Reid, Angle Trade Barbs in Nevada Senate Race - FOXNews

LAS VEGAS -- In a crackling campaign debate, Republican challenger Sharron Angle attacked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as a career politician Thursday night who lives in a fashionable Washington condominium and has voted to raise taxes 300 times. The four-term veteran called his tea party-backed rival extreme and an ally of special interests.

"My opponent favors big banks, she's against Wall Street reform," Reid said, adding that her views are sympathetic to big health insurance companies.

Angle played the aggressor from the opening moments of the hour-long debate, at one point taunting the Democratic leader to "man up, Harry Reid" as she urged him to concede that Social Security faces financial difficulty.

Across a stage at a local PBS station, there was little or nothing the two agreed on -- not taxes, not health care, immigration, energy policy or federal spending.

Reid took aim at Angle's statement that it's not the job of a senator to create jobs. "What she's talking about is extreme," he said.

"Harry Reid, it's not your job to create jobs," she replied sharply. "It's your job to create policy" that leads to the creation of jobs.

With their debate, Reid and his challenger shared a local stage and a national spotlight, the only joint appearance of a campaign pitting the embodiment of the Democratic establishment against a challenger who was little known outside Nevada before winning the nomination in an upset.

For Angle, a 61-year-old former state lawmaker, the encounter was a chance to counter Reid's months-long attack on her as an extremist who is bent on destroying Social Security and other government programs.

For Reid, 70 and seeking a fifth Senate term, it marked an opportunity to persuade skeptical constituents that he deserves re-election at a time when unemployment in Nevada, at 14.4 percent, is the highest in the country.

The two rivals had a quiet, private word in the moments before the debate began and shook hands and exchanged pleasantries once it had ended. In between, she frequently looked at Reid when it was his turn to speak.

The debate unfolded at a particularly critical moment in their race, with early voting set to begin over the weekend and polls showing an extremely tight contest.

Under the debate ground rules, moderator Mitch Fox posed questions to the candidates by turn, and at one point, asked Angle the same question twice after she sidestepped when asked if health insurance companies should be bound by any coverage mandates.

"The solutions to the health care insurance cost problems are simple and they reside within the free market," she said.

Reid pounced on her reply.

"Insurance companies don't do things out of the goodness of their heart; they do it because of the profit motive," he said. "We need them to be forced into" covering mammograms, colonoscopies and other tests, as well as autism and other conditions.

Angle's reference to Reid's Washington condominium appeared part of a campaign-long effort to make him look like he has lost touch with the state that he has represented in Congress for decades.

She returned to the same theme nearly an hour later, much more pointedly, when she said he had gone into public service with little money and now was among the wealthiest men in the Senate.

"How did you become so wealthy on a government payroll?" she asked accusingly.

As he had at other points, Reid said Angle had her facts wrong. He said he had practiced law before entering politics, had been successful at it and has managed his investments well in the years since.

Both candidates unveiled new television attack ads in the hours leading up to the debate.

Previewing her attack in the debate's opening moments, Angle's commercial Reid, saying he has voted to raise taxes more than 300 times.

Reid's ad called Angle a "wild" legislator who would force pregnant rape victims to give birth and dismantle Social Security.

Former President Bill Clinton campaigned with Reid earlier in the week and urged voters not to take their anger over the economy out on the four-term senator.

But Angle jolted Democrats in the state and in Washington when her campaign announced it had raised $14 million in the three months ending Sept. 30, a staggering sum that reflects her rise to prominence as the Republican challenger to the Senate's top Democrat.

Democrats responded by noting that Angle had not disclosed how much of the money she had remaining in her campaign treasury, suggesting she had already spent most of what she reported raising. But at the same time, Reid rushed out a fundraising appeal that said Angle's surge in donations meant she might be able to swamp him on television in the campaign's final days.

The antagonism between the two sides has also spilled over into the streets.

Police said they had issued summonses to two men after an Angle supporter dressed in a sheep costume taunted one of Reid's backers during Clinton's appearance.

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Soyuz Spacecraft Docks at Space Station With New Crew - FOXNews

A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts successfully docked their Soyuz spacecraft at the International Space Station on Saturday to begin a months-long stay on the orbiting laboratory.

The new Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft linked up with the space station at 8:01 p.m. EDT, ending a trip that began with a launch two days earlier from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Riding aboard the Soyuz are American astronaut Scott Kelly, Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka. The three men are expected to spend more than five months aboard the International Space Station.

"We have contact," one of the spaceflyers said as the Soyuz TMA-01M vehicle docked at the space station. Both spacecraft were flying more than 220 miles above the southern Pacific Ocean, just off the coast from Chile.

The trio rounded out the Expedition 25 crew already aboard space station – commander Doug Wheelock and flight engineer Shannon Walker, both of NASA, and Russian flight engineer Fyodor Yurchikhin.

Astronaut Twin in Space

All six spaceflyers shared warm hugs and smiles after the hatches between their two spacecraft were opened.

One of them, Scott Kelly, got a special call from his twin brother Mark – who is also a NASA astronaut.

The Kelly brothers are both U.S. Navy captains and the world's only identical twin astronauts. 

They plan to meet up in March 2011 when Mark Kelly will lead NASA's final flight of the shuttle Endeavour, which will visit the space station while Scott is in command.

During his call, Mark Kelly joked that he was actually Scott and that the twins had switched places before the Soyuz launch because "six months in space is a long time."

In reality, Scott Kelly is in space, but he laughed out loud at his older (by six minutes) brother's joke.

"That is pretty funny," Scott said with a smile.

Mark promised to bring his brother's stuff to the space station when he visits next year.

Busy Mission Ahead

In November, Scott Kelly will take command of the station's Expedition 26 mission, when Wheelock, Walker and Yurchikhin return home.

During their stay, the astronauts will be involved in general upkeep of the station, as well as a variety of scientific research and experiments.

Those experiments began at launch, which marked the first flight test of Russia's new Soyuz vehicle model, the TMA-01M, which features upgrade navigation systems among other improvements.

"The main goal is to keep the station in good shape and to maintain all the equipment working, and to perform a huge scientific program for all the international partners," Kaleri said in a preflight interview. "For me personally, my main task will be to test the upgraded Soyuz in flight.

So for me, the most important and most valuable flight stages will be from the launch to the docking, from undocking to landing."

While this flight is Skripochka's first trip into space, his crewmembers, Kelly and Kaleri, are both veteran spaceflyers who have made previous visits to the space station.

Space Anniversary Coming Soon

The crew will be aboard the space station during the 10th anniversary of the first crew ever sent to the orbiting laboratory. That first crew, the three-man Expedition 1, launched on Oct. 31, 2000 and arrived on Nov. 2 of that year.

In 2000, the space station only consisted of two Russian modules and a U.S. connecting node. Today, $100 billion space station has more than 10 rooms, as much living space as a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, and a main truss as long as a football field. It is the product of five difference space agencies and 15 different countries.

The station's Expedition 25 crew plans to host two visiting space shuttle flights – the shuttle Discovery in November and Endeavour in February next year – plus the arrival of European and Japanese unmanned freighter ships.

Endeavour's STS-134 mission next year – commanded by Mark Kelly – is the last shuttle flight currently set on NASA's books, though one more shuttle trip may be added to the lineup if President Obama signs the NASA authorization bill recently passed by Congress and it passes through an appropriation review.

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Pentagon: Elements in Pakistani Intelligence Agency Support Terror - FOXNews

The Pentagon acknowledged Thursday that some parts of Pakistan's intelligence agency are cooperating with terrorist groups as a new report suggests Inter-Service Intelligence agents are working to undermine U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said the Pakistan intelligence service as an organization does not support terrorism, but some elements within the ISI are providing assistance to terrorists. 

U.S. officials have raised concerns about whether some members of the ISI "might be interacting with terrorist organizations in ways that aren't consistent with what the government and military are doing," Lapan said.

Lapan was responding after a report in The Wall Street Journal that suggested the ISI is pushing the Taliban to keep fighting in Afghanistan, undermining efforts by the Pentagon to end the war. 

The Journal quotes an Afghan commander in Kunar province who said the ISI is still urging and paying Taliban to fight NATO soldiers. 

Pakistan's top military leadership is working to correct the problem, Lapan said, but "like any large organization, change is difficult and comes slowly."

"The ISI has done a great deal in fighting terrorism. Some have said they probably have killed more terrorists than any other organization. But we also have some concerns with the strategic focus of the ISI," Lapan said.

Lapan spoke as U.S.-Pakistani relations remain strained over the effort to end the Taliban's use of Pakistan as a safe haven to launch attacks into Afghanistan. 

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday that President Obama has not spoken to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari but a Pakistani delegation is due in Washington later this month as part of a continuing strategic dialogue. 

Other strains have added to the burden on U.S.-Pakistani ties recently. On Wednesday, the U.S. apologized for a Sept. 30 attack that killed two Pakistani border guards. Expressing condolences, the U.S. said the helicopters mistook them for insurgents being pursued across the border from Afghanistan.

On Thursday, Pakistani officials said they are still weighing when to open the Torkham border crossing along Kyber Pass, which was closed as a result of the U.S. attack. Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said authorities were still evaluating the situation and would make a decision "in due course."

Torkham is a major supply route for NATO trucks shipping supplies to troops in Afghanistan Military officials insist closing the crossing hasn't hampered supply chains, but truck convoys are something of sitting ducks as hundreds of vehicles are backed up at the border. Pakistani militants torched 70 NATO trucks Wednesday in Pakistan -- the sixth set of attacks on NATO convoys in the past week.

The CIA continues to operate its own drone attacks on suspected terrorists, including one believed to have struck Thursday that targeted a vehicle in the North Waziristan tribal region where Taliban militants are based. The strike would be the sixth suspected missile attack this month, following what is believed to be 21 similar attacks in the region in September. 

As the troubled relationship evolves, one senior Pakistani official told The Wall Street Journal that Islamabad is fighting militants, not aiding them.

"Whenever anything goes wrong in Afghanistan, ISI is to be blamed," the official is quoted saying. "Honestly, they see ISI agents behind every bush in Afghanistan."

Lapan said the U.S. continues to communicate with Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the head of the Pakistani Army and former chief of the ISI, and is "comfortable that change will be coming in how the ISI operates."

Speaking after a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., said that "the ISI's continued involvement with various entities remains an issue of concern between us." 

He added that he is also concerned about Pakistani army attempts to undermine the government, but he doesn't think the army "will move in that type of way." 

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Recession Not Over for Congressional Candidates Despite Panel Ruling - FOXNews

A Cambridge-based economics panel declared last month that the recession is over -- in fact, it ended in June 2009. 

Just try telling that to congressional candidates. The judgment of one Massachusetts board has done little, if anything, to change the campaign trail rhetoric with Election Day mere weeks away. Candidates and lawmakers, particularly those arguing against a massive tax increase, continue to insist that the recession is ongoing and the nation is stuck in the "middle" of it. 

Jack Conway, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Kentucky, was the latest to repeat that claim during a debate with Republican Rand Paul on "Fox News Sunday." 

"I think that raising taxes -- we shouldn't be doing it in a time of recession," Conway said, battling the charge that he in any way opposed the extension of the Bush tax cuts. 

Conway's not alone among politicians in describing the downturn as a full-blown recession. There may be good reason -- poll after poll shows most Americans are on the same page. A Fox News poll released in August showed 88 percent of voters think the country is still in a recession, including 48 percent who think conditions could get worse. A Fox News poll released in September showed 86 percent say it feels like the country is in a recession. 

A recession is technically defined as two consecutive quarters of economic decline. The National Bureau of Economic Research, which tracks these trends, issued a statement Sept. 20 saying the recession officially lasted 18 months -- starting in December 2007 and ending in June 2009. That marks the turnaround from economic decline to economic growth. 

But in a climate where the unemployment rate is inching back toward 10 percent and businesses are sitting on their reserves, the declaration offers little comfort. Even the bureau said the announcement does not mean "economic conditions since (June 2009) have been favorable or that the economy has returned to operating at normal capacity." 

As long as the economy is sputtering, many politicians say the United States might as well be in recession as they appeal to voters for confidence in their commitment to spurring job creation. 

Both the Republican and Democratic nominees for the 3rd District House seat in Arkansas told local news channel KFSM-TV last week that the recession is not over. Democrat David Whitaker and Republican Steve Womack pointed to high unemployment and low investment by businesses in making their case. 

The claim that the recession is alive and not-so-well is most common in the debate over whether to extend the Bush tax cuts. Those who want them extended for all income levels cite the "recession" as the reason -- it's become a talking point for members of both parties. 

"We should not be raising taxes in the middle of a recession," Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., wrote in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

Jaime Herrera, a Washington state representative running as the GOP nominee for the 3rd District House seat in her state, wrote in a questionnaire for the Daily News Online that "raising taxes in the middle of a recession will harm job growth." 

Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has repeatedly made that argument, and his rank-and-file are starting to follow suit. 

Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter, who's facing a challenge this year from Democratic Rep. Charlie Melancon, said last month it would be "crazy" to raise taxes in a recession. 

The recession rhetoric was not enough to bring up the tax cut issue for a vote before Congress adjourned last week. Democratic leaders, who want to extend the tax cuts for the middle class but raise taxes on the wealthy, are pledging to tackle the issue when they return from recess in November. 

Republicans have voiced their doubts. House GOP Leader John Boehner last week equated the vote to adjourn with a vote to raise taxes.

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Paul Accuses Conway of Flip-Flopping as Kentucky Senate Candidates Clash - FOXNews

The candidates for Kentucky's open Senate seat, one of the keystones in both parties' plans to hold the majority next year, clashed on "Fox News Sunday" over the nation's economy and over each other's personal integrity, with Republican Rand Paul accusing Democrat Jack Conway of flip-flopping on big issues. 

In a televised debate, Paul described the November midterms as a referendum on President Obama's legislative agenda. Suggesting voters are inclined to vote against that agenda, he accused his Democratic opponent of backing away from the Obama proposals he once supported. 

"What he needs to do is either defend his president or run away -- so far he's running away from President Obama and the agenda," Paul said. 

Paul, arguably the first Tea Party-backed Senate candidate to win a Republican nomination, is trying to cast his opponent as "ambivalent" on economic issues critical to his state. So far, most polls show Paul holding a considerable lead over the state's attorney general - the latest Rasmussen poll put Paul up 11 points. 

But Conway cast Paul as out-of-touch with state voters, particularly on the health care overhaul. Conway said hundreds of thousands of Kentucky residents will have access to health care for the first time, warning that Paul's pledge to repeal the law would strip away premium assistance for low-income families and protections like a ban on denying coverage to kids with pre-existing conditions. 

"I want to fix health care. He wants to repeal it," Conway said. "I think that's a stark difference." 

Conway is standing by the health care law but offers mixed, and allegedly conflicting, reviews on other Obama priorities. Conway said he supported the tax cuts component of the stimulus package but that the "shovel-ready" infrastructure component has had mixed results. He said he would not have supported the bailouts -- which started under former President George W. Bush. 

But Paul said Conway has changed his tune entirely, and repeatedly, on the issue of tax cuts. 

After Congress adjourned without taking action on the looming expiration of the Bush tax cuts, Conway now says the Bush tax cuts should be extended. But he told the Courier-Journal editorial board in April: "I would favor letting expire probably the majority, the majority of the Bush tax cuts." 

Conway explained Sunday he was talking about "special interest provisions" that allow companies to ship U.S. jobs overseas. He stressed that he was originally for the Bush tax cuts in 2002. 

Paul accused Conway of simply changing his position time after time. "You were for them before you were against them before you were for them again," Paul said. 

He also accused Conway of being on "both sides" of the issue on the so-called "cap-and-trade" bill that would regulate greenhouse gas emissions. A local Kentucky news report last summer said Conway issued a statement in support of a House version of the cap-and-trade bill. Conway now says he's "against cap-and-trade" and "always have been." 

"Kentuckians are not going to tolerate someone who's ambivalent on cap-and-trade," Paul said. "Cap-and-trade will be a disaster to our economy." 

Conway says he's been consistent in standing up for Kentucky coal miners. 

Conway stressed his work battling pharmaceutical companies and criticized Paul repeatedly for controversial comments he made about the Americans with Disabilities Act. He said he would be focused "like a laser" on jobs creation if elected. 

Paul said his legislative work would be devoted to reducing spending and drawing down the national debt, pledging to introduce legislation to balance the budget. 

The national debt "is threatening the very foundation of our economy," he said. "It's incredibly dangerous. It's incredibly foolhardy." 

Click here for more Fox News "Days to Decide" coverage. 

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Fox News Poll: Voters Use Midterm Elections to Send Message to White House - FOXNews

With the balance of power in Congress at stake, many voters plan to register dissatisfaction with a Democratic-controlled White House – making the midterm elections a referendum on President Obama.

A Fox News poll released Thursday finds that 41 percent will use their vote this year to express opposition to Obama's policies, compared to 34 percent who describe their vote as expressing support. The message is even clearer among the swing group of independent voters: by an 11 percentage-point margin, independents will cast their ballot to express opposition (41 percent) rather than support (30 percent) for Obama.

That's not surprising given the lack of support for some of the administration's policies. More voters favor rather than oppose repealing the new health care law (46-42 percent). That includes 24 percent of Democrats and 44 percent of independents who want the law repealed.

And by a wide 54-36 percent margin, voters favor legislation stopping the government from spending the hundreds of billions of dollars of unspent stimulus money.

While 57 percent say the Tea Party will not be a factor in their vote for Congress, fully 70 percent of voters support the "main issues the Tea Party has raised" -- calling for lower taxes, less government spending and less government regulation. That includes 49 percent of Democrats.

Those who will use their vote to make a statement on the Tea Party are more likely to cast their ballot as an expression of support for the movement rather than opposition (21-13 percent). It’s important to note the new poll finds just 13 percent consider themselves "part of" the Tea Party movement.

Almost all voters -- 86 percent -- say it feels like the country is still in a recession.

Nearly four in 10 (37 percent) say their family is worse off today compared to two years ago. Just over half (52 percent) say their situation hasn’t changed. Only 11 percent say they are better off today.

Meanwhile, Obama's job rating remains low. Currently 42 percent of voters approve, matching last week’s record low, and 49 percent disapprove. Two weeks ago the president’s rating hit a new low approval (42 percent) and record high disapproval (52 percent).

In addition, 46 percent think Obama is doing a good job "listening to the American people," down slightly from 49 percent in February. Forty-three percent think he’s doing a bad job listening. Yet the president fares better on this measure than those on Capitol Hill. Majorities think Democrats (59 percent) and Republicans in Congress (55 percent) are doing a bad job listening to the American people.

Overall, 72 percent disapprove of the job Congress is doing, including 56 percent of Democrats, 73 percent of independents and 89 percent of Republicans. Likewise, 67 percent agree that the federal government has gotten “totally out of control” and American voters need to clean house.

The national telephone poll was conducted for Fox News by Opinion Dynamics Corp. among 900 registered voters from September 28 to September 29. For the total sample, the poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Click here to view the complete poll results 

Republicans Maintain Edge in 2010 Vote

More Republicans (78 percent) than Democrats (60 percent) are extremely or very interested in the upcoming election, and those who consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement are the most interested group of voters this year (89 percent). In addition, a larger number of Republicans (83 percent) than Democrats (71 percent) are "certain" they will vote in the upcoming election.

That turns into an advantage for the Republicans. With Election Day less than five weeks away, by a 44-38 percent margin, more voters say they would back the Republican candidate in their district than the Democratic candidate if voting today. In mid-September, Republicans also had a 6-point edge on this generic ballot question (46-40 percent).

Among those who are extremely or very interested in the election, the Republican edge increases to 15 points (51-36 percent).

Not only are more Republicans (89 percent) than Democrats (82 percent) backing their party’s candidate, but also Democrats (20 percent) are more than twice as likely as Republicans (9 percent) to say they "dread" voting this year.

Ninety-three percent of those who consider themselves part of the Tea Party, as well as 82 percent of Republicans, 69 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of independents are “looking forward” to voting this year. 

Clinton Preferred Over Obama on Campaign Trail

While 35 percent of voters say they would be more likely to support a candidate if Obama campaigns for them, nearly half -- 48 percent -- say they would be less likely to do so.

Among independents, the president would do even more harm. By a 29-point spread, independents would be less likely (48 percent) to vote for a candidate Obama backs rather than more likely (19 percent).

It's a similar story for First Lady Michelle Obama -- voters would be less likely to vote for a candidate if she campaigns for them by 16 points.

For former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the effect is about the same: by 19 points voters overall would be less likely to vote for a candidate she backs, and by 20-points independents would be less likely.

The most positive response was for former President Bill Clinton. Some 39 percent say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate Clinton backed, while 40 percent say less likely. Even so, among independents, Clinton would do more harm than good: 25 percent say they would be more likely and 40 percent less likely.

Congress Should Vote on Tax Cuts before Election

Most voters -- 76 percent -- favor continuing the Bush tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 a year. That drops to 45 percent support for extending the tax cuts for all Americans, including those making $250,000 or more.

Still, 71 percent think raising taxes right now would be a "mistake" because it would hurt the economy. That’s more than three times as many as think raising taxes is a “necessity” because of the size of the federal deficit (19 percent).

Either way, a 65 percent majority thinks Congress should take action on the Bush tax cuts before the upcoming midterm elections so lawmakers can be held accountable for their vote. That includes more than 6 in 10 Democrats, Republicans and independents.

The Republicans New Pledge to America

Nearly half of voters (47 percent) say they are familiar with the Republican Party’s new “Pledge to America,” which was announced September 23.

Of those at least somewhat familiar with the new Pledge, many more have a favorable (46 percent) than an unfavorable (35 percent) impression of it. For 9 percent it is too soon to say.

Click here to view the raw data 

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