Swamp Gas, December 3, 2007

by Frank James

A quick guided tour of some of the morning's most important, most interesting, or both, Washington-related stories.

The landslide victory enjoyed by the party of Russian President Vladimir Putin's in Sunday's elections raised questions about Russia's future, such as who would be in charge of the nation next year since the Russian leader has indicated that he intends to still wield power even though term limits will force him to leave the presidency.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has clearly gained momentum lately, taking the lead in polls in Iowa against other Republicans competing for the presidential nomination. But even if he should win Iowa, large doubts remain about his ability to capitalize on success there because of the accelerated primary schedule and the need for vast sums of money which he doesn't have.

In an effort to try and stop the advance of Sen. Barack Obama in Iowa polls, the campaign of presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton's is increasingly trying to cast doubts about his truthfulness and, ultimately, his character.

Obama is now leading Clinton in the latest Des Moines Register poll, just as Huckabee has taken the lead on the GOP side, but the race there remains very fluid, with more than half of voters surveyed there saying they may swing their support to another candidate.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez lost a referendum in which he sought to extend his power through sweeping constitutional changes including new proposed executive powers and an end to term limits which would have allowed him to remain in office indefinitely.

A panel of medical experts was to make public on Monday long awaited guidelines for preventing and treating childhood obesity.

Significant numbers of subprime mortage loans were made not only to home buyers with bad credit scores but to many buyers with comparatively good scores, demonstrating the pervasiveness of the lose underwriting standards that prevailed during the housing bubble.

The Kyoto Treaty is widely considered a failure in limiting greenhouse gases because its limits on many nations, like those in the former Eastern Bloc, were tailored in ways that allow them to emit at very high levels.