Thompson urges million-member ground force for military
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson called yesterday for a million-member military ground force and more funding to equip and care for service members and veterans.
Thompson said he wants a military ground force of 775,000 in the Army and 225,000 Marines, 23,000 more Marines than the Pentagon is seeking.
"Some would say this plan is too much and too big," Thompson said at The Citadel, a military college. "I don't believe that's the case, not at all."
Thompson didn't say how he would pay for the increase, but added that military spending should be set at 4.5 percent of the value of the goods and services the nation creates. His campaign said that would be the equivalent of increasing military spending by as much as $150 billion a year, but that those increases would be phased in and depend on economic growth.
Also yesterday, the National Right to Life Committee announced its endorsement of Thompson, saying he is the most likely candidate to beat Rudy Giuliani, who supports abortion rights, for the Republican nomination.
Thompson has been at odds with the group because he doesn't support a federal constitutional amendment outlawing abortion; because he has called the Terri Schiavo case a family matter; and because he backed campaign finance regulations that the group considers a restriction of free speech.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Romney sets ad record
The size of Mitt Romney's television ad barrage becomes more apparent with each new round of figures.
He has spent $10.2 million so far - a record at this point in a presidential campaign and nearly three times as much as the candidate spending the next-largest amount, Democrat Barack Obama, who has spent $3.9 million, CNN's media consultant reported yesterday. The nearest Republican is John McCain, at more than $300,000.
Romney's commercials have aired more than 14,500 times, according to TNSMI/Campaign Media Analysis Group. The ad campaign is focused on Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, and has helped put him in the lead in the polls in Iowa and New Hampshire and in the mix in South Carolina.
FOON RHEE
JFK apparently said it best
Mitt Romney has been repeatedly asked whether and when he will give a speech addressing his Mormon faith, along the lines of the one John F. Kennedy gave in 1960 before becoming the nation's first Catholic president.
Kennedy emphasized the separation of church and state and said he would not answer to the pope.
On Monday, Romney gave a novel answer to Concord Monitor editors and reporters: "John F. Kennedy gave the landmark speech on the topic. He said what needs to be said. I don't know that there's something different that needs to be said than what he said. I guess I could go back and reprint it!"
Meanwhile, the Southern Baptist Convention wants to make clear that Richard Land, president of its Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, is not supporting Romney.
Romney, in addressing evangelical Christians suspicious of his faith, has quoted Land as saying voters are choosing a commander in chief, not a pastor in chief.
"Those statements were made in response to questions about whether or not Governor Romney's faith was an absolute 'deal breaker' for evangelicals in selecting a presidential candidate, not an endorsement of Governor Romney," Land said in the statement.
FOON RHEE
Jousting over trade pact
DUBUQUE, Iowa - Hillary Clinton's doubts about big foreign trade deals came only in the heat of the presidential campaign, Democratic rival Barack Obama said yesterday.
He focused in particular on the North American Free Trade Agreement, which many unions say has sent jobs outside the nation's borders and held down wages in the United States. "You don't just suddenly wake up and say NAFTA is a terrible thing when you were for it before," said Obama.
He spoke to a regional convention of the United Auto Workers a day after Clinton used the same forum to call for a "time out" on new trade deals while their impact on American jobs is assessed.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Firefighters enter the fray
CONCORD, N.H. - A group of New York City firefighters critical of presidential contender Rudy Giuliani is bringing its message to the campaign trail in the first primary state.
The group, calling themselves 9/11 Firefighters & Families, includes the parents of three firefighters who died in the Sept. 11 attacks and a current New York City firefighter.
Two of the fathers are current or retired firefighters, and the third is a retired police sergeant. They plan to hold a town hall-style meeting at Dartmouth College to speak out against Giuliani, who was mayor when the attacks occurred.
ASSOCIATED PRESS 