Ok. So I looked at the validation css and used the recommended version, so there are no bugs in the css styling. Thanks that is a good tool.
However, the problem persists in ie7. I am really baffled. Even tried the 0 padding and margin thing. No luck.

The bottom table in the footer is also very much out of line.
The header logo should be aligned leftward and the table with the red line should be over right next to the side nav.
Not sure how to resolve this.
Still have the weird change in color to off white on header and side nav bar in ie9 ff3.6+ and safari4.