SPB News for Sunday.

New McCain ad: Obama didn't visit the troops in Germany because he couldn't bring cameras — This is a sequel to the attack ad McCain dropped on him at the beginning of his trip, retaining some of the same points about Obama's NATO subcommittee and his having steered clear of Iraq for almost three years.

Are Fannie and Freddie Screwed? Bush Hopes So By Scott Thill The problem is that Fannie and Freddie still carry the imprimatur of the government, offering options that no other lending institutions can offer. In other words, they talk private but walk public. Because of the implicit guarantee that the government would bail them out, which it is now going to have to do, they never had to raise enough cash to cover their asse(t)s. ...[T]he executives, hedge funders, bankers and further suits feeding at the trough make off with billions in subsidies, earnings and bonuses, leaving the public and its once-proud lending institutions for dead... Meanwhile, a bottom to the madness and loss is nowhere in sight, just in time for the election. Mission accomplished? You bet.

Controller says he won't cut workers' wages Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's [R-Nazi] bombshell plan to slash the pay of state workers and lay off thousands of other employees faces the same obstacle that arose five years ago during a state fiscal crisis: a state controller unwilling to cooperate. While the governor is poised to order the cuts on Monday, state Controller John Chiang (D), who is responsible for disbursing state workers' paychecks, said Thursday that he will refuse to go along with the governor, setting up a political standoff and a possible legal fight.

Iraq war's total cost nearing Vietnam's price tag The total cost of the Iraq war is approaching the Vietnam War's expense, a congressional report estimates, while spending for military operations after 9/11 has exceeded it. The new report by the Congressional Research Service estimates the U.S. has spent $648 billion on Iraq war operations, putting it in range with the $686 billion, in 2008 dollars, spent on the Vietnam War, the second most expensive war behind World War II. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. has doled out almost $860 billion for military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere around the world.

Pentagon: 16 soldiers died from electric shock --KBR holds a multibillion dollar contract to provide basic services at buildings in Iraq. Sixteen American troops have died from accidental electrocutions in Iraq, the Defense Department said Friday, more than the military has previously disclosed. Two died while in their living facilities, including at least one soldier who was electrocuted while he took a shower. The disclosure came after KBR Inc. Chief Executive William Utt met with Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., on Capitol Hill Friday to discuss allegations that soldiers died from electrocutions caused by faulty wiring at U.S. facilities run by KBR.

Condoleezza Rice lockdown begins Perth has started going into lockdown mode ahead of the visit by US Secretary of State [war criminal] Condoleezza Rice. 'Dr' Rice is due to land in the city about 6pm tonight. The tour is expected to focus on the close military ties between Australia and the United States.