US on brink of economic crisis after negotiations over outline of $3tn cuts package and tax rises break down The US is on the brink of a major economic crisis after negotiations between Barack Obama and Republican Congressional leaders over the national debt dramatically broke downon Friday. Obama, showing anger, passion and verbosity rare in public in his two-and-a-half years as president, called a press conference at the White House at short notice to express his frustration with the Republicans. He told reporters there had been “a breakdown in trust” between the White House and the Republican leadership. In a snub to the president, the Republican leader in the House, John Boehner, failed to return calls from the White House throughout the day, with his office saying he was unavailable. Boehner finally called the president on Friday evening to inform him the Republicans were walking away from weeks of negotiation aimed at resolving the country’s debt crisis. The collapse in talks comes with 10 days left until the US, for the first time in its history, faces the prospect of defaulting. If it fails to raise its $14.3tn (£8.7tn) borrowing ceiling, there will be serious consequences for not only the US economy but other countries around the world. The Republican withdrawal came just a day after Obama and Boehner had seemed close to an agreement on the broad outlines of a package to cut $3tn in federal spending over the next 10 years, and to raise some taxes. But Boehner was unable to sell it to diehard Republicans in the House, many of whom were elected last year with the support of the Tea party movement, which seeks deep cuts in spending but no tax rises. In a letter published just minutes after Obama began to speak, Boehner said: “In the end, we couldn’t connect. Not because of different personalities, but because of different visions for our country.” He blamed Obama for failing to agree to deep cuts in social security and other welfare benefits and for demanding that taxes be raised. “For these reasons, I have decided to end discussions with the White House,” Boehner said. An exasperated Obama called Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders to meet at the White House at 11 o’clock on Saturday morning to offer alternative proposals for dealing with the looming deadline on the debt ceiling. The president insisted that the debt ceiling had to be raised or Americans across the country would suffer. “We’ve got to get it done. It is not an option not to do it,” he said. If there is no deal, he said, he could not guarantee that the 70 million cheques due to go out to social security recipients, veterans and others on 3 August, the day after the deadline, would be sent. The US chamber of commerce expressed nervousness over the prospect of America’s credit rating being downgraded. Federal payments to state governments could also be hit. State governors are laying down emergency plans, with California, among others, looking for alternative sources of borrowing to tide it over. Banks and businesses are also working feverishly preparing for worst-case scenarios. The crisis is the biggest test of wills yet between Obama and hardline Republicans endorsed by the Tea party movement. It dwarfs the stand-off earlier this year when the federal government faced shutdown. According to the Treasury, America reached its borrowing limit of $14.3tn on 16
Continue reading …Little Ayn Ryan tells Andrea Mitchell that of course he wants a debt ceiling deal, but he’s still not willing to do it even with hostage taking numbers. Listen to him worm around and push a point of view that a majority of Americans don’t share. Ryan says the Biden talks were the most productive and Andrea yells, then why did Cantor walk out? Ryan said, because of tax increases being included. Paul Ryan makes the usual GOP claim that American corporations pay too high tax rates because we can’t ever tax job creators. He wants to grab the spending cuts, but has no stomach for raising revenues. We need to Stop Ryan at all costs .
Continue reading …
Father on control order must leave London over fear of fundraising for militants A terrorist suspect and father of five has been ordered to move to a city outside London because of the risk that he might participate in fundraising for Pakistani militant groups. The 38-year-old, who can only be identified as “BM”, is already the subject of a control order which restricts his movements under the 2005 Prevention of Terrorism Act. MI5′s assessment, accepted by the home secretary, is that BM is “committed to terrorism – in particular terrorism in Pakistan” and wishes to travel there, the high court was told. BM was described in court papers as a 38-year-old British national born in Sheffield with five young children who had been living in Ilford, east London. A requirement of the control order being challenged was that he must relocate to “an address in a city outside London”. BM’s lawyers argued such a “drastic step” of removing him to another part of the country would cut him off from anything but occasional contact with his children and was not justified. They had argued there must be other ways of reducing or eliminating the risk he posed. Mr Justice Calvert-Smith, sitting in London, however, rejected the appeal. Relocating him would involve a “particularly serious” infringement of his right under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights to a private and family life, the judge acknowledged. But that right was outweighed by the real risk that without such a restriction “the appellant would take part in the transfer of monies to those fighting against allied troops”. The existence of associates in London who would be able and willing to assist him in sending funds “has not been denied”, said the judge. Relocating him to another city would make that more difficult. The judge said there was evidence BM assisted his two brothers to go to Afghanistan to commit acts of terrorism in April 2009. The first control order was imposed on April 30 that year and he was banned from his east London home on 21 May. But a high court judge ruled the relocation decision was flawed and he returned to London. MI5 then produced evidence that, from late 2009, BM was involved with sending significant sums of money to his brothers in Pakistan. In January 2010 he was again ordered out of the capital but became involved in criminal proceedings over alleged breaches of his control order. In April this year the court of appeal revoked the first control order and the proceedings were dropped. A second control order was imposed on 8 April. Control orders are due to be replaced with less stringent terrorism prevention and investigation measures (TPIMS). UK security and terrorism Terrorism policy Global terrorism Control orders UK criminal justice London Owen Bowcott guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
At least seven people are killed in bombing and 30 are feared shot at a political youth camp near capital Norway has suffered the worst attack in its postwar history as terrorists bombed Oslo’s central government district and opened fire at a political youth camp on an island near the capital. At least seven people were reported killed and scores injured in the city centre, while unconfirmed reports on Norwegian television said up to 30 young people may have been shot on the island by a man dressed as a policeman. The Oslo blast damaged buildings and blew out windows over more than a half-mile radius, filling the area with smoke and littering it with shards of metal. Emergency services were still trying to assess the scale of the attack, combing offices in the area in the search for more victims. The detonation took place near the 17-storey government building where the prime minister has his offices and the headquarters of Norway’s biggest tabloid paper, VG. Witnesses said tables in the paper’s basement cafeteria were smeared with blood and scattered with glass and other debris. Residents were told to stay away from the town centre, or stay in their homes and hotel rooms. In what Norwegian police said was a co-ordinated attack, about 700 youth members of the Labour party, some as young as 15, who were holding their annual summer camp on an island of Utoya, a lake west of Oslo, came under fire by a man dressed as a policeman armed with an automatic weapon. According to tweets by people at the event, some children escaped by climbing trees, hiding in the bushes or swimming away from the island. One party youth member tweeted: “We are sitting down by the beach. A man is shooting clothed in a police uniform. Help us! When are the police coming to help us!” Counter-terrorist police flew to the island and it was reported that a man, described in reports as tall and blond, had been arrested. The prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, who was due to attend the camp today, was reported to have been working at home and to have been unharmed by the blast, as were the rest of the cabinet. Stoltenberg appealed to Norwegians not to be cowed. “Co-workers have lost their lives today. It’s frightening,” he told the broadcaster NRK. “That’s not how we want things in our country. “But it’s important that we don’t let ourselves be scared. Because the purpose of that kind of violence is to create fear.” Those close to the site described the blast’s force as devastating. “The whole building was shaking. It was dancing,” said Jon Magnus, VG’s chief foreign correspondent, who was blown out of his chair by the force of the explosion. “There was glass flying through the newsroom. I was on the far side of the building from where the prime minister’s office is. The entire glass front of our building has been blown out.” It was unclear who was behind the attacks, but there has been growing unease in Norway that the country had little protection against such assaults, while exposing itself to terrorism through its military operations abroad. There was speculation that yesterday’s attacks could be linked to Norway’s military involvement in Nato operations in Afghanistan, where it has 500 soldiers, or Libya, where Norwegian jet fighters are flying sorties. Norwegian television reported that a previously unknown group called “Helpers of the Global Jihad” had posted a message online claiming the attacks were “only the beginning” of a response to the decision by Norwegian periodicals, like other Scandinavian media, to publish cartoons portraying the prophet Muhammad. Last week a Norwegian prosecutor charged an Iraqi Kurdish cleric, Mullah Krekar, the founder of the Ansar al-Islam militant group, with making death threats against Norwegian politicians. In July last year police arrested three Muslim immigrants from Iraq, Uzbekistan and China for allegedly plotting bomb attacks using peroxide explosives. The authorities said the suspects had links with al-Qaida and one of them visited the Pakistani tribal area of Waziristan, an al-Qaida stronghold. Norway presented a softer target than other western capitals with experience of terrorism. Government buildings were not protected by bollards or anti-blast curtains. Observers predicted Norway’s relaxed attitude to security would change, as in neighbouring Sweden, which was hit by a suicide blast against Christmas shoppers in Stockholm. The bomber, Taimur Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, was an Iraqi-born Swede who studied in Britain. Norway Europe Global terrorism Julian Borger Peter Beaumont guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Breaking: John Boehner out of talks with Obama as the Soap opera goes on with Debt Ceiling
July 22, 2011 No CommentAs I figured would happen, Rep. John Boehner has pulled out of negotiations with Obama over the debt ceiling talks because…..revenues and safety net cuts. What a shock . House Speaker John Boehner has broken off talks with President Barack Obama on getting a budget deal to avert a government default. The Ohio Republican says the president wants to raise taxes too high and won’t make “fundamental changes” to benefit programs such as Medicare . Top GOP aides say Boehner will now work with Senate leaders on an alternative aimed at averting a market-rattling, first-ever federal default. Jed Lewison was covering Obama’s recent remarks: 3:38 PM PT: President Obama has wrapped up perhaps the most dramatic news conference of his presidency. (As for statements, nothing will beat the Osama bin Laden one, of course.) To recap: Boehner is out of talks in the big deal. Obama is now talking about the big deal in the past tense. He is insisting on the debt limit being raised, even if it’s a clean debt limit extension. — 3:23 PM PT: After saying he is willing to sign the McConnell plan that would require him to take the responsibility of raising the debt limit, Obama adds: “I cannot believe Congress would be that irresponsible that they would not send to me a package that avoids a self inflicted wound when things are so difficult.” He’s at least calling for a clean bill here. There wasn’t time for the Grand Bargain and I’m happy about that. We’ll see where it goes from here. It’s clear President Obama wanted a big deal and we all saw how powerful the bully pulpit is because now Americans want the debt ceiling raised and they’d like a compromise. A couple of weeks ago, most Americans agreed with the Tea Party and didn’t want the debt ceiling raised at all. This is a tactic I find annoying by the administration. Even if they win some sort of victory, the dialogue has shifted hard to the right over cuts and not spending and revenues to kick start this economy. That’s a bad spot for a Democratic President to put himself in and for his Congressional brethren as well. If only he used the bully pulpit more often and in progressive terms…Anyway…this soap opera continues. Hullabaloo: Update I: Keep in mind that everyone’s posturing in public right now, trying to get their people on board for something. I wouldn’t assume anything. For all we know, both Boehner and the President have agreed to a clean vote with a pinky swear to get back to work on that dratted debt the day after and Nancy and John are planning a full week-end of kabuki to show their troops that they fought until very end. With the president saying his bottom line is raising the debt ceiling, it could be that the GOP “reluctantly” agrees to Pelosi’s plan for 2.4 without any cuts. Or maybe the Republicans really are going to go over the cliff. It ain’t over ’til it’s over Have you noticed that Villagers are getting mad at Grover Norquist? He’s been around a long time pulling strings in the GOP for decades, but since he’s been out there with his no new taxes pledge and using insane logic to defend it, he’s now interfering with the Villagers desire to see a Grand Bargain too.
Continue reading …“Glee” is not just an American TV show, it is also the emotion many people feel and express toward the trouble Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is having, since they consider Murdoch's properties a blight on their formerly pristine media landscape. There are two strains running through the phone-hacking scandal that monopolizes much of the media attention in the UK. One is the attitude of the mainstream media types who are frustrated by the success of Murdoch properties, most notably Fox News Channel in America (to which I contribute). They see Murdoch's troubles with the now shuttered News of the World tabloid as an opportunity to destroy the Murdoch empire, which they have been unable to do by competing with it. The second strain is legal. After the apparent suicide of a former News of the World reporter and unprecedented resignations of high-ranking officers at Scotland Yard, whose allegedly paid connections with News of the World are at the center of parliamentary and police inquiries, Labour and Tory politicians are positioning themselves for major political advantage. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed the Justice Department is looking into allegations that employees of News International, a division of News Corp, hacked, or attempted to hack, into the phones of 9/11 victims. Several Democratic members of Congress and Rep. Peter King (R-NY) have called for such an investigation. The response to this by the British and American mainstream media reeks of hypocrisy. Whatever one thinks of the morality of paying for news stories, the British press, under Labour and Tory governments, have been doing it for years. Fleet Street was built on cash for gossip. American media are slightly more sophisticated in pursuing “exclusive” stories. There are other forms of “payment” U.S. media make to politicians — mostly liberals — with whom they agree. They repeat the talking points of Democrats or refuse to challenge statements that are factually incorrect. They frequently fawn over people they like and challenge those they don't like. Call it a political version of an “in-kind” contribution. People who broke the law by hacking into phones should be punished, but this is more about liberal attempts to destroy Fox News, which liberals hate because it communicates ideas, issues and opinions that were mostly unavailable, or ignored, until the network launched in 1996. Fox News has not been implicated in the British phone hacking, but that won't stop its enemies from trying to make the connection. MSNBC's Martin Bashir compared Murdoch to Jack Abramoff and mobster James “Whitey” Bulger. There were similar over-the-top comments by other broadcast “journalists.” People can debate Fox's slogan “we report, you decide,” but the liberal mantra might more accurately be stated, “we distort, we decide.” The faux “virgins” in big media like to portray themselves as “above” the standards and practices of media owned by Murdoch, but past behavior exposes them as two-faced. Examples: In 2003, the New York Times reported that, “Michael Jackson struck a deal with CBS to be paid in effect an additional $1 million for both an entertainment special … and his interview on “60 Minutes” … part of yearlong negotiations.” The news magazine denied paying Jackson for the interview, but an associate of Jackson's said at the time the deal included the “60 Minutes” appearance. According to one of Casey Anthony's attorneys, ABC News paid $200,000 for photos of her dead daughter, Caylee. CBS News got off with a mere $20,000 “licensing fee” paid to Caylee's grandparents. When hero passenger Jasper Schuringa helped subdue the Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, on a flight to Detroit and later snapped cellphone photos of the suspect being escorted off the plane in wrist restraints, CNN paid Schuringa a “licensing fee” for the images. CBS and ABC reportedly bid for the photos, according to TVNewser.com, ultimately earning Schuringa $18,000. If tabloids paid British police for information, then that would be a violation of journalistic ethics, if they still exist. American journalists had better look to their own motivations before casting stones at Rupert Murdoch. Whatever happens in Britain, Fox News will survive and prosper. And that will be a cause for glee to those who dislike reporting that comes from a single ideological worldview.
Continue reading …
We may be at war, but we still laugh at the same jokes. Ever since Anthony Weiner’s June 21 resignation, the media circus surrounding Weinergate has relatively died down. After all, there’s another technology-related debacle that the world is now focused on. But al-Qaeda, though a bit late in the game, has decided to make
Continue reading …
enlarge Previously I’ve told you about ALEC’s mission, which is to write boilerplate right wing legislation and distribute it to state and federal lawmakers as a way to advance right-wing causes across the country. But ALEC’s influence does not begin or end there. FollowtheMoney.org: An examination of campaign donations made by ALEC corporate members dating back to the 1990 election cycle shows that they contributed $12.2 million to state-level candidates who were ALEC members, with 98.4 percent of that money going to incumbent and winning candidates, many of whom could vote on proposed legislation. Additional analysis reveals that $11.9 million of the $12.2 million went to Republicans. Click here to download the database. Over the seven (10 for some states) election cycles covered in a donor-data analysis by the National Institute on Money in State Politics, ALEC corporate members contributed $516.2 million to state-level politics: $202.1 million to state-level candidates, $228.3 million to high-dollar ballot-measure campaigns, and $85.8 million to state political party committees. Half a billion dollars. A serious relationship. It seems ALEC is not afraid of commitment. According to Texas Watchdog , one of the biggest beneficiaries of ALEC members’ largesse was Texas Governor Rick Perry . Because of the council leak, the Institute for Money in State Politics was able to link specific corporate money with specific legislators and issues. Of the $516.2 million given over the past 20 years, corporate donors spent $228.3 million on campaigns in support of issues on ballots in various states. Another $202.1 million went to candidates and $85.8 million went to almost exclusively Republican state committees. Perry was, by far, the most popular donor target in Texas. Former Republican House Speaker and Exchange Council member, Tom Craddick, got $878,000 from corporate council members. Other leaders were: State Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, $315,000; Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, $163,000; and Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, $124,000. So let’s see. Texas has a draconian tort reform law , is a oil welfare state, and is in the process of privatizing and destroying its public education system. AlterNet : In this, Perry is absolutely, 100 percent correct. He slashed taxes to the bone, handing out credits to his political cronies like they were candy. He decried the evils of Big Government while hypocritically using federal stimulus funds to help close Texas’ budget gap in the short term, and now he’s using the state’s longer term fiscal disaster – one of his own creation – as a premise for destroying an already threadbare social safety net serving the neediest Texans. As a result of these policies, plus immigration and other external factors, his state’s added a lot of low-paying poverty jobs without decent benefits. He’s added very little in the way of “prosperity.” In the final analysis, Texas is indeed a shining example of conservative governance, as well as an almost perfect model for winning the race to the bottom. Thanks for that, ALEC. And now Rick Perry is about to be unleashed on the nation. At least we have Texas as a harbinger of things to come.
Continue reading …Charles Krauthammer Tells ‘Inside Washington’ Host ‘You Manage to Introduce a Hell of a Lot of Bias’
July 22, 2011 No Comment
“Inside Washington” host Gordon Peterson on Friday accused Tea Party members of being out of touch with reality due to their support for the Republican “Cut, Cap, and Balance” bill as well as a balanced budget amendment. This lead Charles Krauthammer to respond, “I like the way you pose an objective question implying the insanity of a Republican proposal which passed the House…You manage to introduce a hell of a lot of bias” (video follows with transcript and commentary): GORDON PETERSON, HOST: House Republicans say they have a solution: Cut, Cap, and Balance. Tea Party folks love the idea of a Constitutional amendment to balance the budget. At what point does reality rear its ugly head with some of these people, cause it ain’t going to happen? CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: I like the way you pose an objective question implying the insanity of a Republican proposal which passed the House. I just want the viewers to understand how this is a fair and balanced program. PETERSON: Well, we do our best. We don’t have the vast resources of Rupert Murdoch and Fox News, but we do the best we can. NINA TOTENBERG, NPR: [Laughs] KRAUTHAMMER: I understand, but on a shoestring, you manage to introduce a hell of a lot of bias. PETERSON: Thank you very much. KRAUTHAMMER: I commend you on your… PETERSON: Can you answer my question? When does reality rear its ugly head with these people? Speaking of reality rearing its ugly head, Peterson must have missed the parts of Thursday's CNN poll finding 66 percent of respondents supporting “Cut, Cap, and Balance” and 74 percent favoring a balanced budget amendment. This is especially peculiar as Peterson later in the program referred to the CNN poll, just not the sections contradicting his depiction of Tea Partiers supporting the same things an overwhelming majority of Americans as being out of touch with reality. Maybe the limited budget PBS gives him for the program only affords him access to small portions of polls rather than the complete text every other person can access for free via the internet.
Continue reading …
Hundreds of thousands demonstrate as security forces kill at least 11 people with president rumoured to call elections Hundreds of thousands of Syrians turned out for anti-regime demonstrations across the country on Friday with at least 11 people reported killed by security forces and tensions mounting in the runup to the Ramadan holiday. Casualty figures – collated by two Syrian human rights groups – were down on previous weeks but the numbers of demonstrators appeared to be some of the largest yet seen in the four-month uprising. In Aleppo, Syria’s second city, unarmed military cadets were seen marching with civilian protesters and calling for the overthrow of the regime and the departure of President Bashar al-Assad. Damascus was unusually quiet after large demonstrations closer to the city centre last week but protests were reported from Deir Ezzor in the east to Suweida in the south. All were called to express solidarity with the people of the central city of Homs – the focal point of recent unrest – where some 40 people have been killed in the last few days amid worries of rising sectarian tensions. Five of the latest casualties were killed there. Amateur video footage posted on the internet showed many thousands gathering after prayers on a day dubbed “Friday of the descendants of Khalid”, a reference to a disciple of the prophet Muhammad who unified the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century and is buried in Homs. Nearby Hama, scene of a notorious 1982 massacre during the rule of Assad’s father Hafez, saw hundreds of thousands in central Assi Square. But there was no visible security presence in the city. Large protests were also reported for the first time from Aleppo, where one of Friday’s fatalities was killed. Syrian TV reported that a civilian had been killed by an “armed gang” – the regime’s habitual term for almost all protests. In Damascus there were signs of a more restrained approach, with security forces firing into the air or using tear gas to prevent trouble spreading. Activists reported checkpoints and a heavy security presence in Rukn ad-Deen, a largely Kurdish neighbourhood in the north-east of the city and the far eastern area of Qaboun where a mass funeral was held on Thursday. But protests went ahead as usual in Midan, a conservative district close to the old walled city. Live streaming and better-quality pictures have been emerging from Syria this week despite the government’s attempts to curb social media and temporarily block access to email services and Twitter. In Midan a video clip showed protesters clapping and shouting: “The people are free, Syria is free.” Footage from Aleppo showed a man drenched in blood being carried away. And in largely Kurdish Qamishli on the border with Turkey, teargas was fired to break up a protest. Expressions of solidarity with Homs – pinned down by troops and tanks on the streets – came at the end of a week when at least 40 people were killed there, some of them reportedly in sectarian clashes. But reports of sectarian strife have been hotly contested by activists and some analysts. “The protest movement does appear to be predominantly peaceful and non-sectarian but as state control weakens … people with other grievances may be taking advantage,” said a western diplomat in Damascus. That may be the case in Homs’ northern neighbourhoods where Alawites and Sunnis are segregated into adjacent neighbourhoods. Reports of revenge killings and violence on the part of “Shabiha” thugs allied with the government are multiplying. Some sources said state media reports of the targeting of a military bus near Rastan, north of Homs, on Thursday, killing two, may have been a case of a revenge attack. In Homs activists and residents reported a rise in defections, including eight military intelligence personnel who changed sides after a brutal crackdown. Activists said that several tank crews this week defected and joined protesters in the eastern town of Albu Kamal bordering Iraq’s tribal Sunni heartland. Footage from Aleppo showing unarmed army cadets marching with civilians was a striking novelty but it was difficult to judge its scale or wider significance. Syrian activists are warning protesters who imitate slogans from Egypt and Tunisia (where the army changed sides and helped overthrow both presidents) such as “the people and the army are one hand!” that they should not count on the military changing sides. “This is a very different situation here and we know that,” said one Damascus activist. Delegations from Brazil, India and Turkey were reported to be in the capital to meet Assad amid reports that he will soon deliver his fourth speech since the uprising began. It is understood he will offer to abrogate article eight of the Syrian constitution, which provides for a leading role for the ruling Ba’ath party. Assad is also rumoured to be considering calling presidential elections – overseen by delegations from abroad – several months after a new political parties law is put into effect. “This could be the only peaceful way out of the situation,” said one analyst. “But I am not sure the street will accept it at this stage.” In other developments, protesters destroyed a statue of Hafez al-Assad in Hasaka, prompting security forces to open fire, al-Arabiya TV reported. Hundreds more marched in the southern town of Suweida while demonstrations took place in the north-western province of Idlib. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 1,419 civilians and 352 members of the security forces have been killed since 15 March, while more than 1,300 people have been arrested. Nour Ali is a pseudonym for a journalist in Damascus Syria Bashar Al-Assad Arab and Middle East unrest Protest Turkey Iraq Ian Black guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …