Here is an article from last March by the same duo of reporters who broke the story that Norman Hsu is on the lam.

The Los Angeles Times seems to have purged the piece from its site. So this comes courtesy of the packrats at Rantburg:

Mr. Sadiq, Senator Hillary Clinton and Mr. Rehman Jinnah

Clinton donor wanted by FBI in scheme to funnel money

Robin Fields and Chuck Neubauer,

Los Angeles Times, March 3, 2007

A Pakistani immigrant who hosted fundraisers in Southern California for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is being sought by the FBI on charges that he funneled illegal contributions to Clinton’s political action committee and Sen. Barbara Boxer’s 2004 reelection campaign. Authorities say Northridge businessman Abdul Rehman Jinnah, 56, fled the country after an indictment accused him of engineering more than $50,000 in illegal donations to the Democratic committees. A business associate charged as a co-conspirator has entered a guilty plea and is scheduled to be sentenced in Los Angeles next week…

The case has transformed Jinnah from a political point man on Pakistani issues, a man often photographed next to foreign dignitaries and U.S. leaders, into a fugitive with his mug shot on the FBI’s "featured fugitives" wanted list. Jinnah’s profile peaked in 2004 and 2005 as he wooed members of Congress to join a caucus advancing Pakistani concerns and brought Clinton to speak to prominent Pakistani Americans, lauding their homeland’s contributions to the war on terrorism and calling relations with Pakistan beneficial to U.S. interests.

Jinnah and his family donated more than $100,000 to the Democratic Party and Democratic candidates. Now friends say they believe Jinnah has returned to Pakistan. Attempts to reach him and his relatives were unsuccessful. A "For Sale" sign stood in his yard on Thursday, and a neighbor said the family had not lived there for months.

Jinnah’s troubles appear to have begun when he attempted to circumvent election laws by reimbursing friends, business contacts and their family members for contributions made in their names, according to court records. Federal statutes set limits on contributions to federal campaigns and political action committees and bar donations made in the names of others. Authorities say that from June 2004 to February 2005, Jinnah directly or indirectly solicited contributions from more than a dozen "conduits," reimbursing them with funds from his company, All American Distributing, a seller of cellphone service and accessories. Authorities said the scheme allowed Jinnah to get around limits then in effect on individual donors of $5,000 per year to PACs and $2,000 per election to candidates, as well as the ban on using corporate money for political donations.

Jinnah’s case has been handled with discretion by the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, which recently lost a high-profile case against former Clinton campaign official David Rosen. Rosen was acquitted of charges of filing false reports about a Hollywood fundraiser given for Clinton in 2000…

According to the indictment, Jinnah arranged $30,000 in donations to HillPac by having Schoenburg, a Tarzana television producer, approach family members and others to act as straw donors. Schoenburg and five others contributed $5,000 apiece. Jinnah later reimbursed them with funds from his corporation, prosecutors say. In one instance, authorities allege, Jinnah and Schoenburg agreed to write "production" in a reimbursement check’s memo line, falsely indicating it was payment for production services…

The indictment says Jinnah also found 14 straw donors to give $28,000 to the 2004 reelection campaign of Boxer (D-Calif.). Among the contributors were five employees of Jinnah’s company, Schoenburg and several members of Schoenburg’s family, records show.

Sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it?

Somehow this story got even less play in the mainstream than this week’s Clinton campaign finances scandal.

Which is to say none at all.

From the back pages of the New York Times:

NASA Chief of Safety and Mission Assurance Bryan O’Connor (L) and NASA Administrator Michael Griffin announce the results of a safety review which found no evidence of improper alcohol use by astronauts before space flight in Washington, DC.

Astronauts Were Not Impaired for Missions, NASA Says

By WARREN LEARY

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 — A NASA investigation into astronauts’ use of alcohol before space missions has found no evidence of heavy drinking or drunkenness in the hours prior to launches, according to an agency report released today.

After a month-long review of 20 years of spaceflights conducted by NASA’s safety chief, the former astronaut Bryan D. O’Connor, no evidence could be found to support hearsay claims of astronauts being impaired by alcohol before missions, the report said.

“Within the scope and limitations of this review, I was unable to verify any case in which an astronaut spaceflight crewmember was impaired on launch day,” Mr. O’Connor wrote.

He also said he found no evidence that a flight surgeon or fellow crewmember’s recommendation that an astronaut not fly had ever been disregarded by managers…

Top NASA officials asked Mr. O’Connor to investigate astronaut drinking after a review of spacefarers’ health, released in July, cited two unverified reports of problem drinking before flights.

The health review was one of two that were commissioned after the arrest in February of a former astronaut, Capt. Lisa Marie Nowak of the Navy, who confronted a romantic rival in an Orlando International Airport parking lot…

The health review cited two drinking incidents as examples of situations where the concerns of flight surgeons and other crewmembers had been ignored by other NASA officials before flights.

The chairman of that panel, Colonel Richard E. Bachmann Jr., a physician who commands the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, said the review included the anecdotal references to the drinking incidents to emphasize the seriousness of ignoring flight surgeons. The panel did not ask for details of the accounts, nor did it investigate them, he said…

How typical. The New York Times blared the false allegations on the front page above the fold.

The truth is hidden away on the back pages, in the “Space & Cosmos” section.

From a gobsmacked Associated Press:

Mahdi army militiamen parade during a rally in Baghdad, 2006.

Al-Sadr Suspends Militia Activity in Iraq

By DAVID RISING
Wednesday, August 29, 2007

BAGHDAD — Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered a six-month suspension of activities by his Mahdi Army militia in order to reorganize the force, and it will no longer attack U.S. and coalition troops, aides said Wednesday.

The aide, Sheik Hazim al-Araji, said on Iraqi state television that the goal was to “rehabilitate” the organization, which has reportedly broken into factions, some of which the U.S. maintains are trained and supplied by Iran.

“We declare the freezing of the Mahdi Army without exception in order to rehabilitate it in a way that will safeguard its ideological image within a maximum period of six months starting from the day this statement is issued,” al-Araji said, reading from a statement by al-Sadr.

In Najaf, al-Sadr’s spokesman said the order also means the Mahdi Army will no longer launch attacks against U.S. and other coalition forces.

“It also includes suspending the taking up of arms against occupiers as well as others,” Ahmed al-Shaibani told reporters.

Asked if Mahdi militiamen would defend themselves against provocations, he replied: “We will deal with it when it happens.” …

Of course this is great news, if it is true. But Mr. al-Sadr seldom tells the truth.

And we know how easily provoked they are.

So we shall see. 

The photo is from a press release provided by Mexico’s Presidencia website:

Elvira Arellano speaks with Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón at the presidential residence of Los Pinos in Mexico City, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2007.

Didn’t Ms. Arellano enter our country illegally? And didn’t she return after being deported, which is a felony?

And while here, didn’t she commit another felony by using someone else’s Social Security Card? Then, as if that wasn’t enough, didn’t she try to fuel a protest campaign for rights for illegal aliens?

Should the President of Mexico have had an audience with her?

Imagine the howls of outrage if Mr. Bush met with some US citizens who had notoriously flaunted the very strict immigration laws of Mexico.

Indeed, behold some pertinent highlights from those self-same laws, courtesy of the Center For Security Policy via Human Events:

• Foreigners may be barred from the country if their presence upsets "the equilibrium of the national demographics," when foreigners are deemed detrimental to "economic or national interests," when they do not behave like good citizens in their own country, when they have broken Mexican laws, and when "they are not found to be physically or mentally healthy." (Article 37)
• Foreigners with fake immigration papers may be fined or imprisoned. (Article 116)
• Foreigners who fail to obey a deportation order are to be punished. (Article 117))
• Foreigners who are deported from Mexico and attempt to re-enter the country without authorization can be imprisoned for up to 10 years. (Article 118)
• "A penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine of three hundred to five thousand pesos will be imposed on the foreigner who enters the country illegally." (Article 123)
• Foreigners who "attempt against national sovereignty or security" will be deported. (Article 126)

Who knows? Maybe Mr. Calderon explained the concept of national sovereignty and the importance of the rule of law to this confused young woman.

Of course I jest. He did no such thing.

Here is the accompanying press release from the office of the Mexican President:

President Calderón Receives Elvira Arellano

Tuesday, August 28 Press Release

Official Residence 

President Calderón received Elvira Arellano at the Official Los Pinos Residence today  

During the conversation, the Mexican President listened carefully to Mrs. Arellano’s explanation of her current situation and her constant struggle to reunify migrant families.

The president offered Elvira Arellano all his sympathy regarding her compulsory separation from her son and offered her his support in this complex situation.

President Calderón ratified the priority his government places on the living conditions of Mexican migrants residing in the United States and repeated the need for an integral migratory reform in that country.

He also explained that his administration is working hard to create employment opportunities for Mexicans which, in the medium and long term, will enable a larger number of co-nationals to have opportunities for development in this country.

For her part, Mrs. Arellano asked the Mexican government to apply for a visa from the United States that will enable her to return to that country.

The Mexican president instructed Secretary of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Patricia Espinosa to order her department to undertake an analysis of the situation being faced by Mrs. Arellano and her son and to take the necessary steps with the US authorities to be able to respond to this request.

¡Muchas gracias, President Calderón!

A real surprise — journalism from the Los Angeles Times:

Democratic fundraiser is a fugitive in plain sight

California authorities have sought businessman Norman Hsu for 15 years. Since 2004, he has carved out a place of honor raising cash for such candidates as Hillary Rodham Clinton.

By Chuck Neubauer and Robin Fields, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

August 29, 2007

WASHINGTON — For the last 15 years, California authorities have been trying to figure out what happened to a businessman named Norman Hsu, who pleaded no contest to grand theft, agreed to serve up to three years in prison and then seemed to vanish.

“He is a fugitive,” Ronald Smetana, who handled the case for the state attorney general, said in an interview. “Do you know where he is?”

Hsu, it seems, has been hiding in plain sight, at least for the last three years.

Since 2004, one Norman Hsu has been carving out a prominent place of honor among Democratic fundraisers. He has funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions into party coffers, much of it earmarked for presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

In addition to making his own contributions, Hsu has honed the practice of assembling packets of checks from contributors who bear little resemblance to the usual Democratic deep pockets: A self-described apparel executive with a variety of business interests, Hsu has focused on delivering hefty contributions from citizens who live modest lives and are neophytes in the world of campaign giving.

On Tuesday, E. Lawrence Barcella Jr. — a Washington lawyer who represents the Democratic fundraiser — confirmed that Hsu was the same man who was involved in the California case. Barcella said his client did not remember pleading to a criminal charge and facing the prospect of jail time. Hsu remembers the episode as part of a settlement with creditors when he also went through bankruptcy, Barcella said…

As a Democratic rainmaker, Hsu — who graduated from UC Berkeley and the Wharton School of Business — is credited with donating nearly $500,000 to national and local party candidates and their political committees in the last three years. He earned a place in the Clinton campaign’s “HillRaiser” group by pledging to raise more than $100,000 for her presidential bid.

Records show that Hsu helped raise an additional $500,000 from other sources for Clinton and other Democrats…

One example of the kind of first-time donors Hsu has worked with is the Paw family of Daly City, Calif., which is headed by William Paw, a mail carrier, and his wife, Alice, who is listed as a homemaker.

The Paws — seven adults, most of whom live together in a small house near San Francisco International Airport — apparently had never donated to national candidates until 2004. Over a three-year period, they gave $213,000, including $55,000 to Clinton and $14,000 to candidates for state-level offices in New York.

The family includes a son, Winkle Paw, who Barcella said was in business with Hsu. Another son works for a Bay Area school board, while one daughter works for a hospital and another for a computer company…

Records show Hsu also solicited funds from three members of a New York family that helps run a plastics packaging plant in Pennsylvania. They have given more than $200,000 in the last three years.

Danny Lee, a manager at the packaging firm, has given $95,000 to federal Democratic campaigns — $19,500 of which went to Clinton. Yu Fen Huang, who shares a New York house with Lee, has given $52,200 to Democrats, $8,800 to Clinton. Soe Lee has contributed $54,000 to Democrats, $8,800 to Clinton…

Over the years, Hsu and his associates have given to Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, Barack Obama of Illinois and Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware. Obama and Biden, like Clinton, are seeking the presidential nomination.

Hsu’s legal troubles date back almost 20 years.

Beginning in 1989, court records show, he began raising what added up to more than $1 million from investors, purportedly to buy latex gloves; investors were told Hsu had a contract to resell the gloves to a major American business.

In 1991, Hsu was charged with grand theft. Prosecutors said there were no latex gloves and no contract to sell them.

Hsu pleaded no contest to one grand theft charge and agreed to accept up to three years in prison. He disappeared, Smetana said, after failing to show up for a sentencing hearing. Bench warrants were issued for his arrest but he was never found, Smetana said. 

It sure sounds like the authorities didn’t look very hard for him Mr. Hsu. As the article notes, his doings for the DNC were in all the papers for the last three years.

One suspects he had a powerful protector or two.

Barcella said his client did not remember pleading to a criminal charge and facing the prospect of jail time.

It certainly sounds like the Clintons are giving him legal advice. He sure sounds like their type of guy.

Kudos to the Los Angles Times for running this story, despite their Democrat bosses.

From his undying fans at Reuters:

Castro’s tip: Clinton-Obama the winning ticket

By Anthony Boadle

HAVANA (Reuters) – Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is tipping Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to team up and win the U.S. presidential election.

Clinton leads Obama in the race to be the Democratic nominee for the November 2008 election, and Castro said they would make a winning combination.

“The word today is that an apparently unbeatable ticket could be Hillary for president and Obama as her running mate,” he wrote in an editorial column on U.S. presidents published on Tuesday by Cuba’s Communist Party newspaper, Granma…

Castro’s only reference to U.S. President George W. Bush in his latest essay was to say that he “needed fraud” to win Florida’s electoral college votes and the presidency in the fiercely contested election in 2000.

Castro said former President Bill Clinton was “really kind” when he bumped into him and the two men shook hands at a U.N. summit meeting in 2000. He also praised Clinton for sending elite police to “rescue” shipwrecked Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez from the home of his Miami relatives in 2000 to end an international custody battle…

He said his favorite U.S. president since 1959 was Jimmy Carter, another Democrat, because he was not an “accomplice” to efforts to violently overthrow the Cuban government…

I have to admit to being mildly surprised by his endorsement of Hillary.

I thought Castro was a little more conservative than that.

Castro’s only reference to U.S. President George W. Bush in his latest essay was to say that he “needed fraud” …

Gee, that’s what Hillary says, too.

Of course they hold so many similar viewpoints, it’s no wonder she is his choice for el Presidente.

He said his favorite U.S. president since 1959 was Jimmy Carter…

Of course that is no surprise at all.

From his fans at Reuters:

Iran says ready to fill vacuum in Iraq left by U.S.

By Edmund Blair

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran is ready to fill a vacuum in Iraq caused by the collapsing power of the United States, its president said on Tuesday.

“The political power of the occupiers (of Iraq) is being destroyed rapidly and very soon we will be witnessing a great power vacuum in the region,” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

“We, with the help of regional friends and the Iraqi nation, are ready to fill this void.” Saudi Arabia was one of the countries Iran was ready to work with, he said…

The region did not need countries from “thousands of kilometers away” to provide security, Ahmadinejad said, and U.S. and other forces in Iraq and Afghanistan had run out of solutions.

“They are trapped in the swamp of their own crimes,” Ahmadinejad said. “If you stay in Iraq for another 50 years nothing will improve, it will just worsen.”

In Washington, the U.S. State Department dismissed Ahmadinejad’s comments as “unhelpful” and said Iran’s claims to care about the people of Iraq were undermined by its support for violent militias…

But isn’t this exactly what penis-mouth Senator Jim Webb and the other far-sighted Democrat foreign policy mavens and their minions in the media are calling for?

From the open borders/get out the vote lobby at the DNC’s Washington Post:

ACLU Settles Suit on Illegal-Immigrant Holding Facility

ACLU Settles Suit on Illegal-Immigrant Holding Facility

By Spencer S. Hsu
Tuesday, August 28, 2007; Page A03

The federal government yesterday announced the settlement of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union against conditions at a government detention center for illegal immigrant children and families in Taylor, Tex.

The deal averted a trial set to open in U.S. District Court in Austin, and it was made after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began improving education, recreation, medical care and privacy standards at its first large holding facility for illegal immigrant families, the 512-bed T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility, which opened in May 2006…

Under the ACLU detention agreement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agreed to place families who have a legal basis to contest deportation — such as asylum claims — in Hutto only if no other space is available. Families facing expedited removal proceedings, where no hearing is required, may be detained but their cases must be reviewed every 30 days to see if they can be transferred or released.

The agency also agreed to allow children older than 12 to move freely about the facility, to provide a full-time pediatrician, to end a requirement that families stay in their cells 12 hours a day, and to offer field trips, toys, books and more nutritional food to children.

“The fact remains that our government should not be locking up innocent children — period. That is not what America is about,” said Lisa Graybill, legal director of the ACLU of Texas…

Will someone explain to me where the ACLU gets the authority to dictate our prison policies?

They are a Communist front organization that was founded with the sole purpose of undermining the country by attacking it through legalisms. Nobody elected them. They are responsible to no one.

And as if to demonstrate (albeit unwittingly) how upside down the world has become, the article also point out:

The Bush administration has continued to emphasize tougher enforcement efforts after this summer’s collapse of immigration legislation in Congress, but unions and other liberal activist groups are stepping up pressure on behalf of immigrants.

For instance, the Service Employees International Union plans today to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Portland, Ore., against another federal immigration agency, charging that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services exceeded its authority by raising fees significantly July 30, including increasing charges for citizenship applicants from $400 to $675.

The increase “presents a huge barrier to thousands of immigrants” anxious to vote in the 2008 presidential primary and general elections, said Eliseo Medina, the union’s executive vice president. “This lawsuit is about accountability.”

This union (which is probably illegal in its own right) is suing because a federal agency in charge of citizenship raised its fees? Claiming the agency “exceeded its authority”?

If they don’t have the authority to set their fees, than who does? The ACLU? This union?

And of course they let the cat out of the bag:

The increase “presents a huge barrier to thousands of immigrants” anxious to vote in the 2008 presidential primary and general elections, said Eliseo Medina, the union’s executive vice president. “This lawsuit is about accountability.”

No, Ms. Media. It has nothing to do with accountability.

It’s all about getting more votes for your DNC masters.

Meanwhile, here is some information you will never hear from our watchdog media about this facility, from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s website:

Fact Sheets

April 2007

The ICE T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility:
maintaining family unity, enforcing immigration laws

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) opened the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility in Taylor, Texas, in May 2006 to accommodate alien families in ICE custody. This state-of-the-art facility was designed for families who have been placed in administrative immigration proceedings and is one of the major reasons the Department of Homeland Security has been able to successfully end the “catch and release” of illegal aliens at the southern border.

The facility provides an effective and humane alternative to maintain the unity of alien families as they await the outcome of their immigration hearings or the return to their home countries.

Background

Before ICE opened the Hutto facility, alien families caught illegally crossing the border were often released with “Notices to Appear” before federal immigration judges.  However, they rarely appeared for these hearings.  This “catch and release” policy created a border vulnerability that alien smugglers sought to exploit by bringing children across the border along with groups of smuggled strangers, attempting to pass the groups off as family units.  By bringing the children, the smugglers hoped to avoid detention if captured.

In order to provide a detention facility in which families could remain together while awaiting their proceedings, ICE acquired the existing T. Don Hutto Correctional Center through an Inter-Governmental Service Agreement with Williamson County, Texas.  Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) operates the 512-bed facility under a contract with Williamson County.

Key Advantages of the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility

• The facility provides an avenue for residents to maintain family unity while ICE enforces immigration laws.
• Family members are housed together in a “residential, non-secure” setting where they can interact with one another and other families.
• Designated areas within the facility serve as classrooms for children and adults.  In accordance with state education requirements, all resident children receive classroom instruction taught by state-certified teachers, including (ESL) classes.
• As a family shelter facility, interior doors remain unlocked; the staff is specially trained to interact with residents to identify potential emerging problems.
• The facility operates in accordance with applicable ICE detention standards to ensure that families are safe and that specially trained personnel address their needs.  All facility staff members receive more than 24 hours of specialized training in dealing with children.
• The facility is staffed with a robust complement of ICE officers to ensure thorough monitoring of operations.
• The three daily meals are approved by certified dieticians.

Other T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility Highlights

• The U.S. Public Health Service operates the medical area, which includes a mental health staff.
• The facility’s chaplain works with community volunteers to offer the residents the opportunity to worship and to strengthen family ties.
• Adult classes are available in parenting, ESL, vocational classes, family counseling, art and crafts.
• Residents are provided with t-shirts, sweat shirts and/or medical-style scrubs. (“Jail uniforms” are not worn).
• Doors to individual family living areas provide ample privacy.  However, as appropriate for the unique mission of this facility, internal doors are not locked, facilitating maximum freedom of movement.

   

• The general library contains more than 2,000 books, and the law library is available five days a week to residents.
• The fully air-conditioned 75,000-square-foot facility accommodates 512 beds.
• Natural light is available throughout the living areas and hallways.

The facility includes three large shaded pavilions outdoors and spacious outdoor play areas.  In addition, a full-size gymnasium is available with recreational activities including basketball, volleyball, handball, baseball, soccer, and ping-pong.

What, no honey-glazed chicken?

From the Wall Street Journal:

Big Source of Clinton’s Cash Is an Unlikely Address

Family’s Donations Closely Track Those Of Top Fund-Raiser

By BRODY MULLINS
August 28, 2007; Page A3

DALY CITY, Calif. — One of the biggest sources of political donations to Hillary Rodham Clinton is a tiny, lime-green bungalow that lies under the flight path from San Francisco International Airport.

Six members of the Paw family, each listing the house at 41 Shelbourne Ave. as their residence, have donated a combined $45,000 to the Democratic senator from New York since 2005, for her presidential campaign, her Senate re-election last year and her political action committee. In all, the six Paws have donated a total of $200,000 to Democratic candidates since 2005, election records show…

It isn’t obvious how the Paw family is able to afford such political largess. Records show they own a gift shop and live in a 1,280-square-foot house that they recently refinanced for $270,000. William Paw, the 64-year-old head of the household, is a mail carrier with the U.S. Postal Service who earns about $49,000 a year, according to a union representative. Alice Paw, also 64, is a homemaker. The couple’s grown children have jobs ranging from account manager at a software company to “attendance liaison” at a local public high school. One is listed on campaign records as an executive at a mutual fund.

The Paws’ political donations closely track donations made by Norman Hsu, a wealthy New York businessman in the apparel industry who once listed the Paw home as his address, according to public records. Mr. Hsu is one of the top fund-raisers for Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign. He has hosted or co-hosted some of her most prominent money-raising events…

Mr. Hsu, in an email last night wrote: “I have NEVER asked a single favor from any politician or any charity group. If I am NOT asking favors, why do I have to cheat…I’ve asked friends and colleagues of mine to give money out of their own pockets and sometimes they have agreed.” …

Kent Cooper, a former disclosure official with the Federal Election Commission, said the two-year pattern of donations justifies a probe of possible violations of campaign-finance law, which forbid one person from reimbursing another to make contributions.

“There are red lights all over this one,” Mr. Cooper said…

Six members of the Paw family list this house in Daly City, Calif., as their address.

In the wake of a 2002 law that set those limits, federal and state regulators and law-enforcement officials said they have seen a spike recently in the number of cases of individuals and companies illegally reimbursing others for campaign donations…

According to public documents, Mr. Hsu once listed his address at the Paw home in Daly City, though it isn’t clear if he ever lived there. He now lives in New York, according to campaign-finance records, on which he also lists a half-dozen apparel companies as his employer. In the campaign-finance forms, Mr. Hsu lists his companies as Next Components, Dilini Management, Because Men’s Clothes and others.

He is on the board of directors of the New School in New York. News stories in the mid-1980s said he criticized trade policies that made it harder to import goods from China.

Mr. Hsu is also a major fund-raiser for Mrs. Clinton and other Democrats. When Democrats won control of Congress in November, he threw a party at New York City hot spot Buddakan with many prominent party leaders. Press reports said that toward the end of the night, he grabbed the microphone from the deejay and shouted: “If you are supporters of Hillary for President 2008, you can stay. Otherwise, get out.”

Mr. Hsu has pledged to raise $100,000 or more for Mrs. Clinton, earning the title of “HillRaiser” along with a few hundred other top financial backers of her campaign. Earlier this year, he co-hosted a fund-raiser that raised $1 million for Mrs. Clinton at the Beverly Hills, Calif., home of billionaire Ron Burkle. He is listed as a co-host for another Clinton fund-raiser next month in northern California.

The Paw family is just one set of donors whose political donations are similar to Mr. Hsu’s. Several business associates of Mr. Hsu in New York have made donations to the same candidates, on the same dates for similar amounts as Mr. Hsu.

On four separate dates this year, the Paw family, Mr. Hsu and five of his associates gave Mrs. Clinton a total of $47,500. In all, the family, Mr. Hsu and his associates have given Mrs. Clinton $133,000 since 2005 and a total of nearly $720,000 to all Democratic candidates.

The Paw’s Daly City home is a one-story house in a working-class suburb of San Francisco. On a recent day, a coiled garden hose rested next to a dilapidated garden with a half-dozen dried out plants. The din of traffic from a nearby freeway was occasionally drowned out by jumbo jets departing San Francisco International Airport.

William and Alice Paw are of Chinese descent. The entire family got their Social Security cards in California in 1982, according to state records. All but one of the Paws registered to vote as “nonpartisan.” A San Mateo County elections official said that members of the Paw family vote “sporadically.”

No one in the Paw family had ever given a campaign contribution before the 2004 presidential election, according to campaign-finance reports. Then, in July 2004, five members of the family contributed a total of $3,600 to the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat. Five of the checks were dated July 27, 2004. About the same time, Mr. Hsu made his first donations to a political candidate, contributing the maximum amount allowed by law to Mr. Kerry in two separate checks, on July 21, 2004, and on Aug. 6.

From then on, the correlation of campaign donations between Mr. Hsu and the Paw family has continued. The first donations to Mrs. Clinton came Dec. 23, 2004, when Mr. Hsu and one Paw family member donated the then-maximum $4,000 to her Senate campaign in two $2,000 checks, campaign-finance records show. In March 2005, the individuals gave a total of $17,500 to Mrs. Clinton.

Since then, Mr. Hsu, his New York associates and the Paw family have continued to donate to Democratic candidates. This year, Alice Paw and four of the Paw children have donated the maximum $4,600 to Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Rather than clothing apparel, it sounds like Mr. Hsu is in the laundry business. Money laundering.

And you can bet that this is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg of the Democrat money machinery.

Still, apart from the blatantly illegal skirting of the campaign finance laws, isn’t the bigger scandal where this money is coming from in the first place?

Mr. Hsu and his associates have given Mrs. Clinton $133,000 since 2005 and a total of nearly $720,000 to all Democratic candidates.

The FEC lists some of Mr. Hsu’s contributions to the DNC’s candidates. (They seem to total around $250,000. Though the way the FEC sometimes posts duplicate donations, it’s hard to get an accurate total.)

Perhaps Mr. Hsu and his “associates” are making so much money with their sweatshops “apparel companies” that nobody has ever heard of that they can afford to give the DNC three quarters of a million dollars in less than three years.

But who is to say that the money is not coming straight from the Peoples Republic Of China? It’s not like it hasn’t happened before.

News stories in the mid-1980s said [Hsu] criticized trade policies that made it harder to import goods from China.

Do we really want a President (or rather, another President) who has been bought by the Communist Chinese?

Can we afford to have one of our two political parties in the pocket of a foreign (indeed, enemy) country?

Hopefully this kind of investigative reporting augers the shape of things to come from the Wall Street Journal under its new ownership.

Despite Mr. Murdoch being a putative Hillary supporter and friend of the Chicoms.

From a breathless Associated Press:

Shi’ite pilgrims gather outside the Imam Hussein shrine in the holy city of Kerbala, south of Baghdad, August 26, 2007.

Iraq orders 1 million pilgrims to leave

By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD – Police ordered a curfew Tuesday in Shiite holy city of Karbala and told more than 1 million pilgrims to leave after two days of violence claimed least 26 lives during a Shiite religious festival.

An Interior Ministry official accused the Mahdi Army militia of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr of attacking government security forces in the center of Karbala, site of two Shiite shrines under the control of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council. Al-Sadr’s forces are battling SIIC for power in regions south of Baghdad.

The Interior Ministry official said the 26 dead were killed in gunbattles between security forces and militiamen. The official, who would not allow his name to be used for security reasons, said the government in Baghdad was sending buses to Karbala to take some of the pilgrims out of the city.

Gunshots rang out in the area near the Shiite shrines that are the focal point of celebrations marking the birthday of the 12th and last Shiite imam, who disappeared in the 9th century. The festival was to have reached its high point Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

The 26 dead were killed in two outbursts of gunfire, one Monday night and a second about midday Tuesday. Police initially blamed Shiite pilgrims trying to push past frustratingly slow security checkpoints near the Imam al-Hussein mosque.

Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had sent more troops to the area from Baghdad and surrounding areas.

He said the gunmen who fought police were “criminals,” adding that the curfew was imposed because of fears for the many pilgrims.

“The situation now is under control but what is worrying is that the pilgrims are in huge numbers. … The area where they were gathering has been evacuated in order to control those (criminals),” Khalaf said. He said the gunmen were gathering in three areas in the old town and security forces were chasing them.

A member of the city council said the center of town was in chaos, with pilgrims running in all directions to escape the gunfire. No one, he said, was sure who was doing the shooting. He said a rocket-propelled grenade exploded near the shrine.

“We don’t know what’s going on,” said the councilman, who wouldn’t allow use of his name for security reasons. “All we know is the huge numbers of pilgrims was too much for the checkpoints to handle and now there is shooting.”

Four people — two men and two women — were killed in a similar melee near the mosque Monday night. One of the wounded died overnight. AP Television News video from the city, 50 miles south of Baghdad, showed pilgrims running as gunfire, apparently police shooting into the air, rang out through the streets near the mosque…

This sure is a vague report. Has Iraq order the pilgrims to leave the country or just the “holy city of Karbala”?

Of course one wonders how much of this is being hyped to show that security is still not improved in Baghdad.

You see this proves that the surge isn’t working. At least in their minds.

From those enablers of terrorism at Reuters:

Taliban to free all 19 hostages, South Korea says

By Lee Jin-joo

SEOUL (Reuters) – Taliban insurgents will release 19 South Korean Christian volunteers they have been holding for nearly six weeks in Afghanistan, South Korea’s presidential Blue House said on Tuesday.

But a Taliban spokesman declined to comment on the announcement, saying only that negotiations were successful and the governor of the Afghan province where the hostages were seized said talks were still going on.

“The Taliban agreed to free the 19 South Korean hostages on the condition that South Korea withdraws its troops within this year and halt missionary activities,” the Blue House statement said.

The announcement followed the resumption of negotiations, on hold for two weeks after the Korean side said it was unable to meet the kidnappers’ chief demand to release Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government in exchange for the hostages, most of them women.

The government had in any case decided before the hostage crisis to pull out its small contingent of engineers and medical staff from Afghanistan by the end of the year.

And since the hostages were taken it has banned its nationals from traveling to the war-torn country…

A South Korean presidential spokesman said it could take some time before the actual release…

But Merajuddin Pattan, governor of Ghazni told Reuters that it was not over yet.

“The talks are still going on. So far the issue has not been resolved. the talks are (going on) face to face.” …

We’ll see.

Though it sounds like the South Korean government is giving the Taliban everything they demanded — and probably more.

In a discreet, face-saving manner, of course.

From the always beneficent with your tax dollars reporters at ABC News:

Millions of American children are in families who make too much to qualify for Medicare, but too little to afford private insurance. The White House opposes Congress’ bid to provide billions of dollars for children to have insurance.

D.C. Politics Over Kids’ Health Care

While Congress Wants to Add Money, Bush Says No Way

From World News with Charles Gibson

Aug. 26, 2007

A major battle is brewing in Washington over children and health care.

Nine million children nationwide are without insurance. As high as that number is, it was much higher ten years ago. That’s when the State Children’s Health Insurance Program was launched.
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SCHIP has provided insurance to millions of American children whose families make too much to qualify for Medicare, but too little to afford private insurance.

The program is supported by Republicans and Democratic governors alike. Congress wants to add billions more dollars to the program to expand its reach. But the White House opposes the expansion. A new move by the Bush administration could limit federal funding for the program.

The debate comes down to ideology: should the government be the vehicle for expanding health coverage, or is that best left to the marketplace?

Bakersfield, Calif., resident Russell Lacey and his wife make around $50,000 a year. They say their two sons would not be insured if it were not for SCHIP.

Over the past decade, states have gradually expanded who is eligible for the SCHIP.

In New Jersey, for example, families earning nearly $73,000 qualify for the program. Cases like that have become a point of contention.

“The program is going beyond the initial intent of helping poor children,” President Bush recently told an audience in Cleveland. “It’s now aiming at encouraging more people to get on government health care.”

Now, the Bush administration wants to reign in the program, but states coping with spiraling health care costs are furious.

“When everyone’s pulling their hair out about health care, and we’ve got a ready-made program that’s working for us, we shouldn’t change something that’s working,” said Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey…

It’s not just the ham-fisted propaganda in this article that is so offensive.

It’s being lectured to by someone who doesn’t know the difference between “reign” and “rein.”

Hilariously ABC News filed this under a section on their website called “The Agenda.”

At least they got that part right, however inadvertently.