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Insider Report from Newsmax.com

Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. Perry, Romney Differ Sharply on Climate Change
2. Gorbachev: Putin Pulling Russia ‘Back Into the Past’
3. Americans Worked Till Aug. 12 to Pay for Government
4. Beware of Iowa Poll: McCain Placed 10th in ’08
5. ‘Nanny State’ Calif. Law Bans Non-fitted Hotel Sheets

1. Perry, Romney Differ Sharply on Climate Change

A clear divide has emerged between Republican presidential candidates Rick Perry and Mitt Romney over one issue important to many conservatives — climate change.

Texas Gov. Perry says the climate change issue has been “politicized” and is a “contrived phony mess.” But former Massachusetts Gov. Romney has actually drawn praise from global warming crusader Al Gore for his assertion that humans are contributing to a global environment that is getting warmer.

And some observers say Romney’s stance could very well doom his candidacy.

In his book “Fed Up!” Perry questions the science behind global warming claims and accuses Gore of being a “false prophet of a secular carbon cult.”

He writes: “Draconian policies with dire economic effects based on so-called science may not stand the test of time. Quite frankly, when science gets hijacked by the political left, we should all be concerned.

“It’s all one contrived phony mess that is falling apart under its own weight.”

Asked about his climate change views at a campaign stop in Bedford, N.H., on Wednesday, according to National Journal, Perry stated: “I do think global warming has been politicized.

“We are seeing almost weekly or even daily scientists are coming forward and questioning the original idea that manmade global warming is what is causing our climate to change. Yes, our climate has changed. It has been changing ever since the earth was formed. But I do not buy into a group of scientists who have, in some cases, been found to be manipulating data.”

Perry’s position stands in stark contrast to the views expressed by Romney. The Washington Post reported that at a June 3 town hall meeting in Manchester, N.H., he said: “I don’t speak for the scientific community, of course, but I believe the world’s getting warmer. I can’t prove that, but I believe based on what I read that the world is getting warmer.

“And number two, I believe that humans contribute to that. I don’t know how much our contribution is to that, because I know that there have been periods of greater heat and warmth in the past, but I believe we contribute to that.”

He added that “it’s important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may be significant contributors.”

Romney’s position pleased Gore, who wrote on his website on June 15: “Good for Mitt Romney.

“The putative Republican presidential front-runner, eager to prove his conservative bona fides, could easily have said what he knew many in his party’s base wanted to hear. Instead, the former Massachusetts governor stuck to the position he has held for many years — that he believes the world is getting warmer and that humans are contributing to it.”

Romney’s statements drew a quite different response from conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, who told listeners: “Bye-bye, nomination. The last year has established that the whole premise of manmade global warming is a hoax, and we still have presidential candidates that want to buy into it.”

Talking Points Memo observed: “Climate skeptics love Perry,” who “appears poised to take up a view of climate change on the presidential campaign trail that would be right at home in a Sen. James Inhofe floor speech.”

Oklahoma Republican Inhofe is an outspoken critic of global warming crusaders.

Marc Morano writes on his Climate Depot website: “As the former writer of Sen. Inhofe’s floor speeches, I say kudos to Perry! Romney is in deep trouble on this issue. Gore praising Romney’s warmist climate views makes it even tougher for Romney to appeal to GOP voters.”

2. Gorbachev: Putin Pulling Russia ‘Back Into the Past’

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev says the conspirators who tried unsuccessfully to topple him in 1991 “were truly idiots” — and says current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is “pulling us back into the past.”

In a wide-ranging interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, Gorbachev said that despite his position of power he was always suspicious that his conversations were being monitored by elements in the Soviet government. The suspicions turned out to be well-founded.

Asked if he ever discussed important issues with his wife Raisa at home, Gorbachev responded: “You had to go outside. We also never discussed important things openly at the dacha. When I cleared out our Moscow apartment after stepping down as president, they found all kinds of wiring in the walls. It turned out that they had been spying on me all along.”

Gorbachev recalled that before he came to power in the Soviet Union, “the district party leader was the king in his district, the regional leader was a czar and the general secretary was practically God’s equal. That’s why we needed glasnost — openness — first. It was the path to freedom.”

In August 1991, KGB Chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov and other Soviet leaders who opposed Gorbachev’s reforms sought to oust him while he was on vacation in Crimea. Gorbachev discussed the attempted coup in this exchange:

Spiegel: “Then came the coup. But the Americans had already warned you against it early enough — two months earlier, in fact. And they had even named names, including that of KGB chief Kryuchkov. Is that true?”

Gorbachev: “[George H.W.] Bush called me. He referred to information from the Moscow mayor, Gavriil Popov.”

Spiegel: “You didn't believe him?”

Gorbachev: “The conservatives had announced several times that they wanted to get rid of Gorbachev, and they had already tried it in various committees, but without success.”

Spiegel: “And you chose to go on vacation in Crimea at a time like that?”

Gorbachev: “I thought they would be idiots to take such a risk precisely at that moment, because it would sweep them away, too. But unfortunately they were truly idiots, and they destroyed everything. And we proved ourselves to be semi-idiots, myself included. I had become exhausted after all those years. I was tired and at my limits. But I shouldn't have gone away. It was a mistake.”

Boris Yeltsin, Gorbachev’s successor, was “very, very self-confident. When we wanted to bring him into the national party, many advised us against it,” Gorbachev told Der Spiegel.

“They later elected him as party leader in Moscow. I supported it. He was energetic, and it took a long time for me to recognize my mistake. He was extremely infatuated with power, haughty and thirsting for glory, a domineering person. He always believed that he was being underestimated, and he constantly felt insulted. He should have been shunted out of the way and made an ambassador in a banana republic, where he could have smoked water pipes in peace.”

Surveying the scene in Russia today, Gorbachev opined: “What troubles me is what the United Russia party, which is led by Putin, and the government are doing. They want to preserve the status quo. There are no steps forward. On the contrary, they are pulling us back into the past, while the country is urgently in need of modernization. Sometimes United Russia reminds me of the old Soviet Communist Party.”

Asked if Russia will become a democracy, or if nationalists will assume power or the communists will return, Gorbachev replied: “It will be difficult, even painful, but democracy will prevail in Russia. There will be no dictatorship, although relapses into authoritarianism are possible.”

Gorbachev, 80, also said he will “never give up politics,” adding: “Politics mobilizes me. I won’t last long if I give it up.”  

3. Americans Worked Till Aug. 12 to Pay for Government

“Cost of Government Day” fell on Aug. 12 this year, meaning the average American worked until that date to pay for government spending and regulations.

Each year, Americans for Tax Reform publishes its Cost of Government Day (COGD) report, and this year the organization calculated that Americans on average worked 224 days to pay for local, state, and federal government spending and regulations.

This year marks the third straight year that COGD has come in August. Prior to the Obama administration, the latest it had ever fallen was July 21.

“Americans have lost 29 days of the calendar year thanks to Obama’s overspending and regulatory zeal,” the report states.

The average American worked 103 days this year to pay for the cost of federal spending, and 44 days to pay off state and local government spending.

In addition, Americans worked 77 days to pay for total federal, state, and local regulations.

The report also measures varying government burdens in each state to determine its COGD. As in past years, taxpayers in Connecticut must work the most days to pay for government spending and regulation, 253, and the COGD there is Sept. 10. In New Jersey, taxpayers must work 249 days, and in New York, 242 days.

Taxpayers in Mississippi labored “only” until July 19 to pay off their burden of government, a total of 200 days, while taxpayers in Tennessee worked 201 days, and in South Carolina, 204 days.

This year’s overall COGD “comes only two days earlier than last year’s revised date of Aug. 14,” according to a statement from Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist and Mattie Corrao, executive director of the Center for Fiscal Accountability.

“This small step towards an earlier Cost of Government Day is likely temporary. The coming implementation of regulatory behemoths that will also cause federal spending to skyrocket augurs a dismal future for taxpayers.

“The implementation of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul, coupled with adjudication of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, portend far later COGDs in the future.”

However, on a more hopeful note, the authors add: “The discussion of the government’s overspending problem has shifted from billions to trillions — a significant step toward coming to terms with the country’s fiscal recklessness.” 

4. Beware of Iowa Poll: McCain Placed 10th in ’08

Much has been made of the success or failure of Republican presidential candidates in last week’s Iowa Straw Poll, but a look back at previous Iowa polls shows that they can be far from accurate in predicting the ultimate GOP nominee.

The poll is taken in Ames, Iowa, in August of years in an election cycle in which the Republican presidential nomination appears undecided — that is, in years without an incumbent Republican president running for re-election.

The previous Iowa poll was in 2007, when Mitt Romney won with 31 percent of the votes, with Mike Huckabee in second with 18 percent and Sam Brownback third with 15 percent.

John McCain finished 10th in the field of 11 candidates, with just 0.7 percent, and Huckabee won the Iowa caucus. But McCain went on to win the Republican nomination and was defeated by Democrat Barack Obama.

In 1979, George H.W. Bush won the Straw Poll and went on to win the Iowa Caucus, but Ronald Reagan won the nomination and the presidency.

In 1987, Pat Robertson won the Straw Poll with 33 percent of the votes, but Bob Dole won the Iowa Caucus and George H.W. Bush won the GOP nomination and the presidency.

In 1995, Bob Dole tied with Phil Gramm with 23 percent of the vote. Dole went on the garner the nomination but lost the general election to Bill Clinton.

Only in 1999 did the Straw Poll accurately predict who would win the White House — George W. Bush won the poll, the Iowa Caucus, and the presidency.

In this year’s Straw Poll, Michele Bachmann finished first with 28.6 percent and Ron Paul second with 27.7 percent. Mitt Romney, considered the overall front-runner, got just 3.4 percent.

It is interesting to note that McCain’s poor showing in the 2007 poll — he collected just 101 votes — could at least partially be attributed to his lack of significant campaigning in the state. But this year, Rick Perry did not even formally announce his candidacy until the day of the poll, yet collected far more votes than McCain, 718, as a write-in candidate.

5. ‘Nanny State’ Calif. Law Bans Non-fitted Hotel Sheets

Bolstering the charge that debt-ridden California is an overregulated “nanny state,” a bill placed before the legislature requires hotels to discard flat sheets and use only fitted sheets instead.

The measure, which has already been approved by the Senate, is intended to reduce back injuries sustained by hotel housekeepers, who must lift heavy mattresses to change flat sheets.

“We are now going to make it a crime in California not to use a fitted sheet?” state Sen. Sam Blakeslee asked during a debate.

The hotel industry claims if the bill is enacted, hotels in the state would have to spend at least $30 million to replace sheets and buy appropriate laundry equipment, according to the Los Angeles Times.

California legislators past and present have evoked protests, and sometimes ridicule, by introducing bills that would outlaw spanking children, ban trans fats in restaurants, require calorie counts on menus, ban the cooking of shark fin soup, and outlaw Styrofoam food containers.

A bill pending in the legislature would require hospitals to provide patient-lifting equipment or teams of backup workers to help nurses avoid bank injuries when they lift or move patients.

The cost of providing a two-person lift team around the clock is about $375,000 a year, according to Jan Emerson-Shea, a vice president with the California Hospital Association.

As for the ban on flat sheets, Lynn Mohrfeld, head of the California Hotel & Lodging Association, told the Times:

“Californians will be outraged when they learn that instead of focusing on the many real problems facing this state, lawmakers want to regulate bed sheets.”