Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/154947502?client_source=feed&format=rss
ravens snow storm snow storm reggie bush ufc 137 boston news black friday
Monday, October 31, 2011
Bachmann defends stance on kids of illegal immigrants
By NBC's Jamie Novogrod
OSKALOOSA, Iowa?Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann waded into a sensitive area of immigration policy Saturday during a somewhat charged exchange at a campaign stop in southeast Iowa.
Bachmann entered an extended exchange with a college student (and Democrat) over how to handle the immigrants who are brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
After finishing a speech that focused in part on repealing the federal health care law and overhauling the tax code, Bachmann opened the floor to questions from the 100 or so people gathered at Smokey Row restaurant.
A 19 year-old college student, identifying himself as Latino, asked what Bachmann would ?do to? the children of illegal immigrants.
Bachmann responded that she is ?not doing anything to them,? and described why she is against the federal government rewarding citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.
?Their parents are the ones who brought them here,? Bachmann said.
"They did not have the legal right to come to the United States," Bachmann added, of the parents.? "We do not owe people who broke our laws to come into the country.? We don?t owe them anything.?
Bachmann went on to draw a parallel to her own family?s journey to the United States more than 150 years ago.
"I dare say that probably every single person in this room descends from immigrants,? Bachmann said.
?I did?my immigrant family came here in the 1850s, and they came into the United States legally.? They received zero benefits.?
The exchange was somewhat charged, because the student, Roy Aguillon, cast the question in personal terms.
?These guys were my friends," Aguillon said.? "They are the guys who sit next to me in class, who I see in Walmart.?
Aguillon, who is from San Antonio and is a student at nearby William Penn University, is a second-generation American citizen and is active in local politics?serving as the vice president of the College & Young Democrats of Iowa.
In an interview with NBC News, Aguillon said he didn't intend to draw Bachmann into a discussion about the DREAM Act?legislation which would offer benefits, including citizenship, to the children of illegal immigrants.
Instead, he says, he was looking for a practical answer for young illegals, given Bachmann's hard line position.
?These guys don?t know anything else," Aguillon said during his interview with NBC.? "What are you going to do, send them back to Mexico?? The place is basically in the middle of a drug war.?
Aguillon says he didn?t attend the event to raise trouble, and despite his leadership role in the Iowa College Democrats, he would consider voting Republican in 2012.
He complains that President Obama abandoned the DREAM Act, and hasn?t been hard enough on Wall Street.? He says, of Obama: ?He?s not enough of a fighter to be my president right now.?
Despite the personal tone of their exchange, Aguillon and Bachmann chatted following the event, and they posed for pictures together afterward, along with Aguillon's girlfriend.
As the campaign team left the restaurant, Iowa state co-chair Brad Zaun, a state senator from Urbandale, pulled him aside.
?Thanks for your honesty,? Zaun said.
mortgage rates mortgage rates kirstie alley r.e.m. kindle library lending kindle library lending hp ceo
Sunday, October 30, 2011
'Bling Ring' celeb burglar sentenced in L.A.
Since getting busted for burgling Audrina Patridge's house two years ago, Rachel Lee has had a lot of time to think.
And, according to Lee, she has since seen the error of her ways.
"I wanted to let you know that I am very sorry for what I did," the accused Bling Ring member wrote to L.A. Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler before he sentenced her to a maximum four years in prison for felony burglary. "I am sorry to the people I have hurt and for all the trouble I have caused."
So, what now? Besides sit in jail, that is?
-
More Entertainment stories
-
Tyler says bathroom fall not drug-related
Steven Tyler opened up to TODAY's Matt Lauer, saying his tumble was related to food poisoning, not substance abuse.
- 'Sister Wives' welcome baby No. 17
- Report: Bruce Willis to be a dad again
- Exclusive: Taylor Armstrong shares healing
- 'Beavis and Butt-head' and ... Snooki?
-
Tyler says bathroom fall not drug-related
READ: Jermaine Jackson's Jewelry Heist ? The Work of the Bling Ring?
"I have learned so much from this life journey," Lee continued. "The last two years of my life has changed me from an irresponsible and childish drug and alcohol addict towards becoming a responsible adult.... I was really messed up from so much substance abuse as well as poor choices of friends."
Read the letter
Lee was one of six people linked to a series of burglaries of celebrity homes, including those of Patridge, Orlando Bloom, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green, Ashley Tisdale and Rachel Bilson. The culprits made off with millions of dollars worth of jewelry, clothing, watches, electronics, firearms, etc., only some of which has been returned to the celebrity owners.
"Pretty Wild" star Alexis Neiers spent 30 days of a six-month sentence in jail for her role in the Bloom burglary, while the rest of Lee's alleged accomplices ? Nicholas Prugo, Diana Tamaya, Courtney Leigh Ames and Roy Lopez Jr. ? have pleaded not guilty and are due in court for a pretrial hearing Nov. 18.
Lee pleaded no contest to residential burglary, after which one felony count of conspiracy to commit burglary and two counts of receiving stolen property were dismissed.
"As I prepare to serve my time," Lee's letter to Fidler continues, "I am now planning what I can do during my jail term as far as education, training and service to our community so that I can come back to my family and society as a productive person. If possible, I would like to serve my time in a facility where I can receive education, counseling and job training."
READ: "Pretty Wild" Star Alexis Neiers' Rehab Plan: Drug-Counselor Training!
"Thank you very much for reading this letter," Lee concluded. "I hope to never stand before you in another case and I am going to work very hard to make that happen."
Fidler sentenced Lee to state prison and the type of rehabilitation opportunities offered depend on the facility where she ends up.
GALLERY: Mug-Shot Mania
Her probation report, dated Oct. 25, stated that Lee had never before shown any remorse for her crime, nor did she return any stolen property to the police, hence a recommendation that Fidler give her the maximum sentence.
"Although the defendant is somewhat youthful and has a limited criminal history," the report states, "there are significant factors that support a recommendation for state prison; among them are her leadership in a sophisticated burglary ring that took property in excess of two million dollars and her refusal to cooperate with police detectives."
? 2011 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45074078/ns/today-entertainment/
cameron todd willingham death row naacp cheryl cole x factor forgetting sarah marshall freetown freetown
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Lindsay Lohan's father arrested again in Tampa (AP)
TAMPA, Fla. ? The estranged father of actress Lindsay Lohan was back in police custody Thursday, hours after being released from a Tampa jail on domestic violence charges.
Tampa police responded to a 911 call from Michael Lohan's on-and-off girlfriend early Thursday. Kate Major told police Lohan, 51, made a harassing phone call to her shortly after being released from jail Wednesday afternoon.
Lohan called again while police were at Major's condo. Major, 28, put the call on speaker so police could listen. After hearing what Lohan said, the police department notified the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office of a violation of Judge Walter Heinrich's pre-trial release orders that he stay away from Major and an arrest order was authorized.
Police went to the Tahitian Inn in Tampa, where Lohan was reportedly staying. According to a news release from police, Lohan spotted the officers and jumped off a third-floor balcony in an attempt to escape.
Lohan was arrested after a short pursuit on foot. He was taken into police custody and taken to the Hillsborough County Jail. There, deputies suspected he may have broken his foot when he jumped off the balcony, so he was taken to Tampa General Hospital for evaluation.
Authorities said he will be returned to the jail once he's been cleared by doctors.
Lohan was arrested Tuesday on domestic violence charges involving Major, a former reporter for the Star tabloid. Police say he grabbed her arms and pushed her down multiple times during a daylong argument. When Lohan was released from jail Wednesday, he said he "didn't do anything" and the charges were Major's way of making money.
In July, a misdemeanor domestic violence charge against Lohan stemming from a fight with Major was dismissed in Los Angeles after she failed to show up for the trial. Lohan's attorney said Major declined to cooperate to avoid a court spectacle.
Lohan has a history of arrests in New York over allegations of harassment from ex-girlfriends.
Meanwhile, his daughter Lindsay Lohan could also return to jail in California after a judge last week ruled she violated probation involving a community service assignment. A Nov. 2 court date was set to decide whether Lindsay Lohan should be jailed.
The 25-year-old actress was given probation for a 2007 drunken driving case and a misdemeanor theft case this year.
prius c crocodile dundee crocodile dundee sharjah sharjah observe and report observe and report
Thailand floods disrupt global supply chains
People living in increasingly worsening flood regions, like Thailand, will have to adapt out of self-interest
People are well aware of the Thailand floods. The WSJ is reporting that a consequence of such floods is that global supply chains are being disrupted. For profit firms have strong incentives to sign contracts with intermediate input suppliers who are not risky in terms of delivering promised products.
Skip to next paragraph Matthew KahnMathew is an economics professor at UCLA and has written three books: Green Cities (Brookings Institution Press); Heroes and Cowards (Princeton University Press, jointly with Dora L. Costa); and in fall 2010, Climatopolis: How Our Cities Will Thrive in the Hotter World (Basic Books).
Recent posts
Why does this matter? Suppose that you are a political leader of Thailand and you gain if your nation's firms sign more international agreements to participate in global supply chains. If you know that damage from natural disasters endangers these contracts (as Multinational Western corporations seek out safer locations to purchase inputs from), then you have strong incentives to adapt to natural disasters.
This is the logic of Climatopolis! Self interest, not green ideology, guides the urge to adapt. I predict that Thailand's firms and governments will make a series of self protective investments to reduce flood risk exposure. What will be the net effect of these investments? How much flood risk can be offset? We will see.
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on greeneconomics.blogspot.com.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/whaL7trC_68/Thailand-floods-disrupt-global-supply-chains
ipod nano watch dancing with the stars elimination dancing with the stars elimination nexus prime nexus prime new iphone new iphone
Friday, October 28, 2011
Does reading achievement spur independent reading, or vice versa?
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 26-Oct-2011[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Sarah Hutcheon
shutcheon@srcd.org
202-289-7905
Society for Research in Child Development
Reading achievement at age 10 influences how much independent reading children do at age 11. However, independent reading doesn't directly improve children's achievement in reading, at least among children at the end of elementary school. In addition, individual differences in independent reading among 11-year-olds partly reflect genetic influences on reading achievement at age 10.
Those are the findings of a new longitudinal study that sought to answer the question: Does reading achievement lead to independent reading or does reading on your own boost reading achievement? Or are there relationships between the two that go in both directions?
The study appears in the journal Child Development. It was conducted by researchers at the Ohio State University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Case Western Reserve University, and the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign.
Educators have long emphasized the importance of independent reading for fun or leisure, assuming that getting kids to read more on their own will lead to improvements in their reading scores. However, although such independent reading is linked to reading achievement, it's been unclear whether reading for fun leads to increased reading achievement, or whether children who are better at reading simply read more.
To better understand what causes what and also to determine what role genetics play, researchers in this study looked at reading achievement and independent reading in 436 pairs of identical and same-sex nonidentical twins at age 10 and again a year later at 11.
Reading achievement was assessed using standard measures of word recognition (recognizing single words) and reading comprehension. Independent reading was assessed by asking each twin questions about his or her motivation to read. Parents estimated how often their children read for pleasure.
The study found that children's reading achievement at age 10 predicted their independent reading at 11, regardless of how much independent reading they were doing at 10, suggesting that reading achievement influenced later independent reading.
The reverse was not true. After accounting for reading achievement at age 10, independent reading at 10 didn't predict reading achievement at 11.
The study also found that that individual differences in reading achievement at both ages were partly due to genetic factors, and that genetic influences on reading achievement at age 10 partly contributed to individual differences in independent reading at age 11. This finding is consistent with the notion of genetic niche-picking: Children may actively select experiences based on their genetic predispositions or children's genetically influenced characteristics may evoke certain responses from others. For example, children with a high genetic proclivity for reading may seek out opportunities to read at home, and their parents may take them to the library on a more regular basis. Conversely, children at high genetic risk for reading difficulties may avoid reading and be less interested in visiting the library.
"Overall, our results indicate that children look for independent reading opportunities, in part, on the basis of genetic effects related to reading achievement, at least among children at the end of elementary school," notes Nicole Harlaar, senior research associate at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who led the study when she was with the Ohio State University.
"Our findings don't diminish the importance of encouraging independent reading among children," Harlaar adds. "Other aspects of independent reading that this study didn't look at may be very important for children's reading achievement, such as volume of reading or whether or not the books that children read are sufficiently challenging."
###
The study was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the U.S. Department of Education.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 26-Oct-2011[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Sarah Hutcheon
shutcheon@srcd.org
202-289-7905
Society for Research in Child Development
Reading achievement at age 10 influences how much independent reading children do at age 11. However, independent reading doesn't directly improve children's achievement in reading, at least among children at the end of elementary school. In addition, individual differences in independent reading among 11-year-olds partly reflect genetic influences on reading achievement at age 10.
Those are the findings of a new longitudinal study that sought to answer the question: Does reading achievement lead to independent reading or does reading on your own boost reading achievement? Or are there relationships between the two that go in both directions?
The study appears in the journal Child Development. It was conducted by researchers at the Ohio State University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Case Western Reserve University, and the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign.
Educators have long emphasized the importance of independent reading for fun or leisure, assuming that getting kids to read more on their own will lead to improvements in their reading scores. However, although such independent reading is linked to reading achievement, it's been unclear whether reading for fun leads to increased reading achievement, or whether children who are better at reading simply read more.
To better understand what causes what and also to determine what role genetics play, researchers in this study looked at reading achievement and independent reading in 436 pairs of identical and same-sex nonidentical twins at age 10 and again a year later at 11.
Reading achievement was assessed using standard measures of word recognition (recognizing single words) and reading comprehension. Independent reading was assessed by asking each twin questions about his or her motivation to read. Parents estimated how often their children read for pleasure.
The study found that children's reading achievement at age 10 predicted their independent reading at 11, regardless of how much independent reading they were doing at 10, suggesting that reading achievement influenced later independent reading.
The reverse was not true. After accounting for reading achievement at age 10, independent reading at 10 didn't predict reading achievement at 11.
The study also found that that individual differences in reading achievement at both ages were partly due to genetic factors, and that genetic influences on reading achievement at age 10 partly contributed to individual differences in independent reading at age 11. This finding is consistent with the notion of genetic niche-picking: Children may actively select experiences based on their genetic predispositions or children's genetically influenced characteristics may evoke certain responses from others. For example, children with a high genetic proclivity for reading may seek out opportunities to read at home, and their parents may take them to the library on a more regular basis. Conversely, children at high genetic risk for reading difficulties may avoid reading and be less interested in visiting the library.
"Overall, our results indicate that children look for independent reading opportunities, in part, on the basis of genetic effects related to reading achievement, at least among children at the end of elementary school," notes Nicole Harlaar, senior research associate at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who led the study when she was with the Ohio State University.
"Our findings don't diminish the importance of encouraging independent reading among children," Harlaar adds. "Other aspects of independent reading that this study didn't look at may be very important for children's reading achievement, such as volume of reading or whether or not the books that children read are sufficiently challenging."
###
The study was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the U.S. Department of Education.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/sfri-dra101911.php
lawrence o donnell kelly ripa conrad murray conrad murray fresno state fresno state psa test
Woman mauled by chimp says happy with new face (Providence Journal)
Conclusive deal on euro zone crisis looks elusive
BRUSSELS?? Prospects for a comprehensive deal to resolve the euro zone debt crisis at a summit on Wednesday look dim, with deep disagreement remaining on critical aspects of the potential agreement, including how to give the region's bailout fund greater firepower.
EU officials and European diplomats are lowering expectations of a breakthrough when the 17 euro zone leaders meet, despite Franco-German assurances only weeks ago that a "comprehensive solution" to more than two years of debt and economic turmoil would be found by the end of the month.
While there appears to be broad consensus on the need for around 110 billion euros ($150 billion) to be injected into the European banking system to help it withstand a potential Greek debt default and wider financial contagion, there is little clarity on either of the other two critical parts of the plan.
One element involves scaling up the region's 440 billion euro bailout fund, known as the European Financial Stability Facility, and the other is focused on reducing Greece's debt burden by deepening the losses private investors -- major banks and insurance companies -- must take on their Greek bonds.
EU leaders will consider two methods for scaling up the EFSF, one by using it to offer guarantees to purchasers of new euro zone debt, and the other using part of its capacity to set up a special purpose investment vehicle that would attract money from sovereign wealth funds and other investors to buy debt. They might also agree to combine both options.
NO CONCRETE NUMBERS EXPECTED
Whereas financial markets have been hoping for weeks that Wednesday's summit, scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. EDT with a gathering of all 27 EU leaders, followed at 1730 GMT by the meeting of the euro zone heads of state, will produce detailed figures on how to combat the debt crisis, there is now little likelihood of concrete numbers, sources say.
"The numbers are not yet finalized -- you have to have all parameters in place and see what is needed and what the leverage factor would be. It needs a lot of technical work to come up with a number," one EU official said, adding that discussions would continue on Wednesday to forge a pre-summit consensus.
"The leaders will agree on the options tomorrow, but whether it will be an agreement with all details remains to be seen. I think it will be challenging -- it will be very difficult to agree on everything."
Instead, it looks likely that it won't be until November 7-8, when EU and eurozone finance ministers are next scheduled to meet, that the details of whatever euro zone leaders agree on during Wednesday's summit will be completely finalized.
Financial markets are likely to find that extremely disappointing, having been told on multiple occasions by EU leaders that a resolution to the crisis was near, only to find the EU and its institutions unable to deliver.
That has in turn morphed a banking and debt crisis into a wider economic and political crisis that threatens to undermine the euro single currency and the European Union project.
Further complicating Wednesday's talks -- which will be preceded by a meeting of the Eurogroup Working Group, an elite collection of senior finance officials and central bankers who will have a last attempt to hammer out a meaningful agreement -- is intense market pressure on Italy and a dispute in Germany.
Italy's inability to deliver a substantive plan for reforming its pensions system has raised doubts about Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's seriousness in tackling a crisis that threatens the euro zone's third largest economy.
Italy has the euro zone's largest sovereign bond market, with a public debt of 1.8 trillion euros, 120 percent of GDP. EU leaders fear that failure to make its debts more sustainable will mean it goes the same way as Greece, Ireland and Portugal, which have had to accept EU/IMF financial aid programs.
The problem is, there is not enough money to bail out Italy.
ECB ROLE IN DISPUTE
There is also a stand-off over how much the European Central Bank, the ultimate defender of the euro, should be involved in trying to resolve the crisis, with France wanting deep and direct ECB involvement and Germany staunchly against it.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, fighting to secure parliamentary backing for the euro zone rescue measures, particularly the scaling up of the EFSF, said Germany opposed a phrase in the summit's draft conclusions urging the ECB to go on buying troubled states' bonds -- a key backstop against deeper turmoil.
Many analysts believe the ECB is the only authority at this stage that can deliver the financial firepower that convinces nervous and skeptical markets that the crisis can be contained. Locking the ECB out could prove another negative therefore.
At the same time there is intense disagreement about how to make Greece's debt situation sustainable.
Euro zone governments are demanding that the private sector accept a 60 percent "haircut" as part of a second rescue package to make Athens' debt mountain, set to reach 160 percent of economic output this year, more sustainable.
Bank negotiators have offered a 40 percent write-down and warned that forcing them into deeper losses would amount to a forced default, with what banks say will be devastating consequences for the European financial system.
EU diplomats said the outcome was uncertain, but some forecast a last-minute deal on a 50 percent write-down -- an outcome backed by Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said: "I hope that tomorrow we will come to decisions, this is our partners' will.
"Tomorrow we want to put an end, turn a page, in order for the country to move forward."
They were hopeful words, but the prospect looks slight. (Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski in Brussels and Catherine Bosley in Zurich; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39435196/ns/business-world_business/
girl with the dragon tattoo trailer parks and rec facebook announcement mitch daniels tyler clementi beebe michelle malkin
Thursday, October 27, 2011
FCC unveils rules for rural broadband fund
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Federal regulators have unveiled a plan for overhauling the $8 billion fund that subsidizes phone service in rural areas and for the poor. It redirects the money toward broadband expansion.
The Federal Communications Commission's plan, adopted Thursday, establishes a new "Connect America Fund" for mobile telephone and broadband in rural communities and needy areas.
The money will continue to come from a surcharge on consumers' and businesses' monthly phone bills. Rates should stay flat or decline for most consumers, FCC officials said. The size of the fund will be capped at $4.5 billion annually. To receive money for network expansions into designated areas, telecommunications companies will be required to enter a bidding competition.
The FCC also approved new rules for the complex system that governs how phone companies pay each other for phone calls.
The changes represent the Obama administration's most significant overhaul of telecommunications regulations.
The administration has identified universal broadband as critical to driving economic development, producing jobs and expanding the reach of cutting-edge medicine and educational opportunities.
Overhaul of the system has been held up for years by competing interests.
The new fund will underwrite the cost of building and operating high-speed Internet networks in places that are too sparsely populated to justify costly corporate investments. It will include a $500 million "mobility fund" earmarked to help build mobile broadband networks in areas where businesses won't invest.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski called the action "a momentous step in our efforts to harness the benefits of broadband for every American." It will enhance the U.S. position in a "fiercely competitive" global economy, he said before the 4-0 vote.
The agency estimates that the program will bring high-speed Internet access to about 7 million people living in rural areas over the next six years and will create some 500,000 jobs.
In addition, Genachowski said, changing the system governing how phone companies pay each other for calls will eliminate billions of dollars in "hidden subsidies" in phone bills and put millions back in consumers' pockets.
The current system, virtually everyone in the industry agrees, is outdated and leads to perverse schemes by carriers to stimulate certain kinds of phone traffic.
"I don't expect that overall consumer rates will go up as a result of this" action, Genachowski told reporters after the meeting.
The agency estimates that the curbs on fees the phone companies pay each other will save consumers $2.2 billion a year. That assumes that the companies will pass on a substantial portion of their savings to consumers, FCC staff said.
Some consumers may pay on average an additional 10 to 15 cents a month on their bills, the agency said. No additional charges will be imposed on low-income consumers or anyone whose phone bill is $30 a month or more.
The Universal Service Fund was created to ensure that all Americans have access to a basic telephone line. It assumed its current form in 1996, but the idea of it has been around since the early 20th century. The program subsidizes phone service for the poor and pays for Internet access in schools, libraries and rural health clinics. But more than half the money goes to pay phone companies that provide phone service in rural places where lines are supposedly unprofitable.
Charles McKee, a Sprint vice president for regulatory affairs, said that by curbing the "wasteful traffic-pumping schemes" among carriers, the FCC plan will help foster a robust and efficient market for voice and broadband services.
Public Knowledge, a consumer advocacy group, said it was concerned that the new program "will lead to higher prices at a time when the average American is watching every penny."
Associated Pressbaby lisa baby lisa paranormal activity west virginia football west virginia football marco rubio marco rubio
US pulls envoy out of Syria, citing safety concern (AP)
WASHINGTON ? The Obama administration has pulled its ambassador home from Syria, arguing that his support for anti-Assad activists put him in grave danger ? the most dramatic action so far by the United States as it struggles to counter a Mideast autocrat who is withstanding pressure that has toppled neighboring dictators.
Syria responded quickly Monday, ordering home its envoy from Washington.
American Ambassador Robert Ford was temporarily recalled on Saturday after the U.S. received "credible threats against his personal safety in Syria," the State Department said, pointing directly at President Bashar Assad's government. Ford, who already had been the subject of several incidents of intimidation, has enraged Syrian authorities with his forceful defense of anti-Assad demonstrations and his harsh critique of a government crackdown that has now claimed more than 3,000 lives.
Calling Ford back to the U.S. is short of a complete diplomatic break but represents the collapse of the administration's hopes that it could draw Assad toward government changes and a productive role fostering Mideast peace. Washington held off on a full condemnation of Assad as his crackdown worsened this spring, and waited months to demand that he step aside.
Ford's presence in Damascus had been an important symbolic part of President Barack Obama's effort to engage Syria, which was without a U.S. ambassador for years after the Bush administration broke ties over Syria's alleged role in the 2005 assassination of a political candidate in neighboring Lebanon.
With Moammar Gadhafi's death last week in Libya, and the revolutions that toppled long-time leaders Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia, Assad is among the Arab Spring autocrats left standing. Along with Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen, he is facing the most pressure from his citizens to leave power. Yet with his vast security network and close links with Russia and China, Assad is perhaps the one best placed to withstand pressures for change ? peaceful or violent.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, "We are concerned about a campaign of regime-led incitement targeted personally at Ambassador Ford by the state-run media of the government of Syria." She called on the Assad government to "end its smear campaign of malicious and deceitful propaganda."
Nuland could not say when Ford might go back to Syria. Earlier, department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. Embassy would remain open in Damascus as the threats were specifically directed toward Ford, and that the ambassador's return depended on a U.S. "assessment of Syrian regime-led incitement and the security situation on the ground."
The State Department said there were no plans to expel Syria's top diplomat in Washington in retaliation. But Roua Shurbaji, a Syrian Embassy spokeswoman, said Ambassador Imad Moustapha left the U.S. on Monday for consultations in Damascus. She said no other measure was being taken by the embassy, and declined to comment on the U.S. allegations.
Ford's departure comes at a worrisome stage in the seven-month movement against Assad. U.S. officials are increasingly concerned about reports of weapons smuggling into Syria and the threat of peaceful protests being replaced by an armed uprising.
Amid that pressure, the world's attention is turning to Syria, even if the demonstrations have delivered only a stalemate. The protesters are too weak to force Assad and his government from power, and for all its brutality the government cannot stamp out all opposition. At the same time, Assad's pledges of reforms have long been ignored as meaningless and there is little indication his government is prepared to initiate a real dialogue with opponents.
If the level of violence resembles Libya's before the NATO intervention, Syria is different because anti-government groups are insisting that they want no outside assistance. The opposition is also hindered in that it remains a largely Sunni movement, with Assad maintaining significant loyalty from his dominant Alawite sect and Syria's minority Druze, Christians and business elite.
Ford arrived in January as the first American ambassador to Syria since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on a Beirut street. Syria at the time had thousands of troops in Lebanon and pulled many political strings there, but it has always denied any involvement in the bombing attack.
The Obama administration had hoped to persuade Syria to change its often anti-American policies regarding Israel, Lebanon and Iraq, and to drop its support for extremist groups. Syria is designated a "state sponsor of terrorism" by the State Department.
Assad largely shrugged off U.S. attempts to pull his nation away from its alliances with Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. And as protests escalated in Syria, Ford essentially dropped his engagement efforts and took on an increasingly high-profile role defending the rights of Syrian protesters.
That shift was cemented when Obama called on Assad to leave power in August.
"We believe Assad needs to step aside, so engagement with him is certainly over," Nuland said on Monday. "But we are prepared to engage with Syrians of all stripes" and see "if they are able to take the next steps to pursue a democratic future."
Ford has been leading that effort, at great personal danger. He was greeted by demonstrators with roses and cheers when he traveled to the restive city of Hama in July, prompting immediate travel restrictions from Syria. The government stopped short of declaring him persona non grata, but U.S. officials say it has tried to make life for him in the country intolerable.
Just days after the trip to Hama, hundreds of government supporters attacked the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, smashing windows and spray-painting obscenities on the walls. Ford has been hit with eggs and tomatoes while going to meet dissidents or visit mosques. His postings on Facebook have prompted thousands of Syrian and other responses, including death threats from pro-Assad hardliners.
The U.S. last month decried Ford's treatment as "unwarranted and unjustifiable," after Assad supporters tried to force their way into a meeting he was having with a prominent opposition figure. Syrian police were slow in responding, and Ford was trapped inside the building for about three hours. But White House press secretary James Carney insisted at the time that the U.S. had no plans to remove Ford for his safety.
Nuland pointed to two articles in Syrian state-run media that she said highlighted the government's increased incitement of violence against Ford. The first, in the al-Baath newspaper in early October, warned Ford that he could receive more "rotten eggs" if he didn't end his alleged support for armed anti-government groups in Syria. The second appeared in al-Tharwa last week, she said.
The article claimed Ford operated death squads while he was posted diplomatically in Iraq, and that he was trying to apply his experience now in Syria. U.S. officials feared such an allegation might lead to an attack of greater violence against him.
___
Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report.
war in iraq war in iraq gunner kiel gunner kiel baby lisa baby lisa paranormal activity
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Just a few quick updates: NASW, Science(blogging) and more.
Last week I attended the ScienceWriters meeting organized by NASW and CASW. Excellent organization, beautiful location (Flagstaff, AZ, up at 7000ft altitude), great program and wonderful people. I saw several good panels on the first day and some really excellent talks the rest of the meeting, including by Sean Carroll and Steven Pinker. It will be hard to match that experience next year, when we host the meeting here in Raleigh, NC. Kudos to the organizers for a perfect job.
I was on one of the panels, on time management and continuous online acitivity, together with some other people who are also, like me, suspected of never sleeping. We do. But it?s not easy! See two excellent articles covering our panel by Cristine Russell and Helen Shen. Check out more coverage of the conference at the NASW site.
========================
I have posted a number of updates about ScienceOnline2012, Science blogging, Open Laboratory, and #NYCSciTweetup over on The Network Central blog, so head on there to get the details.
========================
I will copy what I wrote on The Network Central here, about a new article covering science blogging:
A new article about science blogging just came out ? hurry up, though, as on December 1st it will be placed into the dark dungeons behind the paywall, never to be seen by human eyes again:
More than a blog: Should science bloggers stick to popularizing science and fighting creationism, or does blogging have a wider role to play in the scientific discourse?, by Howard Wolinsky:
?.Perhaps because of the increasingly public profile of popular science bloggers, as well as the professional and social value that is becoming attached to their blogs, science blogging is gaining in both popularity and validity. The content in science blogs covers a wide spectrum from genuine science news to simply describing training or running a lab, to opinionated rants about science and its social impact. The authorship is no less diverse than the content with science professionals, science journalists and enthusiastic amateurs all contributing to the melting pot, which also has an impact on the quality?.
A number of bloggers were interviewed for the article (of course, each was quoted briefly, while I am sure each provided at least an hour of material that is now lost ? remember that every quote is, by definition, a quote out of context, though my quotes are not too far off from what I intended to say), including Rosie Redfield, Jerry Coyne, Carl Zimmer, Daniel McArthur, Sean Carroll, PZ Myers, GrrlScientist and me.
Take a look. See also commentary of the article by Jerry Coyne and Larry Moran.
========================
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=cb6a1790d1e9602042d3e58f209e2342
alicia witt nobel peace prize verizon wireless oregon ducks football the league the ides of march yankees
Anthony Ciccone, Brother of Madonna, Living Under a Bridge in Michigan
Anthony Ciccone is the brother of one of the richest entertainers in history, yet his address is currently under a bridge in Traverse City, Michigan.
Madonna's sibling claims that he has been homeless for over a year since he's been out of work after he lost his last job at his father's vineyard.
How did he fall that hard in life? He says the following:
"My family turned their back on me, basically, when I was having a hard time."
"You think I haven't answered this kind of question a bazillion times - why my sister is a multibazillionarie, and I'm homeless on the street?"
"I guess it's true, never say never. This could happen to anybody. I don't have any income, I've got to go collect bottles and cans, do odd jobs."
Madonna's relationship with her brother is not explained in any detail in this article and should be explored in order to understand the situation.
But it's sad in any case.
[Photo: WENN.com]
daylight savings time 2011 tigers tigers rangers nlcs nlcs josh beckett
PFT: Review play or I'll be fired, Sparano pleaded
Getty Images1.? Packers (No. 1; 7-0):? The Lions may be the only thing standing between this team and a perfect season.? And the Lions suddenly look like a team that won?t be standing anywhere for long.
2.? Patriots (No. 3; 5-1):? If Stephen Ross bought the Steelers instead of the Dolphins, Heinz Field would be hosting this Sunday a celebration of the 2001 and 2004 New England Super Bowl champions.
3.? 49ers (No. 4; 5-1):? If NFL divisions were college football conferences, the Niners would be ready to move from the MAC to the Big 10.
4.? Saints (No. 9; 5-2):? Maybe Sean Payton should spend every game in the booth.
5.? Steelers (No. 11; 5-2):? We?d hate to see how much better this team would be if the defense weren?t old and washed up.
6.? Giants (No. 10; 4-2):? The Giants are getting healthier just in time to seize control of the division no one seems to want to win.
7.? Ravens (No. 2; 4-2):? Apparently, the players didn?t realize it was ?game time,? and there were precisely zero ?dogs in the house.?
8.? Bengals (No. 12; 4-2):? For fleecing the Raiders in the Palmer trade during the bye week, the Bengals crack the top 10 without playing.
9.? Lions (No. 5; 5-2):? The Detroit bandwagon soon may have fewer riders than the cart that would have taken Matt Ryan off the field.
10. Chargers (No. 7; 4-2):? Maybe the Chargers thought the two-minute drill was actually a drill.
11.? Raiders (No. 6; 4-3):? Carson Palmer will get better.? It?s impossible that he could get worse.
12.? Texans (No. 15; 4-3):? On Sunday, the Texans didn?t simply look like a team that can make it to the playoffs; they looked like a team that could actually win a playoff game.
13.? Bills (No. 13; 4-2):? Chris Berman?s favorite team returns to Canada to face a banged-up opponent that currently needs a truckload of Deux-Deux-Deuxs.
14.? Bears (No. 14; 4-3):? Even some Brits were overheard saying, ?Pay the bloke.?
15.? Buccaneers (No. 8; 4-3):? If the goal is to build a fan base in London, the league should be sending back the teams that have actually, you know, won games there.
16.? Falcons (No. 18; 4-3):? Matt Ryan finally is becoming the guy the Falcons need him to be.
17.? Jets (No. 19; 4-3):? Rex Ryan says the Jets are going to be tough to beat.? The three teams who have beaten them may disagree.
18.? Cowboys (No. 20; 3-3):? The only thing that would make DeMarco Murray?s breakout better for the Cowboys would be if he played quarterback.
19.? Panthers (No. 23; 2-5):? After Cam Newton attracts a class or two of high-end free agents to Charlotte, the Panthers could be serious contenders.
20.? Chiefs (No. 25; 3-3):? A day that saw the AFC West become wide open could see it turned upside down if the Chiefs can beat the Chargers on Monday night.
21.? Eagles (No. 21; 2-4):? The dream may not be over just yet.
22.? Redskins (No. 17; 3-3):? At this rate, the Redskins won?t have to trade up very far to get Andrew Luck.
23.? Titans (No. 16; 3-3):? If the Titans didn?t quit on Sunday, they nevertheless should have been fired.
24.? Browns (No. 24; 3-3):? Though the Browns outscored the Seahawks, both teams should get a loss in the standings.
25.? Broncos (No. 26; 2-4):? Maybe Jesus rode into Jerusalem not on a donkey, but on a Bronco.
26.? Jaguars (No. 29; 2-5):? The Jaguars made the Baltimore bandwagon instantly look like those temporary seats at EverBank Field for the upcoming Georgia-Florida game.
27.? Seahawks (No. 22; 2-4):? If the Seahawks finish with the first pick in the draft, maybe Pete Carroll will give Jim Harbaugh a rousing handshake and a shove in the back.
28. Vikings (No. 27; 1-6):? Donovan McNabb wasn?t late for any meetings.? The meetings simply started much earlier than expected.
29.? Cardinals (No. 28; 1-5):? The Cardinals are sliding back toward ?weekly blackout watch? territory.
30.? Colts (No. 30; 0-7):? Don?t be shocked if Jim Irsay gets rid of everyone except Peyton Manning.
31.? Rams (No. 31; 0-6):? If the Rams didn?t play in the NFC West, they possibly wouldn?t win a single game all year.
32. Dolphins (No. 32; 0-6):? When it?s time to consider Bill Parcells for Canton, does the mess he made in Miami get mentioned?
ted haggard ted haggard neutrino carly fiorina girl with the dragon tattoo trailer girl with the dragon tattoo trailer parks and rec
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Automotive Shopper Studies | usdems.org
25 Oct
Article posted by BreslerSailer223 as Credit
For those who?ve ever bought an automotive, or are in the market for an automobile, then you know the way essential analysis is. Right information gathering procedures can help you make an knowledgeable choice on the automotive you wish to buy. You need to do every thing potential to stop your self from spending your exhausting-earned dollars on a lemon of an automobile. Due to your diligence to information, there are numerous routes out there so that you can choose to get the data you need. You may question individuals concerning the automobile in query, for example. Nevertheless, most individuals, when they?re on the lookout for an automotive to buy, use consumer studies to get the data they need.
Consumer studies are valuable sources of automotive buying information. A detailed shopper report can provide you trustworthy and accurate critiques on such necessary vehicular info such as gasoline mileage, braking skill, steering control and traction. Unless you are an automotive skilled, or have the capability to test out a wide range of vehicles that you?re focused on shopping for, the consumer report is your finest wager to get the unfiltered and precise info that you?ll want to have.
Another excuse why client studies are useful is as a result of they?re typically written by trusted third get together sources. In some cases, shopper reviews are literally made by individuals who have bought and pushed the car in question. That is of prime benefit as a result of it offers you your individual personal perspective on the automobile and its attributes. A buyer generated client report is written by someone like your self, so that somebody like your self can easily learn, follow and comprehend it. Layman info is of absolute significance with regards to studying an automotive shopper report.
Some shopper reports are written by automotive or vehicular experts. These are individuals who perceive detailed points of the car that you just?re interested in. They can break down the pros and cons of the automotive in fantastic size and current the data in an simple to read shopper report.
For facts in relation to consumer reports cars, pay a visit to Tawni Largoerty?s website at once.
Sponsored Links
About Author
Author: BreslerSailer223
This author has published 22 articles so far. More info about the author is coming soon.Related Posts
Source: http://www.usdems.org/automotive-shopper-studies/
nexus prime new iphone new iphone tmobile iphone van jones van jones dark energy
98 Degrees singer among Occupy Cincinnati arrests (AP)
CINCINNATI ? Former boy band singer Justin Jeffre (JEHF'-ree) has pleaded not guilty to trespassing after being arrested in the Occupy Cincinnati protest.
Police say the member of 98 Degrees was one of 11 people arrested early Sunday at the city's Fountain Square after the 3 a.m. closing time. They also were charged with unlawful use of the square.
Jeffre tells The Cincinnati Enquirer ( http://cin.ci/os723g) he spent several hours in jail and it was "no fun." But he says it was the right place to be to stand up for free speech.
Attorney Jennifer Kinsley entered a not guilty plea for him Monday.
The now 38-year-old Jeffre is a founding member of 98 Degrees with Nick and Drew Lachey (luh-SHAY') and Jeff Timmons. The group launched in the late 1990s. He has more recently been a Cincinnati political activist.
___
Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com
michael j fox seattle times seattle times michelle obama lvs oxycodone copd
Monday, October 24, 2011
Demise of Obama long-term care plan leaves gap
FILE - In this May 19, 2011, file photo, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius leaves a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Obama administration?s decision to pull the plug on a financially flawed long-term care insurance plan is likely to worsen a dilemma most middle-class families are totally unprepared for. "Despite our best analytical efforts, I do not see a viable path forward for CLASS implementation at this time," Sebelius told congressional leaders. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg, File)
FILE - In this May 19, 2011, file photo, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius leaves a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Obama administration?s decision to pull the plug on a financially flawed long-term care insurance plan is likely to worsen a dilemma most middle-class families are totally unprepared for. "Despite our best analytical efforts, I do not see a viable path forward for CLASS implementation at this time," Sebelius told congressional leaders. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? It's the one major health expense for which nearly all Americans are uninsured. The dilemma of paying for long-term care is likely to worsen now that the Obama administration pulled the plug on a program seen as a first step.
The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program, or CLASS, was included in the health overhaul law to provide basic long-term care insurance at an affordable cost. But financial problems dogged it from the outset.
Those concerns prompted the administration to announce that CLASS would not go forward. Yet it could take a decade or longer for lawmakers to tackle the issue again, and by then the retirement of the Baby Boomers will be in full swing.
Most families don't plan for long-term care. Often the need comes unexpectedly: an elder takes a bad fall, a teen is calamitously injured in a car crash or a middle-aged worker suffers a debilitating stroke.
Nursing home charges can run more than $200 a day and a home health aide averages $450 a week, usually part-time. Yet Medicare doesn't cover long-term care, and only about 3 percent of adults have a private policy.
"Long-term care is a critical issue, and people are in total denial about it," said Bill Novelli, former CEO of AARP. "I am very sorry the administration did what they finally did, although I understand it. It is going to take a long time to get this back ? and fixed."
The irony, experts say, is that paying for long-term care is the kind of problem insurance should be able to solve. It has to do with the mathematics of risk.
Most drivers will have some kind of accident during their years behind the wheel, but few will be involved in a catastrophic wreck. And some very careful drivers will not experience any accidents. The risks of long-term care are not all that different, says economist Harriet Komisar of the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute.
"A small percentage of people are going to need a year, two years, five years or more in a nursing home, but for those who do, it's huge," Komisar said. "Insurance makes sense when the odds are small but the financial risk is potentially high and unaffordable."
Komisar and her colleagues estimate that nearly 7 in 10 people will need some level of long-term care after turning 65. That's defined as help with personal tasks such as getting dressed, going to the toilet, eating, or taking a bath.
Many of those who need help will get it from a family member. Only 5 percent will need five years or more in a nursing home. And 3 in 10 will not need any long-term care assistance at all.
For those who do need extended nursing home care, Medicaid has become the default provider, since Medicare only covers short-term stays for rehab. But Medicaid is for low-income people, so the disabled literally have to impoverish themselves to qualify, a wrenching experience for families.
Liberals say the answer is government-sponsored insurance, like the CLASS plan the Obama administration included in the health overhaul law, only to find it wouldn't work financially.
The administration was unable to reconcile twin goals of CLASS: financial solvency and affordable coverage easily accessible to all working adults, regardless of health.
Conservatives have called for private coverage, perhaps with tax credits to make it more affordable.
Some experts say it will take a combination of both approaches.
"It almost has to be," said Robert Yee, a financial actuary hired by the Obama administration to try to make CLASS work.
Lower-income workers probably would never be able to afford private insurance, Yee explained. And a lavish public plan is out of the question.
"Anytime people talk about a social program, you are talking about a basic layer," he said.
Indeed, Yee had proposed to keep CLASS afloat by using some of the techniques of private insurers to attract the healthy and discourage the frail. The administration rejected that hybrid approach as incompatible with the law's intent to cover all regardless of health.
"Despite our best analytical efforts, I do not see a viable path forward for CLASS implementation at this time," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told congressional leaders.
Although CLASS would have come too late to help his disabled mother, Jacob Bockser of Walnut Creek, Calif., says he is disappointed.
Bockser, 29, is a former emergency medical technician studying to become a respiratory therapist. His mother Elizabeth, 58, is struggling with an aggressive form of multiple sclerosis.
She had moved to lower-cost Washington state to save money, but as her condition worsens her son is trying to find a way to bring her back to California. She can still live in her own home, with help to keep safe.
"She did a lot of good saving. But because she did good, it disqualifies her from some kinds of public assistance," said the son. "When you are only 58 and looking at hopefully living another 20 or 25 years, it's scary to think the money just won't last."
Bockser says he doesn't expect the government to solve everything, but "even if there is the opportunity to try to piece together a couple of different programs that would be a start."
Associated Presslibya map world series game 2 world series game 2 libya moammar gadhafi madoff bay area news
Lawmakers open to changes in military benefits
WASHINGTON?? The government's promise of lifetime health care for the military's men and women is suddenly a little less sacrosanct as Congress looks to slash trillion-dollar-plus deficits.
Republicans and Democrats alike are signaling a willingness ? unheard of at the height of two post-Sept. 11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ? to make military retirees pay more for coverage. It's a reflection of Washington's newfound embrace of fiscal austerity and the Pentagon's push to cut health care costs that have skyrocketed from $19 billion in 2001 to $53 billion.
The numbers are daunting for a military focused on building and arming an all-volunteer force for war. The Pentagon is providing health care coverage for 3.3 million active duty personnel and their dependents and 5.5 million retirees, eligible dependents and surviving spouses. Retirees outnumber the active duty, 2.3 million to 1.4 million.
Combined with the billions in retirement pay, it's no surprise that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently said personnel costs have put the Pentagon "on an unsustainable course."
Yet the resistance to health care changes is fierce.
Powerful veterans groups and retired generals are mobilizing to fight any changes, arguing that Americans who were willing to die for their country should be treated differently than the average worker. The American Legion has sent a letter to every member of the House and Senate pleading with them to spare health care benefits. The Veterans of Foreign Wars has urged its 2 million members, their families and friends to contact lawmakers and deliver the same message.
'We have to keep our promise to the people'
The two groups were unnerved when both parties' leaders on the Senate Armed Services Committee ? Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John McCain, R-Ariz. ? recommended that the special deficit-cutting supercommittee look at raising enrollment fees and imposing restrictions on the military's health care program, known as TRICARE. Current military members would be grandfathered in.
McCain and Levin also favored creating a commission to look at military retirement benefits and make recommendations for changes.
"Any changes to TRICARE that put the burden back on the beneficiaries is not supported by the American Legion," said Peter Gaytan, the group's executive director. He wondered about future benefits for his 19-year-old nephew who heads to Afghanistan in December.
The willingness in Congress to consider cost-cutting changes to the military's entitlement programs is shared by other senators, from members of the Armed Services panel to budget-conscious lawmakers in both the Republican and Democratic ranks such as Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Mark Warner, D-Va.
"I think we have to look at whether savings can be achieved, but we have to keep our promise to people who were recruited based on those benefits, and we also ought to look at whether there's ways to improve the benefit structure," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in an interview last week.
-
Other political news of note
-
Nevada moves caucus to Feb. 4
Updated 109 minutes ago 10/22/2011 8:41:50 PM +00:00 Under threats of boycott from candidates, Nevada Republicans decide to move their primary date back.
- First Read: Cain tweaks plan to '9-0-9' for poor
- Senate Dems move ahead on jobs bill
- Obama's foreign successes may help little in 2012
- Lawmakers open to changes in military benefits
-
Nevada moves caucus to Feb. 4
That prospect has Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, fearful of the next step.
"All our worries are starting to come to fruition," Davis said.
The debt accord reached this past summer between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans set in motion some $450 billion worth of cuts in projected defense spending over 10 years. It's a reality check for the Defense Department, whose budget has nearly doubled to some $700 billion in the 10 years since the Sept. 11 terror attack.
That amount doesn't include the trillion-plus spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Cuts in defense spending
The 12-member, bipartisan supercommittee has a mandate to come up with at least $1.2 trillion in cuts by Nov. 23. If it fails to produce a plan or Congress rejects its proposal, automatic, across-the-board cuts of $1.2 trillion kick in, half of it from defense spending.
Panetta said $600 billion more in cuts over the next decade atop the $450 billion in cuts passed this summer would represent a "doomsday" for the nation's military. Republicans and Democrats have echoed his apocalyptic warning. In their separate letters to the supercommittee, Levin and McCain said they reject any deeper cuts in overall defense spending beyond the 10-year, $450 billion cuts.
Determined to avoid spending reductions that would hit troop numbers, aircraft, ships and weapons, Levin, McCain and other lawmakers are urging budget-cutters to scrutinize the military entitlement programs.
"I think they may be facing reality and want to soften the blow some," said former Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., who served as House Armed Services chairman. "They're both very responsible when it comes to the troops."
Levin and McCain support establishing an annual enrollment fee for TRICARE for Life, the health care program that now has no fee for participation. Obama had proposed an initial annual fee of $200.
Levin said future increases in fees should be tied to the same index used to determine hikes in the TRICARE Prime program, which has the lowest out-of-pocked expenses.
McCain also urged the supercommittee to consider restricting working-age military retirees and their dependents from enrolling in TRICARE Prime. The retirees could still enroll in other TRICARE programs. McCain pointed out that the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that such a move would save $111 billion over 10 years.
Active-duty personnel still would be enrolled in the program automatically.
In the House, lawmakers are less inclined to make any changes in health care benefits. Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, agreed to a slight increase in TRICARE Prime fees for working-age military retirees. The fees had been unchanged for 11 years at $230 a year for an individual and $460 for a family.
Asked about the recommendations from Levin and McCain to the supercommittee, McKeon's office said the House has already made changes and suggested additional savings come from civilian rather military health care and retirement programs. The House vote to raise the annual TRICARE Prime fees by $2.50 for individuals and $5 for families.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44998070/ns/politics/
gazelle gazelle pumpkin carving patterns pumpkin carving patterns lsu lizzie borden lizzie borden
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)