CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A multimillionaire businessman entered the GOP race to challenge Sen. Robert C. Byrd yesterday, hoping to deny the 88-year-old incumbent Democrat a record ninth term.

John Raese, 55, said he would campaign on a platform touting free enterprise and reduced regulation, among other issues. “What I’m going to run on is a rebirth of capitalism,” he said.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee heralded the filing by Mr. Raese, a former state GOP chairman who has sought office before.

Though four other Republicans are running in the party primary, the GOP committee called Mr. Raese “the first financially credible opponent Byrd has faced since 1982.”

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06026/644782.stm

“US congressman takes Google to task on China”
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“Google will be called to task in Washington next month following a controversial decision by the internet search engine to launch a China-based version of its website that will censor results to avoid angering the country’s Communist government.

The decision by Chris Smith, a Republican congressman from New Jersey who chairs a House subcommittee on Human Rights, to call for a February 16 hearing to examine the operating procedures of US internet companies in China, represents the first signs of what could become a serious backlash against Google and other internet companies in Washington that are perceived as capitulating to the Chinese government.”