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ECONOMY - RHETORIC VERSUS REALITY: This week, President Bush said, “When it comes to creating jobs for American workers, we are turning the corner and we're not going back.” It's not time to pop the champagne quite yet. According to today's report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. employers added “just an eighth of the number [of jobs] forecast. The new figures bolster "evidence that a slowdown in economic growth may extend into the third quarter.” On top of that, job numbers for recent months weren't as positive as previously thought: “Job gains also were revised lower for the preceding two months, to 78,000 for June and 208,000 in May, or 61,000 less than originally stated.” Keep in mind, about 150,000 jobs need to be added just to keep up with growth in the labor force. This month, only 32,000 were added.
HALLIBURTON - MORE REASONS IT SHOULD GET NO-BID CONTRACTS: According to a new filing by four former Halliburton employees, Vice President Cheney's former company was guilty of inflating its financial results, overbilling for services, overstating its accounts receivable due from customers, and understating accounts payable owed to vendors. The employees “contend that a high-level and systemic accounting fraud occurred at the company from 1998 to 2001,” including during the two years when Cheney was Halliburton's chief executive. “The filing accuses the company of accounting improprieties that go far beyond those outlined by the Securities and Exchange Commission in its civil suit against Halliburton, which the company settled on Tuesday, paying $7.5 million.” It notes that one former employee in accounting said superiors told her to do “whatever it took” to make projects appear profitable and to meet Wall Street estimates for the company's earnings. According to a quarterly filing it also made on Tuesday, Halliburton is under investigation by the Justice Department for possibly overbilling on work done in the Balkans from 1996 through 2000.
VOTING - FLORIDA TOUCH SCREENS DRAW (MORE) SCRUTINY: Belated public scrutiny of a report on tens of thousands of ballots tossed out for irregularities in Florida's 2002 elections revealed that "the rate of so-called undervotes, or blank or incomplete ballots, in the 2002 gubernatorial election was nearly three times higher in counties using touch-screen machines as in those with optical scan systems.” The report shows “more than 44,000 votes weren't counted” in the governor's race won by the president's brother, Jeb Bush. Activist groups are calling on Gov. Bush to give voters in touch-screen counties the option of using paper ballots, but so far the governor has refused, even as his own party has been circulating fliers advising constituents to “Make sure your vote counts. Order your absentee ballot today.” The Miami Herald reports record numbers of voters may ask for absentee ballots because of suspicions about the touch screen machines.
JUDICIAL - INFORMATION WITHHELD ON JUDGES: The Washington Post reports that “Nearly 600 times in recent years, a judicial committee acting in private has stripped information from reports intended to alert the public to conflicts of interest involving federal judges.” A study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that “In 55 instances, the committee withheld all information on the disclosure reports -- including details about outside income, gifts, business contracts, debts, stocks and the value of holdings.” Judicial ethics specialists said they were “startled at the breadth of the excisions -- and particularly that the material cut included financial information that appeared to present little safety risk.” Legal ethicist Jeffrey Shaman said, “It makes one wonder if the real reason for a judge to request the redaction is to prevent the public from learning embarrassing information.”
MEDIA - MCCAIN CONDEMNS BUSH CAMPAIGN AD: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, has sharply condemned an ad criticizing John Kerry's military service and urged the White House on Thursday to condemn it as well. “The White House declined.” The 60-second ad features Vietnam veterans accusing Kerry of lying about his decorated Vietnam War record, even though none of the veterans who criticize Kerry served with him on his swift boat. “I deplore this kind of politics,” McCain said. “I think the ad is dishonest and dishonorable. As it is, none of these individuals served on the boat [Kerry] commanded. Many of his crew have testified to his courage under fire. I think John Kerry served honorably in Vietnam.” Three veterans who were on Kerry's boat -- Jim Rassmann, Gene Thorson and Del Sandusky, called the ad “pure fabrication.”
