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Tuesday 26 July 2011

Debt crisis could 'do serious damage' to economy: Obama

U.S. President Barack Obama has asked Democrat and Republican lawmakers to put politics aside to reach a compromise on the nation's debt crisis, warning that failure to do so "could cost us jobs and do serious damage to our economy."

In a televised address to the nation Monday night, Obama told the American people that the bickering between lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum has left the country "with a stalemate." The president said the impasse could prevent him from moving forward with efforts to rein in the deficit and keep the United States from defaulting on its bills.

Obama said that for the last decade, the United States government has "spent more money than we take in," a situation made worse by the economic downturn.

"Every family knows a little credit card debt is manageable," Obama said. "But if we stay on the current path, our growing debt could cost us jobs and do serious damage to our economy."

Obama said failure to reach a deal by next week will lead the government to default on its debts, which will send interest rates soaring, prevent businesses from hiring and leave little money for investments in education, infrastructure and social programs such as Medicare.

While the president said both parties carry some responsibility for the current crisis, he laid the blame for the failure to reach a deal squarely on Republicans who have rejected Obama's debt-crisis plan because it doesn't contain the deep cost-cutting measures they would like.

Earlier Monday, both Democratic and Republican leaders were busy selling their debt-crisis strategies to their respective parties, ahead of the looming Aug. 2 deadline and after weeks of fruitless discussions to end the stalemate.

The two parties have reached an impasse over the crisis, with Obama seeking an extension to the debt ceiling and Republicans demanding deep cost-cutting measures in return for any co-operation.

Some members of the so-called Tea Party wing of the Republican caucus have been accused of opposing Obama's proposition in favour of pandering to conservative voters who got them into office.

Washington has reached its current debt-ceiling limit of $14.3 trillion, and will likely begin to default on its bills as of Aug. 2 if the limit isn't increased.

North American markets took a hit as uncertainty over the U.S. debt limit dragged on. The Dow Jones industrial was down 88.36 points to 12,592.8, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 16.03 points to 2,842.80. In Canada, the S&P/TSX slipped 58.68 points to finish the day at 13,435.95.

On Monday, Republican Speaker John Boehner and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid began selling their respective plans to their caucuses before publicly releasing their proposals later in the day.

Boehner's plan proposes the following:

    Introduce an immediate US$1.2 trillion in cuts and spending caps over 10 years
    Increase the U.S. debt ceiling by $900 billion (which would last a few months)
    Create a committee tasked with finding nearly $2 trillion in additional cuts

The plan would also require a constitutional amendment that would force the federal government to run balanced budgets.

Reid's plan, by comparison, would do the following:

    Spending cuts of $2.7 trillion over 10 years
    Introduce no new taxes (a key provision for Republicans)
    Raise the debt ceiling to a level that will cover the government through all of 2012, a key factor for Obama and the Democrats.

Boehner criticized the Democratic proposal for being "full of gimmicks," while Reid blamed the impasse on "extremists" in the Republican Party.

During his speech, Obama at first praised Boehner for working with him for weeks on a "balanced approach" to solving the crisis. But he said the Republicans' new proposal would "force us to face the threat of default, but six months from now."

"We know what we have to do to reduce our deficits," the president said. "There's no point in putting our economy at risk by kicking the can further down the road."

Immediately after Obama spoke, Boehner was given a few moments of television time to rebut the president's remarks.

"The president has often said we need a 'balanced' approach, which in Washington means we spend more, you pay more," Boehner said.

"The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank cheque six months ago, and he wants a blank cheque today. That is just not going to happen."

The U.S. has never been in a federal default position, and there have been warnings that the situation could result in higher interest rates, a reduced credit rating for the U.S., and the stoppage of some government cheques.

Obama said lawmakers can't allow Americans to become "collateral damage" in a war between Democrats and Republicans, and said he hopes both sides "will ultimately put politics aside.

"This is not the way to run the greatest country on earth," Obama said. "It's a dangerous game that we've never played before and we can't afford to play it now." 

Durbin: GOP 'irresponsible' on debt ceiling debate

The No. 2 Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Illinois’ Dick Durbin, today called Republicans "irresponsible" and "hypocritical" for their role in the impasse over raising the nation’s debt ceiling.

Durbin's comments came at a Chicago news conference to announce federal funding for CTA improvements. He said he hoped a plan being floated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, could appease House Republicans and pass before an Aug. 2 deadline that carries potentially severe economic risks. He repeatedly warned that Republicans were putting the economy and jobs in jeopardy.

“The same Republicans who wanted us to go to war, who want us to stay in war, to spend $10 billion a month to sustain our war in Afghanistan, refuse to give the authority to the president to borrow the money to execute the war,” Durbin said. “That is irresponsible and it’s hypocritical.”

Making a reference to tea party conservatives, Durbin said there are forces within the House Republican caucus who want to bring the debate to a crisis stage.

House Republicans pushing sizable cuts in domestic spending have opposed Democratic conditions set by President Barack Obama that include new revenue from higher taxes on the wealthy and the closing of some tax loopholes.

Democrats also are refusing to back a proposal being offered by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, that would lift the debt ceiling in two steps over this year and next. Obama wants to increase the debt limit by more than $2 trillion to get the country through 2013 and past next year’s presidential election.

“This is exactly the wrong time to do this,” Durbin said of the Boehner plan, contending it won’t satisfy credit agencies warning of lowering the nation’s credit rating due to uncertainty over future debt.

“With economies failing all around Europe, with our own economy under attack by those giving credit reports, we should not be lurching from one political and economic crisis to another,” he said. “This may serve someone’s political purposes but it doesn’t serve the purpose of getting the American economy moving forward and creating jobs.”

Reid, the Senate’s top Democrat, is expected to unveil a proposal that would increase the debt ceiling past next year’s election and include $2.7 trillion in spending cuts. Durbin acknowledged that none of the cuts involve entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, which has prompted Republicans to question whether Reid’s proposal satisfies their demands.

President Obama embraced Reid’s proposal, saying it was a “reasonable approach.”

Durbin said Republicans were risking a “self-inflicted wound” by leading an “irresponsible” effort to “push us to absolute brinksmanship here.”

Illinois’ junior senator, Republican Mark Kirk, has consistently maintained he believes the debt ceiling will be extended in an 11th hour move by Congress.

Durbin also said it was his “understanding” that the failure of Congress to extend funding for the Federal Aviation Administration by a midnight deadline last Friday had stopped “workers from going to work this morning at O’Hare for modernization.” But FAA officials said that is not the case with the O’Hare International Airport modernization project, which already received funding.

Durbin’s comments came after announcing $18.5 million worth of CTA projects, including $11 million in federal funding, for rebuilding the Loyola Red Line station and for environmental studies to extend the line south of 95th Street. Construction will begin next year on the Loyola station and is expected to be complete in 2014, CTA officials said.

Six Possible Paths in the Debt-Ceiling Debate

According to President Obama, Congress has become mired in negotiations to raise the debt ceiling and trim federal deficits. The way ahead is unclear — every path has hurdles, if not roadblocks, obstructing the way. As Congress rapidly approaches the Aug. 2 deadline to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a government default on its credit obligations, there are six possible paths forward:

1. The House bill passes: House Speaker John Boehner declared on Monday that there is “no stalemate in Congress.” His way forward is through a bill that, until Sunday, he was drafting with Democratic congressional leaders. The bill would enact $1.2 trillion in immediate cuts and then empower a commission — a variation of an idea put forth by Senate majority leader Harry Reid — to scour entitlements and other spending to find another $1.8 trillion in cuts over the next six months. Congress would then hold a second vote on those cuts and whether to raise the debt ceiling through December 2012. Democrats object to holding two votes — if raising the debt ceiling is hard now, imagine doing it in the middle of the 2012 primary season (the Iowa caucuses are on Feb. 6). They also don’t like the prospect of cutting entitlements.

Even Boehner’s own conference is not enamored with the plan. A coalition of several dozen right-wing members who support a more stringent House plan, known as Cut, Cap and Balance, which failed to pass the Senate, panned Boehner’s proposal on Monday. And when asked if he could get even a majority of Republicans to vote for his plan, given the GOP criticism, Boehner in a press conference deferred to House majority whip Kevin McCarthy, who said they hoped to get Democratic support given that five Dems voted for the Cut, Cap and Balance bill. “We ask all Democrats that want to join with us to put this House on the right path that they could join with us on this bill,” McCarthy said. Unfortunately for them, they are going to need a lot more than five Democratic votes, which is unlikely. Without strong support in the House and tepid Republican support in the Senate, Boehner’s plan faces many obstacles to becoming law.

2. The Senate bill passes: Reid walked away from talks with Boehner on Sunday in opposition to the idea that the U.S. should or could handle two debt votes in the next year. Instead, he is proposing a debt-ceiling increase offset by $2.7 trillion worth of cuts. The plan is potentially appealing on paper as it meets House GOP criteria that 1) the debt-ceiling increase through the 2012 elections must be offset by an equal or greater amount of cuts — $2.4 trillion, according to the Treasury — and 2) it must not include any new revenue increases. This, Democrats say, is a major concession: they are willing to give trillions of dollars in cuts without any shared pain from the GOP in the form of tax increases. Republicans argue that Reid’s bill is full of gimmickry. For example, more than $1 trillion of the “cuts” are savings from accelerated troop drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Republicans counted savings the same way in the $6.2 trillion budget introduced by Paul Ryan. The plan also includes a commission, though this one would not look at entitlements and the second vote would lack the teeth of an accompanying debt-ceiling increase. Obama and Democrats feel this is the best way forward, but it remains to be seen if Reid’s plan — or anything for that matter — can pass the House.

3. The Senate and House bills are combined: There’s only a week left till the deadline, but — theoretically — if both chambers end their game of chicken and pass their own bill by the end of the week, House and Senate leaders could go through a quick conference process to reconcile their differences. There are many similarities between the two bills, and the two chambers could bang out a compromise over the weekend and ram it through both chambers before the deadline. The likelihood that the bills will pass, the leaders will get along and both chambers will pass a new version in time is not good. But it’s still a distant possibility.

4. The grand bargain comes back: Sure, Obama and Boehner twice tried to take the political leap on a grand bargain of $4 trillion–plus in cuts. And they got really, really close. Boehner said on Fox News on Sunday that his final offer remains on the table. And frankly, the calculus that got both of them interested in a grand bargain remains the same: the political cost of doing something small is similar to the cost of doing something big, so they might as well go big. If Boehner’s bill fails to launch in the House, he has all the more reason to go back to the negotiating table with the President, rather than swallow the Senate bill. And the President has said that the only circumstances under which he’d accept a short-term extension is if they hammer out the details of a big deal. But as Boehner also said on Fox, it is “hard to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.” And after the grand bargain shattered twice — or three times, if you count when House majority leader Eric Cantor abandoned Vice President Joe Biden’s deficit negotiations — there’s not a lot of trust left.

5. No deal is reached: The markets don’t seem to think this is a possibility — and for my 401(k)’s sake, I certainly wish it were not one. But the two parties were never further apart on a deal than they were on Tuesday. It’s hard to imagine who will finally give in. And so it’s not irrational to predict that the Treasury Department might have to take radical action in suspending government services to avoid a default after Aug. 2. Despite the confidence among congressional leaders that a deal will be struck, no one has a path to prevent a failure. That’s terrifying.

6. Some combination of all of the above: With so few viable options, it’s not hard to imagine the deadline being missed and the ensuing panic forcing Congress to enact some combination of these paths. Or they could go right up to the brink, and then some combination of these paths happens. As Doc Brown from Back to the Future said, “Road? Where we’re going, there are no roads.”

Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2011/07/26/six-possible-paths-ahead-in-the-debt-ceiling-debate/
Saturday 23 July 2011

Facebook Hacks Put California Stalker In Jail For 4 Years

A man in California who was caught not only hacking into women’s Facebook accounts, but storing and sharing folders with nude or semi-nude images of the women was sentenced to four years in jail on Friday by a state judge.

George Bronk was able to use clues on Facebook to guess the security questions to user’s profiles. Once he got into an account he would search for nude pictures or videos women sent their husbands or boyfriends, and then distribute the images to all those women’s friends.

(Warning: It doesn’t matter how difficult your password is to guess if you make your security question something obvious. For example, if you choose “what was the name of your highschool?” for your security question, but you display the name of your highschool on Facebook, you can probably easily get hacked).

Bronk would send emails of the photos to the woman’s families, friends, and coworkers in more than 17 different states, the District of Columbia, and England, according to Associated Press.


“This case serves as a stark example of what occurs in so-called cyberspace. It has very real consequences,” Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Brown said. “The intrusion of one’s profile is no different than intruding one’s home.”

Bronk received eight more months for charges related to child pornography.

His attorney, Monica Lynch, had sought a sentence of one year in local jail followed by probation, or two years in state prison with no probation. The judge rejected her plea for a lighter sentence, saying Bronk was no different from a peeping Tom.

At a hearing earlier this year, his mother, Joyce Bronk, said her son told her he needed help for a drinking problem. He was allegedly attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and taking classes to be trained as an emergency medical technician, according to reports.

His mom told AP, “This was an Internet persona he created when he was a drunk.”

His dreams to be a paramedic will never be able to come to fruition, as he’ll have to register as a sex offender once he gets out of the slammer, his attorney said.

Do you think Bronk received a fair sentence?.
News link:

Murdoch Papers Could Lose Special Access to 2012 Athletes

Rupert Murdoch’s British newspapers could lose exclusive access to the country’s athletes as they prepare for next year’s Summer Games in London because of the phone-hacking scandal that led to the closing of the tabloid The News of the World and testimony before Parliament by Murdoch and his son James.
“The shuttering of The News of the World means that the terms of the contract could no longer be fulfilled,” said Andrew Owen, a spokesman for Team 2012, which raises money for British Olympians.

He said that the media partnership with Team 2012 and News International, the unit of the News Corporation that owns the newspapers, had not been terminated.

Owen said that News International could “explore remedies” for its deal with its other newspapers — The Times, the Sunday Times and the Sun. But it was unclear how much leeway Team 2012 has contractually to end the deal, with The News of the World gone, and seek a new media sponsor.

It is also not known how vigorously News International will fight to retain the deal as it copes with the phone-hacking scandal, which has embroiled not only the company but also Scotland Yard.

A spokeswoman for News International declined to comment.

Team 2012 is a joint venture of the British Olympic Association, the London Olympic organizing committee, the British Paralympic Association and UK Sport. The presenting sponsor of the fund-raising organization is Visa, which is also a worldwide Olympic sponsor.

The deal between Team 2012 and News International involved all four of its newspapers, which were all entitled to carry the slogan “Official Newspaper of Team 2012.” But the potency of the partnership with News International was diminished by the loss of The News of the World’s 2.7 million Sunday circulation.

According to a news release last January that announced Team 2012’s partnership with News International, the four newspapers were part of a campaign to help the British public “get behind each of the athletes, their sports and their personal stories.”

At the time, Rebekah Brooks, who was the chief executive of News International, offered a reason for the company’s interest in the deal. “This unique partnership gives our newspapers unrivaled access to the Team 2012 athletes,” she said, “and means we will be able to throw our full support behind the team and give our readers the inside track.”

Brooks, who was the editor of The News of the World when the phone-hacking abuses began in 2002, has resigned from the company and testified before Parliament, along with the Murdochs. 

News link:

Phone hacking: how NoW scandal has changed UK's image in the world

United States

Britain's image as the land of Harry Potter and royal weddings has taken a hammering as the US media have lapped up every detail of the phone-hacking scandal. The home of chivalry emerged as a country of amoral hacks, craven politicians, corrupt cops and evil private eyes. A country where journalists are prepared to hack into the phone of a murdered child in the hope of selling a few more copies and the people in charge of those hackers are bosom buddies with the prime minister. So bad has the scandal become in the US that it has earned America's most dreaded suffix, becoming "hackgate."

On the satirical Daily Show, Jon Stewart pretended to be sick when told of the Milly Dowler story and attacked the "epic bribery and influence-peddling scandal consuming Britain's political, law enforcement and journalistic establishment". Actor Alec Baldwin said David Cameron should resign.

The Brits took a bashing at the serious end of the news spectrum, too. According to the New Yorker magazine: "The list of the complicit starts with the first policeman who was offered money, but it extends to David Cameron."

Keith McNally, London-born boss of some of New York's most prestigious restaurants including Balthazar and the Minetta Tavern, said the role of the Murdochs had been overshadowed: "Most Americans I've spoken to are more surprised by the corruption in the British police force. However, what's odd is how everyone here appears to share an unambiguous loathing for Rebekah Brooks."

But has the sceptered isle been permanently tarnished?

At the New York outpost of the UK's tourist board, a spokeswoman said hackgate had failed to eclipse the afterglow of the royal wedding. "There's certainly no evidence to suggest visitors are staying away from the UK because of the hacking scandal," said Kathleen O'Connell at VisitBritain.

Then again, one New York recruitment consultant who specialises in finding domestic staff for the super-rich said Brits did not have a good reputation even before the scandal. "People have this idea that Americans want Mary Poppins to be their nanny, but it's a myth," he said. "If I ask my clients if they want a British nanny, they'll say no. They think she'll be down the pub getting drunk."
Australia

The Murdochs' grilling before the Commons select committee ran until 3am in Australia, yet news channels stuck with it.

The airing of grubby revelations seemed far removed from the local media landscape, where there is far less of an appetite for sex and sleaze. Yet at the centre of it all, of course, is a man who began his empire in Adelaide.

Rupert Murdoch, his foes and his allies are always a talking point in Australia, but broadcaster Richard Glover pointed out: "Nothing I've seen in the British press comes close to admitting the obvious: at least part of the blame lies with the British public. They're the ones who've been buying this paper [the News of the World] and others like it for years. With every purchase, they have endorsed and encouraged this kind of journalism."

There was some bemusement about the behaviour of the politicians on the select committee and the foam pie security lapse. Michael Gawenda, director of the Centre for Advanced Journalism at Melbourne University, described the MPs as a "gaggle of politicians full of confected moral outrage and anticipatory excitement at the thought of bringing down an emperor".

He added: "How many of them challenged Blair and later Brown and then Cameron when they were fawning all over Rupert and his editor minions? Can the inquisitors, hand on heart, every one of them, say they never ever sucked up to a Murdoch editor? I assume they would have preferred to fawn over Rupert but weren't important enough to get to him.".

Congressman Mo Brooks reacts to debt ceiling debate

Debt ceiling talks broke down Friday in Washington, D.C. as House Speaker John Boehner backed out of negotiations. President Obama called for lawmakers to meet at the White House Saturday morning.  

"I've been left at the altar now a couple of times, and I think that one of the questions that the Republican Party is going to have to ask itself is, can they say yes to anything?" said President Obama.

Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks said the question isn't whether his side of the aisle can say yes, but what are they saying yes to. Brooks said the president and the Democrats have not presented any clear plan to solve the debt ceiling debate, with no specific spending cuts, mostly targeting tax increases.

"The democrats live off of tax increases. That's their number one solution to every kind of challenge that faces the federal government the state government the local government. You make it more difficult for job creators to create jobs," said Brooks.

Brooks said the problem with raising the debt ceiling without cutting spending the way the GOP wants to is, that in the long term, deficit increases will put the United States in danger of bankruptcy.

"The only solution I've seen that can conceivably work is a balanced budget constitutional amendment that forces America, over some period of time, to phase it in to get to the point that thereafter we cannot have deficits because the constitution does not allow us to spend money that the American people don't have," added Brooks.

Brooks will hold a town hall meeting Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at the Huntsville Public Library.

News Link:
Thursday 21 July 2011

'Never again' legislation meant to prevent future government shutdowns

A group of GOP senators outlined a plan Thursday that they say will prevent Minnesota’s government from ever undergoing a disastrous shutdown again, but it could hamper budget negotiations in the future.

Their proposal is based on failed 2006 legislation that former Sen. Yvonne Prettner Solon (now the lieutenant governor) proposed after Minnesota’s eight-day partial shutdown in 2005. In order to avert a shutdown, the measure would allow current appropriations to continue into a new biennium if agreement between the Legislature and the executive branch can’t be reached by July 1 of a budget year.

As the law stands now — demonstrated by the shutdown that ended Thursday — many government functions cease if an accord can’t be reached and Minnesota’s courts are forced to determine which “essential” state services can continue.

“I think I can sum up most of my comments in two words: ‘Never again,’” Sen. Paul Gazelka, one of the lawmakers signed onto the proposal, said of Minnesota’s most recent shutdown.

Gazelka and Sens. Ted Lillie and Ted Daley, who say they’ll introduce the bill early in the 2012 legislative session, are still planning what the legislation will look like. They intend to host public forums on the topic soon but haven’t discussed the measure with Gov. Mark Dayton or DFL legislators.

The most important thing is to never allow a shutdown to happen again, Daley said, because it’s horrible for entrepreneurs, citizens and state employees alike. He added that the shutdown has corrupted the national view of Minnesota as an inviting, steady place to move a business. “The shutdown has caused us to take it on the chin,” he said. “We want to restore confidence in Minnesota.”

In a recent discussion with Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin — one of 12 states to have comparable legislation in place — Lillie said the governor-next-door joked about Minnesota’s shutdown, saying, “We have a law that makes sure this will never happen.”

But in this extremely polarized political climate, opponents say allowing appropriations to continue into a future biennium takes all the pressure off budget negotiations and leaves little incentive to strike a deal. Such a law would also favor fiscal conservatives who support less state spending year over year.

Lillie, to a certain extent, agreed. “Politics have become more divisive, more challenging,” he said. When asked if he thought the legislation might hamper budget negotiations, he responded: “That is a possibility, that is a probability, but at the same time, look at the cost.”

Dayton seems to be in the camp opposed to such legislation. He repeatedly declined to pass a temporary “lights on” funding bill during the shutdown as budget negotiations dragged on and insisted that hard deadlines like the end of Minnesota’s fiscal year served to add gravity to the situation.

The senators are still in talks to see what the final bill might look like. It could fund state government at 80, 90 or 100 percent of the previous biennium’s appropriation, and it could come in the form of a constitutional amendment. They’ve discussed the measure with Sen. Mike Parry, chairman of the Senate State Government committee, where the bill will make its first stop in 2012.

“Honestly, we’re trying to take the politics out of this,” Lillie said. “The people of Minnesota deserve a system that works, a government that works.”

News sources:
http://www.minnpost.com/politicalagenda/2011/07/21/30237/never_again_legislation_meant_to_prevent_future_government_shutdowns

Barack Obama the BIg Winner in GOP Twitter Debate

Here at Thomas Jefferson Street, we watch presidential candidates debate on Twitter so you don’t have to! Yesterday we watched the launch of a new idea, created by TheTeaParty.net. The organization invited all the GOP presidential candidates to a 90-minute debate in which they’d have to answer questions from the moderators and the public, all in 140 character tweets.

Just because it was a new idea doesn’t mean it was a good idea.

The big winner wasn’t among the participants—Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Thad McCotter, or Gary Johnson. The big winner was Barack Obama. When President Obama held a Twitter Town Hall meeting a few weeks back, the public tweeted in questions and the White House chose from among them; Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey then read the questions out loud and President Obama answered them verbally, looking straight into live TV cameras.

By the end of the broadcast, he had picked up no less than 30,000 new followers. Yesterday, Michele Bachmann had only 600 new followers by the end, and that was more than anyone else.

Like the White House Town Hall, the quality of the questions was very good: Would you have gone into Libya? How will you avoid continuously raising the debt ceiling? Can a president create jobs without expanding the role of the government? But here’s the difference between the two formats: “Be specific” in your answers, moderator S.E. Cupp advised. Really? Exactly how does one get “specific” about which entitlements they’d reform in 140 characters? By contrast, Obama wasn’t limited to tweeting his answers—he had the opportunity to give long, thoughtful answers (maybe too long, but that’s a different blog) that were spoken, not written. [See a slide show of the 2012 GOP contenders.]

Yesterday’s short-answer format left little room for nuance or shades of gray. “The only way to make a political debate more pointless is to hold it on Twitter,” one commenter posted. The 140-character limit seemed to feed hyperbole and sloganeering. I noticed a lot of “dog-whistling”—using short-hand references to policies as a way of throwing a bone to the base. For example, Gingrich called for auditing and reforming the Fed—a  shout-out to Ron Paul supporters in his absence. (In addition to Paul, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and Jon Huntsman did not participate. 

Luckily, they avoided the question someone named Infomaniack sent in: “How do you think the lack of judgment you have shown in participating in this debate will help you in the WH?”)

The Twitter feed alternated between too slow and too fast, and while a half-hour ticked by with only three opening tweets posted, the hilarious public comments came fast and furious. Down the right side of the page, it was a comedy smack-down with everyone from Jon Stewart to FakeJanBrewer, Gashzilla, Harry Potter, and Frodo Baggins posting sarcastic tweets. I half-expected the escaped snake from the Bronx Zoo, who tweeted all last spring, to post something. “My ship in a bottle is finished ... how ‘bout you guys?” one bored participant posted. Then, a rush of candidates’ tweets scrolled all at once, interrupting each other, disjointed, a mix of abbreviations and text-speak. “This is the most ADD experience I’ve ever had,” one person wrote. “Would love to keep up with this crazy-slow debate but Weird Al is on over at Yo Gabba Gabba,” another posted as she left for greener pastures. 

There was too much opportunity for mischief, something the White House was able to keep out of the public eye with its format. Twitter seems to encourage one-liner, standup comedians, and boy were they out in force yesterday. It was highly entertaining.

Because the White House event was televised, there was no doubt that it really was President Obama answering the tweeted questions—with yesterday’s format, one couldn’t tell if it really was the candidate tweeting, or a bullpen full of twentysomethings back at campaign headquarters doing it for them. It didn’t help that Michele Bachmann went by “TeamBachmann” as her Twitter name—one commenter found that “fishy,” as did I. 

Despite his fairly substantive, concise tweets, added video links, and an invitation for folks to join him at his Google+ Hangout live video chat room afterward, Newt Gingrich didn’t know his own Twitter name on a live webchat following in the debate. That made me think he wasn’t really involved, either. The whole thing just didn’t feel authentic to me. It was like reading the closed-captions on TV, one sentence at a time, without the video or the audio, for an hour and a half, with only some of the candidates participating. No thanks.
Read more........
Tuesday 19 July 2011

Will Lee Enterprises Go Bankrupt?

It’s safe to say that traditional newspaper publishers are having a rough time these days. Revenues have collapsed as subscribers switch to online content and advertisers are spending less. Once great publishing giants like The Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Journal Register Company have filed for bankruptcy in the last few years. With most newspaper publishers swamped in debt and burdened by heavy fixed costs, there will likely be many more victims in the future.

The Rundown

One of those once high flying publishers sitting on the brink is Lee Enterprises (LEE). Lee is struggling under almost $1.1 Billion in debt coming due in April 2012. While the company is profitable, making a profit of $46 million in 2010 and had strong cash flow of $106 million, it could all come crashing down if lenders are unwilling to refinance Lee's debt at favourable terms.

Lee has been shopping for a deal for over six months and has met with over 150 potential investors. While debt-refinancing proposals have been made, management has declined them, citing poor market conditions and unfavourable terms from investors.

On May 5, 2011, CEO Mary Junck released a letter to shareholders after the company decided to withdraw its private placement refinancing plans. In the letter, Junck explains that analysts are being unfairly “pessimistic” about the company’s “prospects,” and that a recent revenue shortfall was only a “temporary.” She states that Lee has “reduced debt by $732 million since June 2005” and expects “revenue trends will improve again as economic conditions” improve.

Investors are obviously not as enthusiastic. Shares have dropped by 70% in the last three months. On July 8, 2011 the company received a delisting warning from the NYSE as its share price is below $1. Furthermore, despite the rosy outlook recently mentioned by the CEO Mary Junck, on July 15, 2011 Lee revealed that Q3 revenue would decline again, coming in at “4.2 percent below the same period for the prior year.”

Read More:http://seekingalpha.com/article/280088-will-lee-enterprises-go-bankrupt

What 'Arrest' Means for Legal Cases in Britain

Rebekah Brooks's arrest on Sunday thrust a former top newspaper official at News Corp. into the heart of a criminal investigation into dubious reporting tactics and alleged police corruption. But any charges she might face are likely weeks or months away—if charges are ever filed at all.

That is because the English legal system can use an arrest as an early step in a criminal investigation. That's a contrast to the U.S., where charges often follow closely on the heels of an arrest, experts say.

In Britain, an arrest is often an initial means of gathering evidence from a suspect before charges are brought.

Ms. Brooks was released without being charged around midnight on Sunday, after about 12 hours. A spokesman for Ms. Brooks said she is assisting police.

When Ms. Brooks was arrested Sunday, she formally moved to a suspect from a witness in the probe of phone-hacking and bribery allegations involving News International, the U.K. newspapers unit of News Corp. As a formal suspect she is guaranteed certain rights; in addition, the refusal to answer questions during her arrest can later be used against her if she later provides responses during a trial, according to legal experts.

Once people are questioned, any evidence will be put in the hands of the Crown Prosecution Service, which prosecutes criminal cases investigated by the police in England and Wales, and which will decide what the charges, if any, are brought.

Police and prosecutors "will be looking at 'what did she actually know? And was she negligent in her oversight of what was going on?' But she almost certainly won't be charged at this stage," said Sara George, a partner in the criminal and regulatory investigations practice at the law firm Stephenson Harwood in London.

As of Sunday, it was still possible that she would appear before a parliamentary committee on Tuesday for a hearing on the case. If she is charged, however, she wouldn't be able to give public evidence because it could prejudice the trial, said Peter Alldridge, professor of law at Queen Mary University of London.

Also unlike the U.S., the U.K. doesn't formally use plea bargaining when it comes to charges, with rare exceptions, legal experts say. It can be invoked when it comes to sentencing, although usually informally, they said. This could limit the ability of prosecutors to extract information on other News Corp. executives from Ms. Brooks since they cannot offer her leniency in exchange, legal experts say.

Conversely, Ms. Brooks will be less able to shield herself from serious charges in exchange for cooperation, a common practice in the U.S.

Generally "it is up to the prosecution to decide charges," said Dominic Crossley, a partner at Collyer Bristow Solicitors in London. "It is not something she can negotiate—it is out of her hands."

News Corp. also owns The Wall Street Journal.

By Sara Schaefer munoz
News sources:

All of Murdoch's Men: Control of society by the Media

With the arrest of the former editor of the News of the World, Rebekah Brooks, on Sunday - later released on bail - the Murdoch group of eight journalists have passed through prison time in London. All are charged with crimes of corruption and interception of communications, a broad universe of more than 4,000 people, including celebrities, politicians and ordinary citizens.

On Sunday, nothing less than the head of the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard), Paul Stephenson, resigned after admitting he hired the former deputy editor of News Of The World, Neil Wallis, as a consultant for Scotland Yard. Wallis was arrested on suspicion of participating in a scheme to bribe police in exchange for confidential information for the Murdoch tabloid.

Another Murdoch right-hand man, Andy Coulson, former director of News of the World, worked as a communications man for David Cameron before he took office as prime minister. In the U.S., the FBI begins this week to investigate allegations of espionage carried out by vehicles from the Murdoch group, which are owned by Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and Business Week.
The investigations may uncover the political and operational links between far-right Republicans and Fox News, led by former media adviser to Nixon and Bush (Sr.), Roger Ailes. Ailes was the author of a paper pointedly entitled 'Putting the Republican Party in the Media'. As president of Fox, Ailes was notable for demonstrating the practical 'how to put the Tea Party on the agenda of the media'.

This journalism, that is committed to fight ideas and defend interests, destroying reputations and bleaching biographies, has its counterpart in terms of an economic agenda. In the U.S., currently, it is represented by Republican budgetary extremism, intended to immobilize Obama by imposing a timetable for cuts in social spending in the middle of the 2012 presidential campaign.

The Brazilian media, on the whole, adopted a minimalist approach to the ramifications that the unfolding scandal of the News of the World 'puts on the relationship between money, democracy and the right to information.

Bernardo Kuscinski, one of the pioneers of critical media in the country, in a comment on an article by historian Timothy Ash, published in Estado Sunday, says: "Ash points to the depth and severity of what is happening in English democracy, hostage to Murdoch and Big Media, the British elite and all the people with a public profile have lived in fear. The mainstream media is acting as a criminal organization. Or something similar in behavior.

News sources:

News Corp faces global investigation into bribery

News Corporation faces a global investigation of all its businesses to ascertain whether they engaged in the same acts of bribery revealed to have taken place in the UK between News of the World reporters and police.

With pressure mounting in the US for the launch of a full-blooded inquiry into News Corporation under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the daunting consequences of such a move are becoming evident. Mike Koehler, a law professor at Butler University who is an expert in the act, said a costly and expensive worldwide investigation into possible bribery activities on the part of the company's subsidiaries in America, Australia, Europe, India and China was now almost inevitable.

"Once the US authorities have started investigating the UK phone scandal, their next question is where else?" he said.

A full-scale FCPA investigation could also see News Corporation forced to hand over to US authorities its most sensitive legal documents, even those covered by lawyer-client privilege. US investigators have the right to call for a waiver to the privilege in order to obtain key documents including witness statements and all legal advice given to the company.

The US attorney general, Eric Holder, has confirmed that a preliminary investigation is under way into News Corporation's activities.

Several members of Congress have called on the justice department to launch investigations under the FCPA and anti-phone-hacking legislation, and Holder said he was "progressing in that regard using the appropriate federal agencies in the United States".

It is too early in the proceedings to know precisely in which direction the justice department will take its investigation, or possibly multiple investigations. A justice department spokesman said: "Any time we see evidence of wrongdoing, we take appropriate action. The department has received letters from several members of Congress regarding allegations related to News Corp and we are reviewing those."

Experts in US company law believe it is increasingly likely that an FCPA inquiry will now follow. The law was introduced in the 1970s to penalise US-based companies from profiting from the spoils of bribery and corruption in other countries.

Brad Simon, a white-collar defence lawyer with Simon and Partners who has represented several FCPA defendants, said the spate of resignations in the UK, including those of two of the most senior police officers in the country, would boost the case for an full-blown investigation.

"The US justice department traditionally responds to fast-breaking news developments and the fact that there have been resignations and arrests in the UK make it more likely than not that the US authorities will pursue this matter," he said.

In anticipation of any legal action, Rupert Murdoch has begun assembling a crack legal team to represent him before the US authorities, suggesting he is readying himself for a bitter legal battle in America as a result of the phone-hacking scandal.

At the centre of the team is Brendan Sullivan, one of America's most experienced lawyers, who during 40 years in litigation has acquired a reputation for taking on difficult and sensitive cases. He represented Oliver North, the US marine corps officer, in congressional hearings over the Iran-Contra affair.

At the time of the hearings in 1987, Sullivan was described by the Washington Post as "the legal equivalent of nuclear war". A fellow lawyer said: "He asks no quarter and gives no quarter."

Koehler said a full investigation would be likely to last for up to four years and cost News Corporation tens of millions of dollars. "The Department of Justice has a very sharp stick at its disposal," he said.

The US authorities can bring criminal charges against a firm they believe is not co-operating. Criminal charges were brought against accountant Arthur Andersen after the collapse of the energy firm Enron. The case in effect killed the accountancy firm.

Speculation has also focused on whether News Corporation employees have engaged in any phone hacking within the US. A US liberal campaigning group, ProtectOurElections.org, has put up a sum of $100,000 as a reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of "News Corp employees who hacked the phones of American citizens in the US, or bribed officials or others for information about Americans." The group promised to pass any hard evidence it received to the FBI.

News sources:

Obama Should Marginalize GOP Over Debt Ceiling Debate

Your 50th birthday is nearly upon you this summer, falling on August 4, roughly when the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury may collapse in the global economy.

What an awful present to a forever-young president. Sorry, but right now, the sunny glow of youth is not a good look for you. Age and gravitas would become you better than the grace of a gazelle, as you move. And the candles at the court—well, they're not burning very bright these mid-summer nights. Something has got to give. Mind if I offer more free advice, gift-wrapped, to someone I wish well?
 
House Republicans would dearly love to give a gift of default to you by refusing to raise the nation's debt ceiling, resulting in calamity on top of a deep recession and high joblessness. Let their handwriting be all over that wall. A group of GOP House freshmen are ready to darken your door at the White House with more demands. Don't let them in, and, more to the point, don't engage your extreme enemies. It didn't work out in the Bible's 23rd Psalm, and it won't work out now. A friendly word of warning: Don't invite your enemies to your birthday parties to make friends.

NBC and Facebook to be partners in GOP debate

President Obama embraced social media as a candidate and he won the presidency. So naturally the Republican candidates in this election will use Facebook in in their quests for the big job.

According to Reuters, NBC’s “Meet the Press” and Facebook are teaming up to simulcast a Republican Presidential primary debate on the Sunday before next year’s New Hampshire primary. The establishment love fest will be moderated by "Meet the Press" host David Gregory; the debate will be aired on NBC, MSNBC, Facebook and the New England Cable News.
   
"This is sure to add a groundbreaking new chapter to the rich history of 'Meet the Press' political debates," Steve Capus, president of NBC News, said in a statement. "What really sets this partnership apart is that we are able to combine the reach of NBC's audiences and Facebook's users to connect with engaged, informed communities."

Read more.......
Monday 18 July 2011

The real deal on the debt debate

The debt ceiling debate rages on, with President Barack Obama daring the GOP to call his bluff and Sen. Mitch McConnell declaring a deal impossible with this White House. These days, it’s hard for most Americans to sort through the red-hot mess that is Washington.

In a gerrymandered America, extremism sells at the polls and in the world of political talk. Fact blurs with fiction and simple math becomes fuzzy.

Here are 10 truths about the debt crisis you won’t hear over the next month from the halls of Congress or the West Wing.
Read more....

Justice Department trying to shield officials in guns scandal, ATF chief says

The Justice Department is trying to protect its political appointees from the Fast and Furious scandal by concealing an internal "smoking gun" report and other documents that acknowledge the role top officials played in the program that allowed firearms to flow illegally into Mexico, according to the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Kenneth E. Melson, the ATF's acting director, also told congressional investigators this month that the affidavits prepared to obtain wiretaps used in the ill-fated operation were inconsistent with Justice Department officials' public statements about the program. Justice Department officials advised him not to raise his concerns with Congress about "institutional problems" with the Fast and Furious operation, Melson said.

Zaid: Keep eye on 'blockbuster' defence scandals

Parti Kita chief Zaid Ibrahim is sparing nobody in raising new allegations on unchecked military spending, putting the spotlight on the controversial multi-billion ringgit contract to build offshore patrol vessels (OPV).

He slammed the government, saying it allowed the project to incur massive cost overruns, and at the same time, reprimanded the opposition for paying too much attention to street rallies while such "scandalous contracts" continued to flourish.

Zaid claimed that the cost of the OPV contract had ballooned to RM10 billion, with French shipbuilder DCNS - which supplied the country's two Scorpene submarines - allegedly being roped in to partner with Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd to build the vessels in Perak.

Bridal store goes bankrupt, leaves brides without dresses

Most brides-to-be dream about that perfect wedding day, wearing that perfect wedding dress. But for nearly 50 women, getting the dress of their dreams may not happen.

They recently found out the dress they ordered at Schaffer's Ultimate Bride in Aurora may not be showing up.

Owner Angie Vasquez said the slow economy has really taken its toll and she is being forced to file for bankruptcy, but she still has about 50 clients with active dress orders. Wedding dress vendors have cut off all deliveries to the store, and the owner said she doesn't have the money to give refunds to all her customers.
Sunday 17 July 2011

Is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statisics "Lying" About Unemployment Claims?

The U.S. Department of Labor is headed by a political appointee, Hilda Solis. It is natural that she would want the President who appointed her to look good. Not that she would order the employment data to be doctored in any way. 

However, she could ask the Bureau of Labor Statistics to present the data in a way that emphasizes “good” news, if possible. Whether or not any such request was made by the Secretary, the fact is that employment data that was released last week tends to emphasize the data most favorable to the President.
Read more...........

Norwegian-born Eva Joly to run for French presidency

Norwegian-born Eva Joly, a formidable former judge who came to France as an au pair in the 1960's, will run for French president in 2012 as the Greens' candidate after winning her party's nomination on Tuesday.
 
Results of a ballot of 23,000 Greens showed the 67-year-old, who has dual French and Norwegian nationality, took 58.16 percent of the second-round vote, beating former television host Nicolas Hulot who took 41.34 percent.

Former Murdoch lieutenant Brooks arrested over hacking scandal

FORMER Murdoch chief executive Rebekah Brooks was last night arrested by police on charges of conspiring to intercept communications and corruption allegations, thought to be payments to police.

Police questioned the former News International boss at a London police station where she was arrested and detained. She was questioned by police from two separation investigations, the one into hacking, Operation Weeting, and Operation Elvedon, which is looking into bribery of police.
Read more................

The Georgia Cheating Scandal – Defeating a “Culture of Corruption”

 Details of the Georgia cheating scandal have surfaced upon release of a special investigation of the Atlanta Public School System (APS) by the Office of the Governor of Georgia. Parents are reacting to the report.

Atlanta residents are shocked to learn evidence of cheating on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) was uncovered in 44 of the 56 schools studied. The investigation also uncovered "organized and systematic misconduct within the district as far back as 2001."

Greece 'will not go bankrupt', vows Papandreou

Greece's prime minister has vowed that his country will not go bankrupt, but warned that European leaders will have to take decisive action if its worst ever debt crisis is to be contained.

Before an emergency summit of eurozone heads convened to stop debt-stricken Athens slipping into default and threatening Europe's financial stability, George Papandreou denounced the climate of fear being created by those "banking on" Greece's inability to stave off economic collapse.
Read more........
Friday 15 July 2011

Jonathan: Nigeria is Not a Failed State

Nigeria is not a failed state, President Goodluck Jonathan said Thursday, adding that his administration would work assiduously to make the country a pride for all.

Speaking while inaugurating seven of the eight ministers confirmed by the Senate in the last one week at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, Jonathan said: “Our nation has been described by certain persons as a failed state. But we are definitely not a failed state. We are a country of talented people, who have the capacity to address whatever challenges our country may be facing. Other nations have passed through their own trying moments, in no way is our experience peculiar.”

Thursday 14 July 2011

Libyan rebels fall back after failed advance

Rebels in Libya's east say they have fallen back after a failed advance on the oil town of Brega that left one fighter dead..

Fighter Abdel-Hamid Badein said Friday that rebels advanced on the town only to be pushed back by Moammar Gadhafi's troops. After the Thursday clash, rebels returned to their positions farther east.

Rebel military spokesman Ahmed Bani said one rebel was killed and eight injured.

The Libyan government Thursday described the rebel advance as "a full-scale attack" and said it was repelled.Read more....

The truth about the deficit and Social Security

This morning the Washington Post reported that the White House is offering to cut Social Security as part of a broader budget deal with the Republicans. At last we have the answer to the question everyone has been asking about the Democrats: How far can they go?

The financial collapse of 2008 has taught us to be skeptical of economic forecasts that simply spin trends out into an indefinite future. Most central bankers, economists and business leaders failed not only to foresee, but even to imagine, the colossal dimensions of that catastrophe.
Wednesday 13 July 2011

Smaller Government = Fewer Jobs

It has taken about half a year for bankrupt conservative economic policies to reaffirm themselves. Conservatives took control of Congress and several state and local governments following last fall's elections. Since then, the employment situation in the United States has changed from showing signs of improvement (unemployment receded to a recent low of 8.8% in March) to showing signs of serious weakness (unemployment increased to 9.2% last week). The cause of the recent decline is simple: government downsizing eliminates jobs and tax breaks for businesses and wealthy individuals do not replace lost government jobs.
Tuesday 12 July 2011

Ben Bernanke: High unemployment rate to persist, even as economy revives

Ben Bernanke said on Capitol Hill Wednesday, the pace of the US economy 'will pick up in coming quarters.' But the unemployment rate will decline slowly, he said, citing 'headwinds.
 
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before the House Financial Services Committee hearing on 'Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy' on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 13.

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