Clinton calls for change on drug sentencing

PHILADELPHIA — Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton would eliminate the federal mandatory five-year sentence for crack-cocaine users as part of a $4 billion-a-year anti-crime initiative designed, in part, to steer many nonviolent offenders away from prison.

Her plan also would revive several programs started by her husband's administration, including federal funding of community oriented prosecutors and police officers.

The New York senator outlined her proposal in a speech Friday in Philadelphia, a key city in her contest with Sen. Barack Obama for voters in Pennsylvania's April 22 presidential primary.

Clinton said she would pay for the $4 billion initiative through a commission she will assign to "identify unnecessary and outdated corporate subsidies for elimination." Critics of deficit spending generally urge campaigns to be more specific in saying how they will pay for programs.

McCain defends plan for homeowners

LUBBOCK, Texas — Republican John McCain defended his latest plan to help some homeowners pay their mortgages, saying Friday it was not a reversal of his earlier opposition to aggressive intervention by the government.

The likely Republican presidential nominee on Thursday proposed to help 200,000 to 400,000 homeowners trade burdensome mortgages for manageable loans, at a cost of $3 billion to $10 billion.

Democratic rivals Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama said McCain was flip-flopping. Last month, he said he preferred only limited intervention, drawing criticism from Democrats and some Republicans that he was being indifferent to Americans facing foreclosures and other economic pain.

McCain said their criticism was "just factually incorrect. I said there shouldn't be a broad government bailout. But ... I said the government has to enact reform to prevent the kind of crisis we have, and there was a role for government, and I supported a bipartisan solution."

"Colbert Report" goes to Pennsylvania

NEW YORK — Comedian Stephen Colbert's bid for the presidency may have fallen short, but he's determined to influence the race.

"The Colbert Report" on Monday will begin a week of broadcasts in Philadelphia, where the Democratic Pennsylvania primary is looming.

It's the first time the Comedy Central show has broadcast anywhere but its snug Manhattan studio. The show will be taped at the University of Pennsylvania's 900-seat Zellerbach Theater.

It will be Colbert's most notable foray into presidential politics since his failed bid to be added to the South Carolina Democratic primary ballot.

Also

Fire destroyed a campaign office of presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton in Terre Haute, Ind., Friday. Terre Haute Fire Department spokesman John Gardner said nothing indicated the fire was arson. There were no injuries.

Seattle Times news services