Blue Mass Group

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A “no brainer” for Hillary

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Timing is everything they say!

Clinton turns attention to observatory in Puerto Rico

Jeannette Rivera-lyles | Sentinel Staff Writer

April 25, 2008

The financially strapped Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico has a new patron in New York senator and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton — just weeks before the island’s Democratic primary.

The Cornell University-operated observatory in the northwestern part of the island risks being shut down if it doesn’t find new sources of funding. The National Science Foundation, which has supported the facility until now, announced last year that it would cut most of its budget for the facility by 2011.

A bill filed by Clinton last week seeks to reverse that decision by requiring the NSF to reinstate the funds.

Foundation officials said that, although the observatory does “good and unique science,” the foundation can fund less than a third of all of the proposals it gets.

But supporters of the observatory point out that a funding initiative by the Bush administration may double the NSF’s budget during the next 10 years.

Clinton’s action was welcomed in Puerto Rico, but island supporters of Barack Obama questioned the timing. The commonwealth will hold one of the nation’s final Democratic primaries June 1. It has 55 pledged delegates that both candidates are going after vigorously.

“Arecibo has been in peril for a while now,” said Andros Lopez, an attorney and a co-director of the local Obama campaign. “That she, by chance, finds about it now is an example of the type of old politics that Obama wants to change. The timing is more than suspect.”

-snip

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Comments

  1. Please, this is very poor.  An observatory is how Hillary is going to buy an election?  Guess what, she already has the lead there and it’s not going to change.  Do you think the regular everyday voters will think to themselves, Hmmmm, I like Obama but Hillary just gave us money for our observatory so I’m votin’ for her!  Good grief, is this going to even register with anyone there?  Obama will lose Puerto Rico and it’s not because of this.  

    • I don’t really think this pork will register in PR with the voters.

      <

      p>I was more pointing to the kneejerk reaction by Clinton.

      <

      p>This move will not be missed by superdelegates, for better or worse. Afterall, this is how sausage gets made in Hillaryland.

      • remember that obama is getting a return on all the cash he paid out “purchasing” superdelegate votes in the 2006 elections. can’t change politics following the same old rules, obama.

        <

        p>and maybe hillary really cares about that observatory, right???

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