 75 link.

Screen shot art:

Home page:

Points to this invisible page:

Should Ron Paul lose weght?

The following comes from an advocate group, Downsize DC. It concerns the looming moronic decisions of FOX to hold a debate among Republican candidates for US President and exclude the one candidate who RAISED the MOST MONEY from the MOST PEOPLE who has been in Congress for ten terms and has run for PRESIDENT in the past!

Subject: Should Ron Paul Lose Weight?

Tonight's the night. The Iowa Caucuses happen this evening. We're about to get a real-world market test of the popularity of the downsizing message. Meanwhile . . .

We are seeing the power of the Downsize DC strategic approach: pressure works! The Ron Paul Army is proving the concept.

As of this hour Fox News is still planning to exclude Ron Paul from their pre-primary New Hampshire candidate forum. They don't like the small government message. They're afraid of it, and they don't want it to be heard. But their justification for it has had to change, because of . . .

THE PRESSURE

First Fox News claimed it was a decision of the New Hampshire Republican Party, but the NH GOP asserted otherwise, and called for Ron Paul to be included. The Republican Party felt . . .

THE PRESSURE

And so, Fox News now claims that the forum will be held on a bus, and there isn't enough room to hold all the candidates.

Should Ron Paul lose weight so there will be room for him? They could save even more space if they exchanged small Paul for fat Fred (sorry Senator Thompson, I couldn't resist the alliteration). It's a silly excuse, and for daring to be so lame Fox News needs to continue to feel . . .

THE PRESSURE

Hit Fox News with more messages. Here are some talking points you can use to turn up THE PRESSURE . . .

* Fred Thompson is expected to drop out of the race tomorrow. Now there's room for Ron!

* Zogby reports that Ron Paul is now in double digits in Iowa. He's at 10%, and tied with the media's favorite candidate, John McCain. Poll numbers will no longer work as an excuse to exclude the small government message.

* NewsCorp, the parent company of Fox News, is taking a major financial hit because of the exclusion. Ron Paul supporters are dumping the stock, causing the price to plummet, and the Ron Paul Army is putting pressure on Fox News advertisers to drop their ads on the network. You can see what people are saying about the NewsCorp stock here.

Send your message now. Keep up THE PRESSURE. Send your message here.

And thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army.

Perry Willis
Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

By the way, Dr. Ron Paul is fit. Meanwhile, Mike H, once was a blip. Meanwhile, Paul supporters have launched a blimp. If you want to talk wellness for the nation -- included Dr. Paul in the debates.

Lamb eager to take over as city's new controller

Culture shock.

Lamb eager to take over as city's new controller: "'Our first issue is changing the culture of that office,' Mr. Lamb said Monday. 'We will change even the day-to-day things, such as what the hours are going to be and what the dress code is.'

Great news. Matching uniforms. Just what Pittsburgh needs. The dress code in the controller's office is sure to make a huge difference.

With the new dress code, we (citizens) might be able to tell who are the paid employees and who are the consultants. Consultants are ones we pay too, but they have checks from some other person. And, those checks are paid back to campaign accounts.

The PG says: Police continue to investigate at least nine stolen city checks. The probe has been slowed by the difficulty of getting banks to turn over records. No arrest has been made.

So, the banks are not helpful. Imagine that.

I've called for 'transparent accounts' such as 'open trust funds' for all banking of public money. If those measured had been implemented, there would be NO PROBLEM with the bank slowing the records. The records should be OPEN SOURCED RECORDS for anyone to witness.

And, if my solution had been in place, the act of 'stealing checks' would be able to have been seen by anyone as it happened. There would be little need to call in the police -- as the investigation could be done online by everyone.

Open records and transparent trust accounts would work wonders. This is our money. We should be able to tell what's what at any given moment.

And, most of all, we need TRANSPARENT PAC ACCOUNTS for campaign accounts.

Of course Lamb wants to get present employees prosecuted -- as he only has a staff of three new hires. To the victor go the spoils -- in the D-mindset.

I'm glad to know that there are "controls" in the "controller's" office -- so says Tony Pokora. What has become of the bid to be named city treasurer, by the way?

Lamb has high standards. Do an audit once every four years. Shiver my timbers.

Lamb is very insightful with his expression that "city council has its issues." No Shit Sherlock! But he does NOT say, or the article does not report, that there will be an audit of city council. Perhaps we'll have to wait three and a half years for the audit. Got to get the uniforms first.

Might as well just size them all up for 'jump suits' -- if you know what I mean.

Lamb wants to increase the role of the controller at the Schools. Well, Mr. Lamb, have you resigned from the position as a board member of A+ Schools yet? A+ Schools is a nonprofit that aims to monitor Pgh Public Schools. A controller should NOT be on the board with that booster group and be an independent official.

Lamb's school thrust is to look at contracting. That has little to nothing to do with teaching our children. How many families are pulling their kids out of the schools because the competitive bidding done by the school district is just no up to par with expectations? I know that when I take my kid to school that there is a great demand on the playground for oversight in the change orders among contracts. We don't even talk about the minority contracting these days -- as it just gets too emotional for too many to even go there. Lamb to the rescue.

Then comes the grand daddy of them all -- the big naval gaze. Lamb wants to audit the auditors. And, he can't do it himself. So, he goes and beggs the overlords for the power and the money to go out and hire outside auditors to do the job that he was elected to do himself. Don't hire an accounting firm with our money to worry about what has gone 'down da river' and 'over the dam' already. Fix what needs to be fixed for the future.

Lamb should go into the new job and manage that office -- with what he's got.

PeopleSoft! Yes. Of course PeopleSoft is antiquated. All closed source code software is antiquated. Lamb should move urgently to all open source software solutions. Lamb could even hire an computer programmer with open source experiences to help manage the migration.

Lamb can get grants, write grants, go to Sourceforge, go to CMU, go to Pitt, go to Ice Land. Go to where the open code is being used now. And, it is free. It is gratis too!

Of course the state is paying two firms to review the city's needs. Firms have employees that make kick-backs and campaign donations. I would rather hire a few open-source programmers to coordinate the migration to open-source ways.

---

Update: Tony won't be hired by Luke as Treasurer.
Trib article.

Historical understandings of a one party town -- and the carpet

Dan Sullivan uploaded an article by Frank Chodorov in the July 1940 *Freeman*, based on his interview with William McNair, who had been mayor of Pittsburgh from 1933 - 1935.

http://savingcommunities.org/docs/chodorov.frank/mcnairpurpose.html


People will probably need some background to fully appreciate this article, so here goes:

Pittsburgh was a one-party town. Every mayor but one had been Republican from 1856 through 1932. Serious Democrats didn't want to even try a race there, so McNair became a "perennial candidate" in order to have a soap-box for his Georgist and libertarian doctrines.

The previous non-Republican mayor, elected in 1906, abolished a corrupt assessment system and ushered in a change in property taxes, so that land values paid a tax rate twice as high as the rate on improvements (buildings). McNair wanted to abolish the building tax altogether and put it all on land. There were no other city taxes at that time.

In a strange alignment of forces beyond McNair's influence, he was swept into office. Part of it was that the coat-tail effect of FDR's tremendous popularity carried down to McNair, even though McNair was denouncing FDR's proposals as socialist and totalitarian.

Another was that the Mayor Kline, the Republican incumbent, had just been indicted on an issue that would be considered trivial by today's standards (or lack thereof) but was scandalous at the time. It seems that Kline had the city pay his brother-in-law to recarpet the mayor's office with a very expensive oriental carpet. (That carpet was still looking good in the 1980s, and Democrats would stand on it and say, "Buying this carpet was the best thing old Kline ever did.")

Anyhow, Kline resigned under pressure and was replaced, as both the mayor and the Republican candidate for mayor, by a politically weak councilman named Herron. McNair beat Herron to become mayor, and not one non-Democrat was ever elected to a Pittsburgh office again.

Chodorov, who had taken over the editorship of *The Freeman* from Albert Jay Nock, was, as Nock had been, a proponent of Henry George's land value tax as the foundation of a free-market libertarian system. He was also the director of the Henry George School of New York at the time of this article, but shortly thereafter was fired from the school because he was opposing our involvement in World War II, and opposing related policies like the draft.

Anyhow, that's the main cast of characters, and all the background information one would need to appreciate the article. However, I do want to call attention to the last eight paragraphs, which contain McNair's advice that reformers should educate the public rather than seek office. That advice comes near the bottom of the article. The following URL will link to it directly:

http://savingcommunities.org/docs/chodorov.frank/mcnairpurpose.html#folly

On Foreign Entanglements: The Ties that Strangle

On Foreign Entanglements: The Ties that Strangle: "This is the problem with our government involvement in the internal affairs of other nations. Our friend one day is our enemy the next. And all our friends' enemies become our enemies. How many times have we armed BOTH sides of a conflict because of this? There is little for us to gain from this policy, and simultaneously a lot of trouble we get ourselves into. It is not a rational or intelligent way to interact with the world.

Then there is the "underdog" status.



They say that Iowa is going to have 60% of the people going to the caucus meetings who have NEVER been to one before. And, they are saying that 45% of the participants are non Dems. Humm...

Parks, small businesses top Onorato's agenda - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Parks, small businesses top Onorato's agenda - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Efforts to bolster local businesses and renovate and privatize some Allegheny County park facilities will top the second-term agenda of county Chief Executive Dan Onorato, the Democratic leader said during his inauguration today.

The only time Onorato talks and leads a discussion about parks is around a geese killing.

The way to fix parks is to merge Citiparks and County Parks and Rec into a new Pittsburgh Park District. And, leave the foundations to private efforts -- not parks.

THE HYDRAULIC STINK BOMB

THE HYDRAULIC STINK BOMB THE HYDRAULIC STINK BOMB

The worst satire on the web -- or your money back!

New blog with comments enabled and a blog roll that links to my blog as well!

polishlinux.org -- Free software in Polish schools

polishlinux.org - Free software in Polish schools Thousands of Polish high school students now have a chance to learn about GNU/Linux and the benefits of using free software as Polish FLOSS foundation together with school headmasters, supported by local authorities organize a series of lectures on free software in education. PolishLinux.org has a report — summary of the first 3 months of the campaign.

We are going to get pounded by the rest of the world. Our schools are not using open source software as they should.

The proposed Science and Technology school slated for Pittsburgh, in the future, perhaps, should have everything centered upon open source software. Everything. All the majors would have to have to have understandings into this type of technology.

Pa. official explains plan for high school graduation exam

Pa. official explains plan for high school graduation exam: Pa. official explains plan for high school graduation exam
Wednesday, January 02, 2008

By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pennsylvania high school students would take a graduation exam in stages under a proposal state Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak discussed this morning with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial board.

So, what do you think of this? Reactions welcomed.

The exam would come into play when the present 6th grade class gets to graduation. That's a long time away. I would think, and hope, that the timeline for a district wide exam could be put into place much sooner.

Who gets to speak at the 'hearing?' Is there any public comment? Or, do the experts get to do all the thinking and grading?

Would the need for an exam be something that the PA Board of Ed can do without any legislative action on the part of those that are elected?

To pilot a program sounds a bit like being 'lab rats.' I'm not sure I want our kids being 'test testers.'

Again, the 'officials' have proposed a graduation exam. That's a local aim from 'officials.' But, the officials are not the customers, the parents, the taxpayers nor the ones who need to be 'consulted.'

If the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship depends upon the performance on a test -- why is it important to have the kids in school for a certain amount of days to qualify for the scholarship. If this is a test for performance sake -- then set that as the priority. If this is a scholarship for good behavior and attendance -- then performance and test taking should not matter.

The real 'test' for the kids comes in both getting into the college or university of their choice. And, next, they need to not flunk out once they are there.

Striking Teachers in Pittsburgh -- now without a contract -- loom larger for early 2008

Here is some dirt about an important player in the Pittsburgh school landscape. I don't find this to be too, too, too bad. Union workers have a long tradition of being part of the 'company' and being on 'leave.' Railroad, steel workers and others in other unions and in other industries have been working on behalf of the members while NOT doing the day-to-day job of the rank-and-file.

John Tarka might not be elected by his union members. If that was the case, he'd go back to the classroom, I'd assume.

John Tarka should be getting the same benefits, such as retirement, as the people he represents. Then his deal is like their deal. So, I'm not as outraged as the dirt digging from Simon. But, this is worthy of general knowledge.

Message from Simon (part 1, but not in timeline order)

Dear members of the media (covering the Pittsburgh teacher contract dispute),

With the assistance of Union President, John Tarka, strike authorization was recently issued by the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers (PFT). If there is a strike in the Pittsburgh school district it will be the biggest teacher strike in Pennsylvania in over 15 years (28,000 students, 2,600 teachers). In response to this threat, StopTeacherStrikes, Inc. has publicly posted the individual names & salaries of all Pittsburgh teachers, alongside census data and teacher union campaign contributions at its web site (www.stopteacherstrikes.org). Direct link:

http://www.stopteacherstrikes.org/index.php?pr=Allegheny

There is interesting new information emerging about PFT President, John Tarka. Below is communication with Pittsburgh school district officials. Christopher Berdnick is the Business Manager & Ira Weiss is the district solicitor - please feel free to verify this information with these sources.

John Tarka is listed as a Pittsburgh public employee being paid a salary of $77,800 while on "special assignment". As seen below, his special assignment is working for the private organization called the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers. And he's been on this "assignment" for the last 24 years. Here is how it works:

- Tarka is paid his salary every year by the school district and gets annual raises per the union contract (CBA) just like any other teacher

- Tarka receives pension benefits and accrues years of service from the school district just like any other teacher

- Tarka puts in for annual leave every year which gets automatically approved

- The Union reimburse the school district each year for the cost of Tarka's salary/pension benefits while he is on leave

- The Union separately pay Tarka an additional $20,000/year as reported on their federal LM2 disclosure form

So we have the amazing situation where PFT Union President, John Tarka, is able to "use" a public school district while actually working for the union ... thus moving towards a fully vested, taxpayer-funded, guaranteed defined-benefit pension for the rest of his life. At retirement he'll go straight onto the taxpayer's dime, even though he hasn't taught in the Pittsburgh school district in 24 years. It is outrageous.

It is one more example of the abusive power of the teachers' union in Pennsylvania. If John Tarka is not working for the school district then he should be on union payroll and his pension should be private and linked to his work for the union, and not to his non-work for the school district.

PFT union president, John Tarka, has no moral authority to be involved in issuing strike threats inside the Pittsburgh school district. Because Tarka stands to personally gain from additional public monies spent on teacher benefits, yet he is not even teaching at Pittsburgh.

---
Simon Campbell
President, StopTeacherStrikes Inc.
668 Stony Hill Rd. #298
Yardley, PA 19067
Tel: 215-586-3573
http://www.stopteacherstrikes.org

---

--- Original Message ---
From: "Berdnik, Christopher"
To: Simon Campbell
Cc: Weiss, Ira
Sent: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 08:54:36 -0500
Subject: RE: Question about John Tarka

1. Yes
2. I do not believe so under the language in the CBA
3. Yes
4. Yes

---

-----Original Message-----
From: Simon Campbell [mailto:SCampbell@stopteacherstrikes.org]
Sent: Friday, December 28, 2007 1:41 PM
To: Berdnik, Christopher
Cc: Weiss, Ira
Subject: RE: Question about John Tarka

Wow. Does it require school board approval each year to keep his annual leave going? Does the school board have the legal right to say "no" to his leave request and require that he return to the classroom?

My presumption is that Mr. Tarka has been getting annual raises per the CBA as an employee since 1984? And I also assume that his years on leave count as years of service for the purpose of calculating his pension benefits?

---
Simon Campbell
President, StopTeacherStrikes Inc.
668 Stony Hill Rd. #298
Yardley, PA 19067
Tel: 215-586-3573
http://www.stopteacherstrikes.org

---

----
On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 13:36:02 -0500, Berdnik, Christopher wrote:

Mr. Tarka has been on a leave for union business since 8/23/1984, and applies every school year to be on a leave for that period.

As a side note, I don't think that Pgh Public Schools has that many students in the district as stated above.

---

Update

Pittsburgh talk radio, Marty Griffin, discusses Pittsburgh Union President John Tarka's "sweetheart deal" (Tarka calls in to speak!):
http://www.stopteacherstrikes.org/Media/Radio/GriffinJan3.mp3

Central PA talk radio, Bob Durgin, on same topic:
http://www.stopteacherstrikes.org/Media/Radio/DurginJan3.mp3

Pittsburgh Hires N.C. Company To Find City Surveillance Cameras - Pittsburgh News Story - WTAE Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Hires N.C. Company To Find City Surveillance Cameras - Pittsburgh News Story - WTAE Pittsburgh A North Carolina firm is helping Pittsburgh find a surveillance system that will suit the city's security needs.

Start by pointing all the cameras at the public officials and public treasury.

Look for the missing checks in the controller's office.

See and hear what the questions are in the County Treasurer's office about the new drink tax.

Watch the daily income for PAT on each bus route, now that it costs each rider an extra $.25.

See the now hidden deals of who gets what in the halls of city council as a new president politics for a post among peers.

Look into the parking spaces on Grant Steet to see who is showing up for work and when they arrive.

Alan Greenspan Congressional Testimony on Gold with Ron Paul

Alan Greenspan Congressional Testimony on Gold with Ron Paul The Greenspan-Paul Congressional Exchanges
1997-2005

Next up, FOX News, a billion-zillion-corporation, is getting tanked by the Paul supporters.

Peoria Journal Star hosts a debate with three candidates, no cage, and 5-minutes per answer

I could live with this format in more debates.

PJStar.com - Journal Star News: "In a departure from traditional debate formats, each candidate will get to answer the panelists' questions and then alternate thereafter. From there, the three candidates will be allowed to discuss and debate the answer and the subject as they like for a total of five minutes without moderator interference. This format helps to ensure a combination of traditional debate questions and answers as well as a spirited exchange of ideas.

A pox on both their parties

I'm leaving the GOP, but not for the Democrats

By STEVEN GREENHUT

Senior editorial writer and columnist
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/opinion/columns/article_1681184.php#

Last weekend, I announced my not-so-Earth-shattering decision to leave the Republican Party. In the era of George W. Bush, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Arnold Schwarzenegger, I simply have had enough. While I've been pleased by the correspondence I've received, most of it from other disaffected Republicans who are sick of the party's abandonment of its stated "liberty" principles, I've left some readers confused about where my allegiances now lie.

Here's my chance to elaborate a little further.

The country has devolved so much into a two-party system that many folks believe that if you abandon one party, you must necessarily take up common cause with the other one. Yet if a restaurant gives you a choice between eating food laced with rat poison or with arsenic, you might want to eat somewhere else, even if it's a long drive until the next rest stop and even if the new restaurant hasn't gotten great reviews.

So ... no, I have not become a Democrat. I haven't criticized Democrats too much in recent months, mainly because it's so pointless.

Let me reiterate the obvious reasons why I will not return to the party of my youth. It's long been clear to believers in free markets and limited government that the Democratic Party is committed mostly to European-style socialism. Ever fearful of the free market and hostile to the free choices individuals would make if left on their own (with the sole exception being what they call "reproductive freedom"), the Democrats ceaselessly advocate for more government control of the economy, more far-reaching cradle-to-grave social programs -- never mind that such programs can't sustain themselves over the long term, and that government "services" are notoriously wretched compared with those offered by market-based companies in a competitive environment.

Listen to the Democratic presidential candidates argue over who proposes the most gigantic government-controlled health care system, with only one candidate (John Edwards) honest enough to admit such a scheme will require massive tax increases. Being a Democratic candidate means that good intentions are more important than rigorous analysis. The party expresses one constant concern: how to get "greedy" working stiffs to shift more of their income to the government sector. As that sector has gotten bigger, with more than half of all Americans receiving support from government or working directly for some agency, it's become easier to call for more government.

This "we know best" attitude also results in the party's constant embrace of the Nanny State -- the term applied to the endless laundry list of petty rules involving even our most personal choices. Because bans on, say, smoking at beaches or driving without seat belts or spanking children are for our "own good," a lot of folks forget that if you pass the above-mentioned rules, then you need lots of cops to arrest smokers, lots of jails in which to put non-seatbelt-wearers and lots of foster homes in which to put the spanked kids rescued from their "abusive" parents. The Nanny State squelches freedom.

I'm convinced that if many Dems had their way, there would be virtually no area of life beyond their prying eyes, no source of income beyond their prying hands (hence their hostility to property rights), no place where we could retreat to get away from their unceasing desire to regulate us, tax us, prod us, improve us, instruct us, educate us and control us. And, of course, there's nothing Dems love more than a good moral crusade (i.e., global warming) to bludgeon the rest of us into giving them more money and power.

That's why I stuck so long with the Republican Party, seeing it as -- in a two-party system -- the only counterbalance to the above-outlined lunacy. But the GOP has become just like the Democrats in pandering to special interest groups, advocating for large government, supporting new entitlements and social programs. Sure, Republican socialism goes only two-thirds as far as Democratic socialism. And, sure, Republicans are half-hearted about the new wasteful domestic programs they propose. But Republicans have their own agenda that truly excites them. It's even more expensive than the Democratic agenda, in terms of dollars and liberty.

Republicans seem to unite on one thing: support for war. Whenever America attacks a nation -- an increasingly common phenomenon, under either party's watch -- Republicans are in the front row, cheering. Never mind that the founders opposed a foreign policy devoted to slaying foreign dragons.

Republicans are the more zealous of the two parties about building up a security state with unbridled abilities to monitor and arrest people. Republicans, despite their blather about limited government, are unyielding in their support for government police agencies at all levels. They seem genuinely unconcerned about police abuses, government secrecy (unless practiced by a Democratic administration) and due process. To them, those are silly fixations of liberal judges. Republicans are so enamored of the "war on drugs" that they mostly oppose even the most modest reforms -- i.e., allowing sick people to smoke medical marijuana, allowing farmers to grow industrial hemp, focusing on treatment of drug-using offenders rather than hard prison time.

Many Republicans take an excessively punitive approach to life. They embrace the idea that everyone in prison is a hardened criminal, and continually pass new laws to ratchet up penalties for every offense imaginable. Hey, I'm all for keeping the really bad guys locked up, but the pendulum has swung too far in the "throw away the key" direction. Yet Republicans view any mention of injustices in our criminal justice system as tantamount to being "pro-criminal," and they seem perfectly happy just building more prisons to deal with the problem.

At the local level, by the way, Republican politicians have been just as hostile to property rights as Democrats as they seek to control everything that goes on within "their" city.

There are great people in both parties, and some good ideas that come from members of those parties. But, in general, I'd say a pox on both houses.

Now, for the answer to the question that most people have asked me: What party am I joining? Nothing wrong with registering as "Decline to State" and avoiding any new entangling alliances. But I'll hang around the GOP long enough to vote in the Republican primary for Rep. Ron Paul, the only consistent defender of freedom in Congress. Then I'll probably re-register as a big "L" Libertarian, if they don't mind having me. I've got some issues with the Libertarian Party -- i.e., I wish it were more serious about fielding winnable candidates in local races, and it has sported some weird candidates on the ballot at times. But it's filled with good, albeit cantankerous folks who love freedom. So I should fit in pretty well.

Video: Polar bear plunge

The P-G calls me, "NORMALLY SANE."

Video: Polar bear plunge: "These normally sane people delight in taking a morning plunge into the icy waters of the Mon.

How Dare You. Not a vote has been cast -- except by the big-time bigots within the media -- such as FOX NEWS executives

The first in the nation folks are not happy. The GOP in NH has sent its support that RON PAUL -- and all candidates -- should be included.

Ron Paul Furious over Fox Debate Snub

Tuesday, January 1, 2008 1:34 PM

Fox News says it has limited space in its studio, which leaves Rep. Ron Paul out of a weekend debate.

NEW YORK -- ABC and Fox News Channel are narrowing the field of presidential candidates invited to debates this weekend just before the New Hampshire primary, in Fox's case infuriating supporters of Republican Rep. Ron Paul.

Fox News says it has limited space in its studio, which leaves Rep. Ron Paul out of a weekend debate.

The roster of participants for ABC's back-to-back, prime-time Republican and Democratic debates Saturday in New Hampshire will be determined after results of Thursday's Iowa caucus become clear.

Fox, meanwhile, has invited five GOP candidates to a forum with Chris Wallace scheduled for its mobile studio in New Hampshire on Sunday. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee received invites, leaving Paul of Texas and Rep. Duncan Hunter of California on the sidelines.

The network said it had limited space in its studio -- a souped-up bus -- and that it invited candidates who had received double-digit support in recent polls.

In a nationwide poll conducted December 14-20 by The Associated Press and Yahoo, Thompson had the support of 11 percent of GOP voters and Paul was at 3 percent. Paul's support is at 6 percent in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted in early December.

Paul was tied with Thompson for fifth in New Hampshire in the most recent Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, each with the support of 4 percent of likely voters. Among all New Hampshire voters, Paul led Thompson 6 percent to 4 percent, but that was within the poll's margin of error.

Jesse Benton, Paul's spokesman, said it was a "big mistake" not to include Paul, especially given Paul's recent success in fundraising. He said the campaign has been trying to reach Fox News to get an explanation for the decision, but its calls had not been returned.

"There very well might be some bias," Benton said. "Ron brings up some topics that aren't very popular with Fox News, as in fiscal responsibility and withdrawing from the war in Iraq ... that does leave us scratching our heads a little bit about whether it was deliberate. Based on metrics, I don't see how you can possibly exclude Dr. Paul."

Some livid Paul supporters are distributing e-mails calling for a boycott of Fox advertisers.

A Fox representative did not immediately return calls for comment about the complaints.

Paul has been invited to a GOP forum that Fox News is sponsoring in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on January 10, Benton said.

To participate in ABC's Saturday night debate, Republican and Democratic candidates must meet at least one of three benchmarks: place first through fourth in Iowa, poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major New Hampshire surveys, or poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major national surveys.

ABC News anchor Charles Gibson said the criteria were actually quite inclusive. He defended the network taking the initiative in effectively narrowing the field at a point when no actual voters had cast a ballot, except for Iowa caucus-goers.

"You will have had a year's politicking," he said. "You will have had, I think by count, about 641 debates. You will have had national polls and state polls and one state's vote. I think that's pretty indicative."

Gibson said ABC explained the rules for participation in a conference call with all the campaigns and "nobody said, "How dare you!'