SPB News for Tuesday.

30 Florida counties won't follow state's voter ID suggestion Florida's Broward and Miami-Dade counties have announced that they will buck the state's recommendations for handling voters flagged by the controversial Florida Voter Verification Law on election day, streamlining the process to require less paperwork from challenged voters. The state's final unverified list, released Monday, leaves the voting status of more than 12,000 newly registered voters in limbo unless they can clear up identification mismatches in driver's license and Social Security databases.

Central Banks Slashing Rates As Investors Flee --Global Pullback Could Affect Currency Markets Central banks around the world are moving to further slash interest rates as they seek to contain the damage from the bursting of the biggest credit bubble in history. The Federal Reserve is poised to cut its benchmark rate for the second time in two weeks at a pivotal meeting in Washington on Wednesday, and the European Central Bank yesterday suggested that it would do the same next week.

Report: US-Funded Iraq Water Treatment Project Late, Faulty and Over Budget --Project was so poorly conceived that there is no reliable electricity to run pumps and purification tanks -- A huge American-financed wastewater treatment plant in Falluja, which United States troops assaulted twice to aid US corpora-terrorist cronies in 2004, was supposed to be the centerpiece of an effort to rebuild Iraq. Instead, the project, which has tripled in cost from original plans to $100 million and has fallen about three years behind schedule, has become an example of the failed and often oversold program to rebuild Iraq’s infrastructure with American dollars and 'skill.'

Bigger role for US CIA drones in Pakistan Twenty people were killed last night in a missile strike by CIA Predator drone aircraft inside Pakistan amid reports that Washington is intensifying its aerial bombardment of the country after being forced to back away from plans to send in ground forces. The attack - the 18th in the past few weeks - targeted what was described as a "militant compound" close to Wana, the main town of the South Waziristan tribal agency... The latest strike and others carried out by the CIA were described last night by Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani as "disastrous".

'Those are in quarantine, and they won't ever see the light of day.' Faulty Ballots Sent to D. C. Voters --Mailed absentee ballots are printed on demand by Sequoia for elections board As many as 126 District voters were mailed incorrect absentee ballots in the latest slip-up for the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, already under scrutiny for mistakes made during the Sept. 9 primary. D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) says Sequoia Voting Systems, the company that provides the city with its 'voting' system and equipment, informed her office that there are at least 126 flawed absentee ballots.

This Year's Butterfly Ballot --This year, North Carolina’s flawed ballot could again result in tens of thousands of votes being lost. (The New York Times) Like a number of states, North Carolina allows its voters to choose a straight-party ticket. To do that, voters can mark one box and cast votes for all of the nominees of their preferred party. But North Carolina’s ballot has an unexpected twist. Even if a voter checks the straight-party box, he or she must vote separately for a presidential candidate. North Carolina’s ballot explains the need to check two boxes, and election officials make an effort to inform voters of the drill. But the ballot is still far too confusing.

Ashley Todd, PA Racist Hoax "Victim," Was Paid Organizer for College Republican National Committee, Not a Volunteer Last week, a troubled young woman handed the McCain campaign a Willie Horton-style race card, and the media helped them play it. The attack of a 20-year-old college student was seized upon by the Drudge Report as a "mutilation," and other conservative Web sites as fodder against the surging Obama campaign... Though Todd was an employee of the College Republican National Committee (CRNC), as confirmed today to BuzzFlash by a representative there named Ethan Eioln, nearly every report demoted her to the role of volunteer. In fact, she was hired by the CRNC and promised a contract wage of $3,600 from August until Election Day. After she was charged by police for filing a false report, her employment with the CRNC was terminated.

Halloween Palin Prop Sparks Controversy In WeHo A Halloween decoration showing a mannequin dressed as vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin hanging by a noose from the roof of a West Hollywood home is drawing giggles from some passers-by and gasps of outrage from others. The mannequin is dressed in brunet wig, glasses and a red business suit. Another mannequin dressed as John McCain emerges from a flaming chimney.

McCain pushed regulators for land swap, despite pledge Years after he resurrected his political fortunes from the Keating Five savings and loan investigation, John McCain promoted an Arizona land swap that would've benefited a former mentor and partner of the scandal's central figure.

Cost of crash: $2,800,000,000,000 Autumn's market mayhem has left the world's financial institutions nursing losses of $2.8tn, the Bank of England said today, as it called for fundamental reform of the global banking system to prevent a repeat of turmoil "arguably" unprecedented since the outbreak of the first world war almost a century ago.

Campaign trail for Tuesday.

McCain-Palin team

Road to Victory Rally in Hershey, PA

Road to Victory Rally with John McCain & Sarah Palin in Quakertown, PA

Obama-Biden team

10/28 Barack in Chester, PA (LIVE) @ 10am EST

10/28 Barack in Harrisonburg, VA (LIVE) @ 5:15pm EST

10/28 Barack in Norfolk, VA @ 9:30pm EST

10/28 Michelle in Las Vegas, NM @ 2:15pm EST

10/28 Michelle in Colorado Springs, CO @ 6:30pm EST

10/28 Joe in Ocala, FL @ 11am EST

10/28 Joe in Melbourne, FL @ 6:30pm EST