Police to scrutinize use of deadly force in DC car chase.

<br /><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="U.S. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson" src="http://www.secretservice.gov/images/Pierson.jpg" /></div><br /><h3>Police to scrutinize use of deadly force in DC car chase as sisters of woman voice concerns.</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIQhfS8HWif5cF2XdySZNXZZeEm52D0Mbjl4zfJh7BoEUqE2Fm92b3M_qx5KlVXIEbEjZMljOko1ptEQfawMyOpxc7nrYEomRzrU9ipsA9FmKLjQoUbhFcFqWn-GMoCzxVo0yl5Y8QzPA/s1600/logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIQhfS8HWif5cF2XdySZNXZZeEm52D0Mbjl4zfJh7BoEUqE2Fm92b3M_qx5KlVXIEbEjZMljOko1ptEQfawMyOpxc7nrYEomRzrU9ipsA9FmKLjQoUbhFcFqWn-GMoCzxVo0yl5Y8QzPA/s1600/logo.png" /></a></div>WASHINGTON - Police in Washington are reviewing the use of officers' deadly force in the killing of a woman who tried to ram her car through a White House barrier, a shooting her family says was unjustified.<br /><br />The investigation will reconstruct the car chase and shooting, which briefly put the U.S. Capitol on lockdown, and explore how officers dealt with the driver and whether protocols were followed.<br /><br />Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer said he was confident the officers "did the best they could under the situation." Police guarding national landmarks need to make rapid decisions without the luxury of all the facts, he said.<br /><br />"This is not a routine highway or city traffic stop. It is simply not that," Gainer said Saturday. "The milieu under which we're operating at the United States Capitol and I suspect at the White House and at icons up in New York is an anti-terrorism approach, and that is a difference with a huge, huge distinction."<br /><br />Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine maintained that his officers acted "heroically" to protect the community.<br /><br />Still, the family of 34-year-old Miriam Carey called the shooting unjustified, and some deadly force experts agree it merits scrutiny.<br /><br />"We're still very confused as a family why she's not still alive," Amy Carey-Jones said in New York late Friday after travelling to Washington to identify Miriam Carey's body. "I really feel like it's not justified, not justified." Another sister, retired New York City police officer Valarie Carey, said there was "no need for a gun to be used when there was no gunfire coming from the vehicle."<br /><br />Secret Service agents and Capitol Police officers fired shots during the Thursday afternoon encounter, which began when Carey — in a black Infiniti with her 1-year-old daughter — rammed a White House barricade and was pursued by police toward the Capitol during a high-speed chase. D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said she was confident after the shooting that Carey's actions were "not an accident," but the department's internal affairs division is investigating as part of standard protocol.<br /><br />Carey struck a Secret Service agent with her car at the White House and reversed her vehicle into a police car, authorities say. A Capitol Police officer was also injured. Both are expected to recover.<br /><br />Experts in the use of deadly force said there were more questions than answers. Many police departments direct their officers not to fire at moving vehicles — even if the driver is using the car as a weapon — or permit it under extremely limited circumstances. And experts wondered whether police should have relied on other options — such as establishing a roadblock — to diffuse the situation.<br /><br />"I think the question we have to ask is, 'What threat did she cause?" said Geoffrey Alpert, an expert on police use of force at the University of South Carolina. "What threat was she to the officers, to the public, to the politicians?"<br /><br />Chuck Drago, a former Oviedo, Fla., police chief who now works as a police consultant, said he was concerned officers approached the vehicle on foot while the conflict was still unfolding. That kind of direct contact can elevate the tension of an already tense scenario and leave an officer feeling anxious and vulnerable, he said.<br /><br />"Their main concern should have been trying to keep that vehicle from moving, and then exposing themselves only adds to the danger and lessens their options in the long run," Drago said.<br /><br />Authorities were investigating why Miriam Carey, who lived in Connecticut, turned up in Washington on Thursday. A search warrant application for Carey's car seeks bullet fragments, maps or other documents pertaining to the White House, alcohol or drugs, "and/or evidence of a mechanical malfunction or lack thereof."<br /><br />A federal law enforcement official said Friday that her mental health appeared to be deteriorating in the last year and that she was apparently under the delusion the president was communicating with her. The official was briefed on the investigation but not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.<br /><br />Her family said she had been suffering from postpartum depression with psychosis but was not dangerous. Carey-Jones said her sister had been on medication for postpartum depression but was being taken off the drugs under medical supervision.<br /><br />"They told her she could get off medication," Carey-Jones said, adding, "There were no indications she was unstable."<br /><br />Valarie Carey questioned the characterizations of her sister's mental health and said Miriam Carey "did not believe the president or any government official was going to do her harm."<br /><br />But interviews with some of those who knew the Stamford, Conn., woman suggested she was coming apart well before she loaded her 1-year-old daughter into the car for the 275-mile drive to Washington on Thursday. She had suffered a head injury in a fall and had been fired as a dental hygienist, her former employer said.<br /><br />After Carey rammed the barricades at the White House, police chased her down Constitution Avenue to the Capitol, where she was shot. At one point near the Capitol, police say, she stopped her car abruptly, then drove over a median strip and then put the vehicle into reverse and refused to stop. Officers then shot her, police say.<br /><br />Carey's daughter escaped serious injury and was taken into protective custody. The woman's family has not identified the father of the child. Gainer said he has not seen any indication officers knew the child was in the car when they fired.<br /><br />Carey's mother, Idella Carey, told ABC News that she began suffering from postpartum depression after giving birth in August 2012 and was hospitalized but had no history of violence.<br /><br />Experts say symptoms of postpartum depression include lack of interest in the baby; mood swings between sadness and irritability; scary thoughts of something bad happening to the baby; and, in severe cases, suicidal thoughts, but not delusions. In contrast, a condition known as postpartum psychosis can come with hallucinations, paranoia and desires to hurt the child. But it is extremely rare and does not tend to last for a year, experts say.<br /><br />Carey's death comes less than three weeks after a deadly shooting rampage in Washington that also involved an apparently unstable person.<br /><br />On Sept. 16, gunman Aaron Alexis shot and killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard before being shot by police. Alexis, a defence industry employee and former Navy reservist, said in writings left behind that he was driven to kill by months of bombardment with electromagnetic waves.<br /><br />"There'll be lessons to be learned from this," Gainer said. "There'll be recommendations to be made about, 'Could we have done this, or should we do that?'"<br /><div><br /></div>

Police to scrutinize use of deadly force in DC car chase.

Police to scrutinize use of deadly force in DC car chase as sisters of woman voice concerns. WASHINGTON - Police in Washington are reviewing...

NYC sisters of woman killed by police in DC question use of deadly force

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img abp="39" align="top" alt="U.S. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson" border="0" height="400" hspace="10" src="http://www.secretservice.gov/images/Pierson.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" vspace="10" width="341" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Julia Pierson Director United States Secret Service</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><h3>NYC sisters of woman killed by police in DC following chase question use of deadly force.</h3><br />NEW YORK, N.Y. - The sisters of a woman who was fatally shot in Washington after trying to ram her car through a White House barrier say she was not a criminal and police should not have shot her.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWPrORqH56LCpj8yrbg4fCrzEzCQS8dxT_8nkslIhVIrpwIBHJq4NLrkOyzntaGRw6XiPRYuKEOTvkCQdpu4NpPNPBh7-RxuGxMvlJEolZL2XvcVTafolYAzqsjaBlfJ8bubDP2R7PQ8/s1600/0q4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWPrORqH56LCpj8yrbg4fCrzEzCQS8dxT_8nkslIhVIrpwIBHJq4NLrkOyzntaGRw6XiPRYuKEOTvkCQdpu4NpPNPBh7-RxuGxMvlJEolZL2XvcVTafolYAzqsjaBlfJ8bubDP2R7PQ8/s1600/0q4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />"We're still very confused as a family why she's not still alive," Amy Carey-Jones said late Friday, speaking of her 34-year-old sister, Miriam Carey. "I really feel like it's not justified, not justified."<br /><br />Another sister, retired New York City police officer Valarie Carey, said there was "no need for a gun to be used when there was no gunfire coming from the vehicle."<br /><br />The sisters spoke outside Valarie Carey's home in Brooklyn on Friday night after travelling to Washington to identify Miriam Carey's body.<br /><br /><br />Washington's Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement Friday that its Internal Affairs Division is investigating the circumstances that led to the shooting. The Secret Service, Capitol Police and FBI are assisting, the department said.<br />Secret Service agents and Capitol Police officers both fired shots during the encounter with Carey. Witnesses said Carey hit a Secret Service agent with her car at the White House. A Capitol Police officer was also injured. Both are expected to recover.<br /><br />A federal law-enforcement official said earlier Friday that Miriam Carey had been under the delusion the president was communicating with her.<br /><br />Her family said she had been suffering from postpartum depression with psychosis but was not dangerous.<br /><br />Carey-Jones said her sister had been on medication for postpartum depression but was being taken off the drugs under medical supervision.<br /><br />"They told her she could get off medication," Carey-Jones said, adding, "There were no indications she was unstable."<br /><br />But interviews with some of those who knew Miriam Carey, of Stamford, Connecticut, suggested she was coming apart well before she loaded her 1-year-old daughter into the car for the 275-mile (440-kilometre) drive to Washington on Thursday.<br /><br />Carey had suffered a head injury in a fall and had been fired as a dental hygienist, her former employer said.<br /><br />The federal law enforcement official, who had been briefed about the investigation but was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, said investigators were interviewing Carey's family about her mental state and examining writings found in her condominium.<br /><br />"We are seeing serious degradation in her mental health, certainly within the last 10 months, since December, ups and downs," the official said. "Our working theory is her mental health was a significant driver in her unexpected presence in D.C."<br /><br />The official said Carey believed President Barack Obama was communicating to her.<br /><br />"Those communications were, of course, in her head," the official said, adding that concerns about her mental health were reported in the last year to Stamford police.<br /><br />Valarie Carey questioned the characterizations of her sister's deteriorating mental health and said Miriam Carey "did not believe the president or any government official was going to do her harm."<br /><br />After Carey rammed the barricades at the White House, police chased her down Constitution Avenue to the Capitol, where she was shot in a harrowing chain of events that led to a brief lockdown of Congress. Carey's daughter escaped serious injury and was taken into protective custody.<br /><br />A lawyer for Carey's sisters, Eric Sanders, attributed the shooting to the "siege mentality" that has developed because of terrorism.<br /><br />"We're afraid of everything. We're afraid of ourselves now," Sanders said.<br /><br />He said the family would do its own investigation, beginning with an autopsy.<br /><br />Police have said they're confident Carey's actions weren't an accident.<br /><br />Carey's mother, Idella Carey, told ABC that her daughter began suffering from postpartum depression after giving birth in August 2012 and was hospitalized but had no history of violence.<br /><br /><a abp="66" href="http://www.dhs.gov/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank" title="http://www.dhs.gov"><img abp="67" alt="DHS Logo/Seal" border="0" src="http://www.secretservice.gov/images/dhs_seal.jpg" /></a><br />Experts say symptoms of postpartum depression include lack of interest in the baby; mood swings between sadness and irritability; scary thoughts of something bad happening to the baby; and, in severe cases, suicidal thoughts, but not delusions.<br /><br />In contrast, a condition known as postpartum psychosis can come with hallucinations, paranoia and desires to hurt the child. But it is extremely rare and does not tend to last for a year, experts say.<br /><br />"If it's just a case of postpartum depression, you usually don't see people hurting others or getting aggressive," said Dr. Ariela Frieder, a psychiatrist at New York's Montefiore Medical Center.<br /><br />She said that some women who appear to have postpartum psychosis actually have a different mental illness, bipolar disorder.<br /><br />Dr. Brian Evans, a periodontist in Hamden, an hour's drive northeast of Stamford, said Carey was fired from her job at his office about a year ago but wouldn't say why. He said Carey had been away from the job for a period after falling down a staircase and suffering a head injury and it was a few weeks after she returned to work that she was fired.<br /><img abp="43" align="left" alt="Photos Courtesy of White House" border="0" height="150" src="http://www.secretservice.gov/images/homepage07_02.jpg" width="250" /><br />Carey's death was Washington's second deadly incident involving an apparently unstable person in 2 1/2 weeks.<br /><br />On Sept. 16, a man killed 12 people in a shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard before dying in a gunbattle with police. The gunman, Aaron Alexis, a defence industry employee and former Navy Reservist, had complained of hearing voices and said in writings left behind that he was driven to kill by months of bombardment with electromagnetic waves.<br /><div><br /></div>

NYC sisters of woman killed by police in DC question use of deadly force

Julia Pierson Director United States Secret Service NYC sisters of woman killed by police in DC following chase question use of deadly force...

House approves one-year 'Obamacare' delay in spending bill

WASHINGTON -The House of Representatives on Sunday, ignoring a White House veto threat, approved a one-year delay in funding major provisions of President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare law as part of a government funding bill.<br /><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) (C) walks into the offices of Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) (not pictured) during a rare late-night Saturday session at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, September 28, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst" height="398" src="http://preview.reuters.com/api/dev/items/5247ac2bf0d46b079ef39683/versions/1/sizes/310~16-10" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) (C) walks into the offices of Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) (not pictured) during a rare late-night Saturday session at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, September 28, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst</td></tr></tbody></table>Republicans attached the amendment to a bill that is needed to keep federal agencies operating beyond September 30 when a new fiscal year begins.<br /><br />The move brought the U.S. government closer to shutting down on Tuesday amid deep divisions between Republicans and Democrats.

House approves one-year 'Obamacare' delay in spending bill

WASHINGTON -The House of Representatives on Sunday, ignoring a White House veto threat, approved a one-year delay in funding major provision...

U.S. jobs, inflation data support tapering of Fed bond buying

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Job seekers listen to a presentation at the Colorado Hospital Association health care career fair in Denver April 9, 2013. REUTERS/Rick Wilking" src="http://preview.reuters.com/api/dev/items/520ccaa32968d417e5f57cbf/versions/1/sizes/420~16-10" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">Job seekers listen to a presentation at the<br /> Colorado Hospital Association<br /> health care career fair in<br /> Denver April 9, 2013. REUTERS/Rick Wilking</blockquote></td></tr></tbody></table><br />WASHINGTON - The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell to a near six-year low last week and consumer prices rose broadly in July, which could draw the Federal Reserve closer to trimming its massive bond-buying program.<br />The government reports on Thursday suggested an acceleration in job growth in early August and hinted at pockets of pricing power in the sluggish economy, which could ease concerns among some Fed officials that inflation was too low.<br /><br />While data on manufacturing was less encouraging, economists were little fazed and said it merely suggested the improvement in factory activity was slower than had been anticipated.<br /><br />"It looks like the weakness in employment last month was a fluke and the breadth of gains in CPI suggest that there will be less push back against tapering because of low inflation," said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester Pennsylvania. "A September taper is still on the table."<br /><br />The U.S. central bank has said it plans to start trimming the $85 billion in bonds it is purchasing each month to keep borrowing costs low later this year.<br /><br />Shares on Wall Street fell and yields on U.S. Treasuries jumped to a two-year high on the data. The dollar briefly climbed to a near two-week peak against the euro.<br /><br />First-time applications for state unemployment benefits dropped 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 320,000, the lowest level since October 2007, the Labor Department said. Economists had expected initial claims to come in at 335,000 last week.<br /><br />The four-week moving average for new claims, which irons out week-to-week volatility, fell to its lowest level since November 2007, offering hope of an improvement in labor market conditions after hiring slowed a bit in July.<br /><br />Carl Riccadonna, a senior economist at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York, said new claims and the four-week average at pre-recession levels were consistent with a pick-up in the pace of hiring, if not in August, then some time in the next couple of months.<br /><br />"The critical component is going to be the August jobs report. If that comes in at least where it was in July, then this is going to keep the Fed on track to initiate tapering at the September (policy) meeting," said Riccadonna.<br /><br />Employers added 162,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, with the jobless rate hitting a 4-1/2 year low of 7.4 percent.<br /><br />BROAD GAINS IN PRICES<br /><br />In another report, the Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index rose 0.2 percent, in line with economists' expectations, as the cost of goods and services ranging from tobacco to apparel and food increased.<br /><br />The CPI had increased 0.5 percent in June. In the 12 months through July, the CPI advanced 2.0 percent, the largest increase since February, after increasing 1.8 percent in June.<br /><br />The push in inflation to the Fed's 2 percent target suggested the downward drift in prices seen early in the year was over and could comfort some central bank officials who have warned on the potential dangers of inflation running too low.<br /><br />Stripping out energy and food, consumer prices rose 0.2 percent for a third straight month. That took the increase over the past 12 months to 1.7 percent after core CPI gained 1.6 percent in June.<br /><br />The uptick in prices fits in with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s views that the low inflation was temporary. Last month, there were also increases in the prices of gasoline, transportation and shelter.<br /><br />Medical care services recorded a second successive month of gains in July. Medical care, which makes up about 10 percent of the core CPI, had been subdued in April and May.<br /><br />The lack of pressure on health care costs had been attributed to the expiration of patents on several popular prescription drugs and government spending cuts that have cut payments to doctors and hospitals for Medicare.<br /><br />Furniture prices posted their largest decline in three years, while airline fairs fell for second straight month.<br /><br />News on the factory sector was a bit downbeat, with the Fed reporting that manufacturing output slipped 0.1 percent last month, held down by a 1.7 percent fall in the production of motor vehicles and machinery.<br /><br />That, together with a drop in utilities production, left industrial output unchanged in July.<br /><br />Separately, the New York Federal Reserve said its "Empire State" general business conditions index fell to 8.24 in August from 9.46 in July. A reading above zero indicates expansion.<br /><br />However, details of the report were fairly encouraging, with strong gains in labor market gauges. The inventory drawdown continued, which bodes well for future production.<br /><br />The Philadelphia Federal Reserve, meanwhile, said its business activity index fell to 9.3 in August from 19.8 in July, amid a slowdown in new orders growth and factory jobs.<br /><br />But economists do not view this survey as a good barometer of national factory activity and were optimistic manufacturing will regain muscle, supported by a strengthening housing market recovery and firming demand overseas which is pushing up domestic exports.<br /><br />"Growth in Europe and a pop in exports in June suggests we might see production growth resume after a flat first half," said Mei Li, an economist at FTN Financial in New York.

U.S. jobs, inflation data support tapering of Fed bond buying

Job seekers listen to a presentation at the Colorado Hospital Association health care career fair in Denver April 9, 2013. REUTERS/Rick W...

Closed for business? Government shutdown history

<h3>WASHINGTON — OK, gridlocked politicians we're used to. But why padlock the Statue of Liberty?</h3><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFM-YJgIMgJWcyPyt_Jt6eXJwZctvqwAl_9sg93e-cQkh9Cq1Ipvx7fyXVVRHfO6118iihIAkuwFBNwzz3_MOruiw5hoQ8bUFKafmTLLBkcZw3V8IHLgZhtUAwFQJNI1fLDXTvsS_MSUA/s1600/USD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFM-YJgIMgJWcyPyt_Jt6eXJwZctvqwAl_9sg93e-cQkh9Cq1Ipvx7fyXVVRHfO6118iihIAkuwFBNwzz3_MOruiw5hoQ8bUFKafmTLLBkcZw3V8IHLgZhtUAwFQJNI1fLDXTvsS_MSUA/s1600/USD.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />You don't see other democracies shuttering landmarks and sending civil servants home just because their political parties can't get along. Belgian civil servants, for example, carried on nicely for a year and a half while their politicians bickered over forming a new government.<br /><br />The potential for a partial shutdown Tuesday is a quirk of American history. So if you're bored with blaming House Republicans or President Barack Obama, you can lay some responsibility on the Founding Fathers.<br /><br />Or blame President Jimmy Carter for his rectitude. Or ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich for his hissy fit over how he got off Air Force One.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">How will a government shutdown affect you?</blockquote><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img abp="82" alt="History of government shutdowns: Mike Fetters affixes a 'closed' sign on a door at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum in Washington: Mike Fetters affixes a &#39;closed&#39; sign on a door at the Smithsonian&#39;s Air and Space Museum in Washington as parts of the federal government were shutdown due a federal budget impasse between President Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress." class="image" data-src="{"default":"http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/ba/d956368a532f4ee81e65e7b86085/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg"}" height="358" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/ba/d956368a532f4ee81e65e7b86085/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">Mike Fetters affixes a 'closed' sign on a door at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum in Washington as parts of the federal government were shutdown due a federal budget impasse between President Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress.</blockquote></td></tr></tbody></table><h3>A history of government shutdowns, American-style:</h3><br /><h3>1789: Balance of powers</h3><br />The framers of the Constitution gave Congress control over spending as a way to limit the power of the presidency. The government can only spend money "in consequence of appropriations made by law," or in other words, after Congress says so and with the president's signature.<br /><br /><h3>1800s: Power struggles</h3><br />Turns out it's not easy to shoo federal bureaucrats away from the piggy bank.<br /><br />When they wanted to spend more than Congress gave, the War Department and other agencies ordered stuff on credit. Then they would go to Congress seeking an appropriation to pay the bills. Lawmakers felt obliged to cover the government's debts, but they weren't happy about it. The executive branch was undermining Congress's power of the purse.<br /><br />Congress responded with a series of laws that eventually got one of those dreadful Washington monikers: the Anti-Deficiency Act.<br /><br />Because of the act, officials who mistakenly spend money Congress hasn't OK'd face disciplinary action, ranging from firing to hours stuck in mind-numbing budget training. There are exceptions for spending to protect lives or property.<br /><br />But willful overspending is a crime that carries the threat of fines and two years in prison.<br /><br /><h3>1900s: A delicate balance</h3><br />The Anti-Deficiency Act seems clear. But as usual, Congress sent mixed messages. Lawmakers routinely failed to pass most of each year's dozen or so appropriations bills on time. Sometimes agencies went a full year without a budget. Usually lawmakers would smooth that over with a short-term money approval, called a "continuing resolution" in Washington-speak.<br /><br />Sometimes Congress couldn't even agree on those: Stopgap resolutions got tangled up for days or a couple of weeks in political fights over matters such as abortion, foreign aid or congressional pay raises. Sort of like the current fight over health care.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Obamacare fight more about control of Republican Party</blockquote><br />But government agencies didn't shut down and Cabinet secretaries weren't led away in handcuffs.<br /><br />Agency chiefs might delay workers' pay and put items such as travel and new contracts on hold. But they assumed Congress didn't want them to turn off the lights and go home. Eventually lawmakers would cough up a spending bill to retroactively paper over the funding gap.<br /><div><div>1980: An inconvenient truth</div><div><br /></div><div>This look-the-other-way system worked for decades. Until the Carter administration.</div><div><br /></div><div>A stickler for the rules, Carter asked his attorney general to look into the Anti-Deficiency Act. In April 1980, Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti issued a startling opinion. "The legal authority for continued operations either exists or it does not," he wrote.</div><div><br /></div><div>When it does not, government must send employees home. They can't work for free or with the expectation that they will be paid someday.</div><div><br /></div><div>What's more, Civiletti declared, any agency chief who broke that law would be prosecuted.</div><div><br /></div><div>Five days later, funding for the Federal Trade Commission expired amid a congressional disagreement over limiting the agency's powers. The FTC halted operations, canceled court dates and meetings, and sent 1,600 workers packing, apparently the first agency ever closed by a budget dispute.</div><div><br /></div><div>Embarrassed lawmakers made a quick fix. The FTC reopened the next day. The estimated cost of the brouhaha: $700,000.</div><div><br /></div><div>Carter, a Democratic president forever stymied by his own party in Congress, ordered the whole government to be ready to shut down when the budget year ended on Oct. 1, 1980, in case lawmakers missed their deadline for appropriations bills.</div><div><br /></div><div>A report by what's now the Government Accountability Office captured federal officials' dismay: "That the federal government would shut its doors was, they said, incomprehensible, inconceivable, unthinkable."</div><div><br /></div><div>It almost happened. Funding for many agencies did expire, but just for a few hours, and nobody was sent home.</div><div><br /></div><div>Near the end of his term, Civiletti further clarified the law's meaning. In a government-wide shutdown, the military, air traffic control, prisons and other work that protects human safety or property would continue. So would things such as Social Security benefits, which Congress has financed indefinitely.</div><div><br /></div><h3>1981-1990: Playing chicken</h3><div><br /></div><div>With the threat of shutdown as a weapon, budget fights would never be the same, and a big one was brewing.</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>Republican Ronald Reagan moved into the White House in January 1981 with a promise to cut taxes and shrink government, setting up a showdown with Democrats who ran the House.</div><div><br /></div><div><h3>High noon came early on Monday, Nov. 23, 1981.</h3><br /></div><div><span abp="140" class="media hover"></span></div><div><a href="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/a6/45469a9a4484e303f8cb4fac712/_h0_w295_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img abp="141" alt="History of government shutdowns: The sun gleams down on the closed Washington Monument" border="0" class="image articleimage" data-class="img1" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/a6/45469a9a4484e303f8cb4fac712/_h0_w295_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" /></a>The government had technically been without money all weekend, but Congress approved emergency spending to keep it running. That morning, Reagan wielded his first veto. He was making a stand against "budget-busting policies," the president declared, sending confused federal workers streaming out of offices in Washington and across the nation.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was the first government shutdown. But it lasted only hours. By that afternoon, Congress approved a three-week spending extension more to Reagan's liking. Workers returned Tuesday morning. The estimated cost: more than $80 million.</div><div><br /></div><div>The pattern was set. Over his two terms, Reagan and congressional Democrats would regularly argue to the brink of shutdown, and twice more they sent workers home for a half-day.</div><div><br /></div><div>President George H.W. Bush used the tactic only once, during the budget wrangling that punctured his "no new taxes" pledge.</div><div><br /></div><div>That partial shutdown over the 1990 Columbus Day weekend mostly served to miff tourists who found national park visitor centers locked and Smithsonian museums closed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Shutdown threats were becoming ho-hum, just more Washington games. After all, what politician would relish a full body plunge into the "unthinkable"?</div><div><br /></div><h3>1995-96: The real thing</h3><div><br /></div><div>Cue President Bill Clinton and Gingrich.</div><div><br /></div><div>Two big men with big ideas and big-time egos, the Democratic president and the Republican House speaker charged into a cage match and ended up wrestling the U.S. government to the ground. Twice.</div><div><br /></div><div>These two shutdowns, for six days and 21 days, were the longest ever. Until now they were assumed to have taught politicians the folly of ever again powering down the world's most powerful government. Maybe not.</div><div><br /></div><div>Serious issues were at stake in 1995 — the future of Medicare, tax cuts, aid for the poor, the budget deficit.</div><div><br /></div><h3>But they got lost in the absurdities:</h3><div><br /></div><h3>• The shutdowns didn't save money; they cost millions.</h3><h3>• Despite all the buildup, most of government didn't close, because of complexities of the federal budget and exemptions for essential workers.</h3><h3>• Still, the first shutdown resulted in 800,000 workers eventually getting paid for staying home.</h3><h3>• Despite public disgust, Clinton and the Republicans failed to settle all their disputes and soon idled 280,000 employees for another three weeks, through Christmas and into the New Year.</h3><h3>• The effects rippled through the economy, harming federal contractors and businesses that serve visitors to national parks and industries that must work with federal inspectors.</h3><h3>• The tone of the whole exercise was set when a huffy Gingrich suggested he had steered the government to a standstill because Clinton relegated him to the back door of Air Force One on an overseas trip. The public tantrum delighted Democrats and cartoonists alike.</h3><div><br /></div><h3>The president was judged to have "won" the tussle. </h3><div><br /></div><h3>Republicans took a drubbing in the polls and ended up accepting most of Clinton's conditions in a compromise that seemed more like crying uncle.</h3><div><br /></div><h3>But faith in government may have been the biggest loser.</h3><div><br /></div><h3>A footnote: On the January day that missing workers were scheduled to finally return to their posts, the Northeast was just starting to dig out from an extreme blizzard.</h3><div><br /></div><h3>After weeks of insisting it was vital to get government back to work quickly, Clinton decided to keep Washington closed another four days.</h3><div><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq">Next steps as Congress works through budget mess.</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxS4ug2NdzJ7sOqvtVHjc_v1LcG4pJWf3HplrFcPze1r6gJfAAJp_TPMt73Urz24ahOsTJ-oU7rOQMnAUgT-ldUKVY-CctoDd4XiKVajFN6daArqy7AN-hG844fXe6vYddrP3yn2pDW4/s1600/%2540publimetro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="68" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxS4ug2NdzJ7sOqvtVHjc_v1LcG4pJWf3HplrFcPze1r6gJfAAJp_TPMt73Urz24ahOsTJ-oU7rOQMnAUgT-ldUKVY-CctoDd4XiKVajFN6daArqy7AN-hG844fXe6vYddrP3yn2pDW4/s1600/%2540publimetro.png" width="640" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div>

Closed for business? Government shutdown history

WASHINGTON — OK, gridlocked politicians we're used to. But why padlock the Statue of Liberty? You don't see other democracies shutte...

U.S. shutdown likely as House Republicans amend budget bill

<h3><img alt="US House Speaker John Boehner arrives at the House of Representatives chamber at the US Capitol on September 28, 2013 in Washington" height="359" src="http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/49gTXmNC8rSfVV9vBlwV0w--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQyMTtweG9mZj01MDtweW9mZj0wO3E9ODU7dz03NDk-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/1c43a1bf0c73cf36bcc6e4b9263f265385ea131c.jpg" width="640" /></h3><h3>Washington - Setting up a high-stakes political showdown, the U.S. House votes Saturday on a Republican plan that keeps government open through mid-December while delaying implementation of President Barack Obama's health care law.</h3><img alt="The US Capitol is silhouetted on September 28, 2013 in Washington" height="425" src="http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/gHLteA7szBqb4DZFMQHNvA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTUxMTtweW9mZj0wO3E9ODU7dz03Njg-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/bbb6fd94b438cd812e4f46dca7fd8d53d73deade.jpg" style="max-height: 623px; max-width: 1014px;" width="640" /><br /><br />The move prompted a sharp rebuke from the White House, which warned it was a step toward shutting down the government once the fiscal year ends Monday night, and vowed to veto any such bill.<br /><br />House Speaker John Boehner convened a rare Saturday session as Congress struggles to break a funding impasse that, if unresolved, would require hundreds of thousands of federal workers to stay home.<br /><br />In addition, more than a million US military personnel would remain on duty -- but with no pay.<br /><br />Under pressure from his party's far-right conservative wing, Boehner doubled down on his caucus's bid to stop Obama's signature domestic achievement, the health care law, vowing to send a bill back to the Senate but with little time for legislative action to avoid a shutdown.<br /><br />If Republicans vote in unison as expected, the House will approve a measure "that will keep the government open and stop as much of the president's health care law as possible," Boehner said in a statement.<br /><br />"We will do our job and send this bill over, and then it's up to the Senate to pass it and stop a government shutdown."<br /><br />The House had earlier passed a temporary budget bill known as a continuing resolution that included a provision defunding so-called Obamacare altogether.<br /><br />The Democratic-led Senate stripped that part out and sent a clean stopgap measure back to the House.<br /><div><br /></div><div><div>But instead of passing it, the House plans to amend the bill with a one-year delay of the health care law and repeal of an unpopular medical device tax.</div><div><br /></div><div>While conservative lawmakers hailed the move, the White House slammed it.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Today, Republicans in the House of Representatives moved to shut down the government," spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement just hours before the vote.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Any member of the Republican Party who votes for this bill is voting for a shutdown. "</div><div><br /></div><div>In a separate statement, the White House Office of Management and Budget warned that "if the President was presented with H.J. Res 59, as amended by these amendments, he would veto the bill."</div><div><br /></div><div>A furious Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, meanwhile, attacked the move as "pointless" brinkmanship that could end in economic crisis.</div><div><br /></div><div>"To be absolutely clear, the Senate will reject both the one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act and the repeal of the medical device tax," Reid said.</div><div><br /></div><div>"The American people will not be extorted by Tea Party anarchists."</div><div><br /></div><div>Driving the point home, a Senate Democratic aide said it was highly unlikely the chamber would be in session before Monday.</div><div>"We are not playing games," he told AFP. <a data-rapid_p="7" data-ylk="sec:content;slk:provider;itc:0;tar:www.afp.com;ltxt:AFP;" href="http://www.afp.com/" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1380414769683_17574"><img alt="AFP" class="provider-img" src="http://l.yimg.com/os/publish-images/news/2013-08-26/d19448d6-6aaa-4359-a768-eadacf5fbca9_afp-gif_new.gif" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><div>House Democrats, largely powerless to prevent passage of Republican-backed legislation in the lower chamber, expressed worry that the US government would suffer the same fate as a Washington deadlock in late 1995 that resulted in a 21-day work stop.</div><div><br /></div><div>"I think we are on our way" to a shutdown, said Congressman John Lewis, a 27-year House veteran. "We're closer now than ever before."</div><div><br /></div><div>Despite obvious recent divisions among Republicans over the path forward, lawmakers exited Boehner's meeting insisting they were of one mind in pegging an Obamacare delay to the temporary spending bill.</div><div><br /></div><div>And they charged that Democrats would be on the hook for any government closure, not Republicans.</div><div><br /></div><div>Boehner and fellow House leaders had struggled to stake out a position palatable to their divided members.</div><div><br /></div><div>A chorus of criticism -- including from Obama as well as some centrist Republicans in the Senate -- accused Tea Party-backed lawmakers of unwisely threatening a shutdown if they did not get their way.</div><div><br /></div><div>"How dare you presume a failure?" Congressman Darrell Issa barked at a reporter who asked what would happen when the Senate rejects the House measure. </div><div><br /></div><div>"We continue to anticipate that there's an opportunity for sensible compromise."</div><div><br /></div><div>Congress has less than 60 hours to strike a deal that keeps government open, but the ping-ponging of legislation is making that unlikely.</div><div><br /></div><div>As if anticipating a possible shutdown, Boehner said the House would vote on a separate measure "that ensures our troops get paid, no matter what."</div><div><img alt="US House Speaker John Boehner (L) arrives at a meeting of Republican members of the House of Representatives at the US Capitol on September 28, 2013 in Washington" height="493" src="http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/UiXeyimPupqQCAx5tfN2lQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTU5MjtweW9mZj0wO3E9ODU7dz03Njg-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/33ea34670e5570ab13975a3df90898f46859caae.jpg" style="max-height: 623px; max-width: 1014px;" width="640" /></div></div>

U.S. shutdown likely as House Republicans amend budget bill

Washington - Setting up a high-stakes political showdown, the U.S. House votes Saturday on a Republican plan that keeps government open thro...

Obama has 40 months left in office:9 scenarios on his future

<h3>In April, with his domestic agenda stymied in Congress, Barack Obama tried to channel Mark Twain when he declared, “Rumors of my demise may be a little exaggerated at this point.”</h3><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="President Barack Obama waves to the media as he walks from Marine One to the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, in Washington, as he returns from Walter Reed National Military Medial Center in Bethesda, Md., where he visited injured military members. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)" height="359" src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/gtlpwfI0ls2V3UvIes1TFA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQyMTtweG9mZj01MDtweW9mZj0wO3E9ODU7dz03NDk-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/5c38b5eab9914523240f6a706700e931.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">President Barack Obama waves to the media as he walks from Marine One to the Oval Office of the White House </blockquote></td></tr></tbody></table>For the president, those were the good old days. In the early spring, his approval rating was still over 50 percent in some surveys and he clung to hopes for legislative victories like immigration reform. Since then, on almost every front, things have gotten worse politically for the president. Obama’s popularity in the polls now averages 44 percent, close to the nadir of his presidency.<br /><br />It’s not only the polls. Immigration reform is dying in Congress. And not even last week’s massacre at the Washington Navy Yard could revive efforts for limited gun legislation, a cause that earlier this year aroused Obama’s deepest public emotions.<br /><br />October could bring both a government shutdown and an unprecedented default on the national debt, though the fractious and sometimes unreasonable Republicans would bear a heavy share of the blame. But it was the congressional Democrats, who, earlier this month, torpedoed Obama’s favorite for chairman of the Federal Reserve (Larry Summers) and balked at the president’s request for legal authority to bomb Syria.<br /><br />In short, Obama appears reduced to reciting the lame-duck lament. But is the president truly doomed to brooding irrelevance during his final 40 months in the Oval Office?<br /><br />Forty months can be an eternity in the lives of presidents and nations. By way of comparison, 44 months was what it took America to win World War II from the attack on Pearl Harbor to Emperor Hirohito’s radio broadcast announcing the Japanese surrender.<br /><br />The rest of the Obama presidency is unlikely to be a replica of what we have seen so far. Obama’s second-term poll numbers, which are a rough measure of the success of his presidency, might improve or they might continue to plummet as they did for George W. Bush and Harry Truman. But change is almost inevitable with volatile, short-attention-span contemporary politics.<br /><br />Maybe the only certainly in American politics is that Obama’s reputation and the perceptions of his presidency will be different on the day he leaves office (Jan. 20, 2017) than they are today.<br /><br /><h3>So here are nine plausible scenarios — both positive and negative for Obama — that might put the power back in POTUS or turn him into the 21st century’s version of Millard Fillmore.</h3><br /><h3>1. Obamacare works</h3><br /><br /><br />Scenario:  Even though there inevitably will be technical glitches and coverage gaps, by mid-2015 the Affordable Care Act (its formal moniker) will be as popular as the Medicare prescription drug benefit.<br /><br />Fine Print: Even if Obamacare reduces costs and increases coverage, Republicans might still battle to repeal it for years. Success will ultimately burnish the president’s reputation, but gratitude for Obamacare will probably do little to boost Democratic turnout in the 2014 congressional elections.<br /><br /><h3>2. Obamacare implodes</h3><br /><br /><br /><br />Scenario:  Because of both the law’s complexity and administrative errors by the government, the rollout of Obamacare is the rockiest launch since Clint Eastwood’s 2012 GOP convention speech. With the president’s legacy in tatters, even Democrats start to wonder if the benefits of Obamacare were worth the political cost.<br /><br /> Fine Print: Rather than prompting the Democrats to give up on health care reform, the 2016 presidential contenders start talking about a single-payer plan like Medicare. And in political terms, it is hard to imagine the Republicans more enraged about Obamacare than they are already.<br /><br />3. Obama the peacemaker<br /><br />Scenario: The surprising diplomatic flurries of the past few weeks yield lasting results. Iran agrees to abandon its nuclear program in return for ending its status as a pariah nation. Syria, with continued Russian prodding, does give up its chemical arsenal, and eventually Bashir Assad steps aside in favor of a transitional government.<br /><br />Fine Print: Obama gets to reframe his second term as the Foreign Policy Presidency. But these successes buy him little domestic political support, because Iran and Syria are not voting issues at a time of economic hardship.<br /><br /><h3>4. Obama the global blunderer</h3><br /><br /><br />Scenario: Nothing works for Obama on the international stage. The overtures from Iran are derailed by theocratic hard-liners, while Assad finds new ways to massacre Syrian civilians. Secretary of State John Kerry accomplishes little besides racking up frequent flier miles.<br /><br />Fine Print: After eight years in the White House, Obama leaves office with little beyond his 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. But even though Republicans like John McCain ridicule Obama’s fecklessness on the international stage, most voters turn out to care little about any global issue that doesn’t involve American casualties.<br /><br /><h3>5. The Obama recovery — at last</h3><br /><br /><br /><br />Scenario: It might have more to do with the Federal Reserve and global trends than any second-term Obama policies, but the economy moves into overdrive for the first time since the 2008 economic collapse. Not only does the jobless rate sharply decline, but increased tax revenue also dramatically improves long-term deficit projections.<br /><br />Fine Print: Nothing could do more to burnish Obama’s presidential record — and help the Democrats hold the Senate in 2014. Finally, there is a narrative to the Obama Years: He brought America back from the Great Recession.<br /><br /><h3>6. The Obama downturn — again</h3><br />Scenario: A global recession brought on by cutbacks in China and renewed austerity in Europe spreads to America as joblessness rises. Partisan gridlock rules out any form of stimulus from Washington, as even extended unemployment benefits can’t make it through Congress.<br /><br />Fine Print: Even though Obama inherited the 2008 financial crisis, he goes down in history as the Hard Times President. The 2014 congressional elections are a GOP sweep like 2010. And Obama becomes so unpopular that he is asked to not appear at the 2016 Democratic Convention.<br /><br /><h3>7. Obama wins budget battle </h3><br /><br /><br />Scenario: Congressional Republicans, torn between their tea party wing (Ted Cruz, please pick up the white courtesy phone) and mainstream conservatives such as House Speaker John Boehner, blunder into shutting down the government for most of October. They back down only when international credit markets panic that America will refuse to increase the legal debt ceiling.<br /><br />Fine Print: Even with everything breaking politically for Obama, the Democrats are unable to win back the House in 2014, although they come close. But the GOP congressional leaders are so scarred by their party’s fiscal fiasco that 2015 proves to be a fruitful year of let’s-make-a-deal compromises with the president.<br /><br /><h3>8. Obama hoists white flag over budget</h3><br /><br /><br />Scenario: Obama, as he has so often in his presidency, retreats in the face of unified Republican opposition on the budget and the debt ceiling. No, the president doesn’t abandon Obamacare, but he does delay its launch for three months and agrees to a new round of GOP-mandated budget cuts.<br /><br />Fine Print: Not that much changes in the Capital. Obama continues to be perceived as the Incredible Shrinking President, and empowered congressional Republicans concoct outrageous new schemes to thwart governmental business as usual. Voters in 2014 express their frustration with Washington gridlock by defeating prominent incumbents in both parties.<br /><br /><h3>9. Obama shakes up White House staff</h3><br />Scenario: Learning from his political missteps, Obama does what Ronald Reagan did after the Iran-Contra scandal — and brings in a team of Washington wise men (and women) to bring new direction to the White House. The president puts his golf game on hiatus to instead devote his time to personally wooing Congress.<br /><br />Fine Print: Now that’s implausible. We can file this scenario right next to the idea that national unity will be achieved after little green men from Mars land on the White House lawn. Some things in Washington will never change — starting with Obama’s personality and his detached approach to governing.<br /><div><br /></div>

Obama has 40 months left in office:9 scenarios on his future

In April, with his domestic agenda stymied in Congress, Barack Obama tried to channel Mark Twain when he declared, “Rumors of my demise may ...

U.S. borrowing authority to be exhausted by Oct. 17.:Jacob Lew

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Wednesday the government will have exhausted its borrowing authority by Oct. 17, leaving the United States just $30 billion cash on hand to pay its bills.<br /><br /><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img abp="83" alt="Debt ceiling: President Obama announces his new Director of the Office of Management and Budget.: Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and President Barack Obama." class="image" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/79/5f5e89b0cecf2c9dae9ecaa965e4d3/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and President Barack Obama.</td></tr></tbody></table><div>That's a slightly worse financial position than Treasury predicted last month and adds to the pressure on Congress to increase the government's borrowing cap to avert a first-ever U.S. default on its obligations.</div><div><br /></div><div>In a letter to top congressional leaders, Lew warned that a repeat of the debt brinksmanship of 2011 could inflict great harm on the economy and that "if the government should ultimately become unable to pay all of its bills, the results could be catastrophic."</div><div><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq">Public backs budget compromise</blockquote><div><br /></div><div>The government reached its $16.7 trillion debt limit in May. Since then, it has been using "extraordinary measures" such as suspending U.S. investments in federal employee trust funds to create about $300 billion in additional borrowing room.</div><div><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq">Not lifting debt ceiling 'would be dumb'</blockquote><div><br /></div><div>But on the 17th, the government will be left with only its cash cushion and daily receipts to pay its bills. Lew warned that before long, it would not be able to meet all of its obligations. Economists and financial-market experts warn that the stock market could plummet and that investors would demand higher returns on Treasury notes, which could raise interest rates and harm the economy.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's generally assumed that Treasury would make sure that the government wouldn't default on Treasury notes held by investors, including foreign countries such as China, if it did default on such debt obligations it could be a catastrophe for the economy.</div><div><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq">Treasury urges Congress to act now on US debt ceiling</blockquote><div><br /></div><div>A House-passed stopgap spending measure pending before the Senate contains a GOP-backed provision that would give Social Security recipients and bondholders priority in receiving payments from the government.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lew again warned that President Barack Obama would not negotiate with Republicans over the debt limit.</div><div><br /></div><div>"The president remains willing to negotiate over the future direction of fiscal policy, but he will not negotiate over whether the United States will pay its bills for past commitments," Lew wrote. Extending borrowing authority does not increase government spending; it simply allows the Treasury to pay for expenditures Congress has already approved."</div><div><br /></div><div>Republicans want to add budget cuts and other legislation, such as a one-year delay of "Obamacare." House leaders hope to bring a debt limit increase to the floor by the end of this week, but they haven't released any details yet.</div></div><div><br /></div>

U.S. borrowing authority to be exhausted by Oct. 17.:Jacob Lew

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Wednesday the government will have exhausted its borrowing authority by Oct. 17, leaving the ...

Lots of Noise in DC & NY:Opinion

<h3>There was a lot of noise, yesterday, but not much progress.</h3><img height="426" src="http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2013/0924-ted-cruz-budget-battle-senate/17059197-1-eng-US/0924-TED-CRUZ-BUDGET-BATTLE-SENATE_full_380.jpg" width="640" /><br /><br />Here in Our Nation's Capital it is difficult to catch your breath as the days tick by toward September 30 - the end of the 2013 Fiscal Year.<br /><br />On the Senate floor yesterday, Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz (who is opposed to ObamaCare) filibustered a bill that had not been brought to the floor. As I type this at 10:10 PM Eastern time, Cruz had been speaking since shortly after 2:40 yesterday afternoon.<br /><br />He had been speaking for a little over six hours, reciting everything from carefully reasoned anti-ObamaCare arguments to readings from Dr. Seuss but, as I made my way to CSPAN 2, the first words I heard Sen. Cruz say were: "Even fools seem smart when they are quiet."<br /><br />Even if you are a fan, you have to admit to the irony of those words.<br /><br />When it comes to defunding ObamaCare in return for getting a Continuing Resolution to fund the Government until the end of the calendar year - it doesn't appear likely that will happen. Any more than it is likely an asteroid will fall through the roof of your garage and land in the back seat of your car today.<br /><br />According to one well-placed insider who - unlike me - actually knows what he is talking about, the path forward will be a "clean" CR at current (that is to say extending the sequester) levels.<br /><br />Apparently the White House and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) have signaled they are OK with that. Again, as I am typing this, there is no word from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) as to whether she will approve, nor whether Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md) will be able to round up the 40-or-so Democratic votes that will likely be necessary to push it over the top in the House.<br /><br />On the ObamaCare front, the plan is to delay implementation for one year - aligning the entire bill with some parts that have already been pushed back. This would not defund ObamaCare, but it is much harder for Democrats to argue against it, given the AFL-CIO's support, a number of bills already adopted, and the Department of Health and Human Services' decision to delay certain parts.<br /><br />If everyone were playing with a full deck I could make the case that this is a good solution because it gives Congress a year to decide how (or whether) to amend or rescind ObamaCare.<br /><br /><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Ted_Cruz%2C_official_portrait%2C_113th_Congress.jpg/220px-Ted_Cruz%2C_official_portrait%2C_113th_Congress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ted Cruz, official portrait, 113th Congress.jpg" border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Ted_Cruz%2C_official_portrait%2C_113th_Congress.jpg/220px-Ted_Cruz%2C_official_portrait%2C_113th_Congress.jpg" /></a>However, because most of the 535 Members of the House and Senate are playing with cards that have no markings on either side, I feel confident that even if my source is correct, we will be back here in late September of 2014 facing exactly the same set of issues.<br /><br />Meanwhile up in New York City Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama had a well-covered discussion about the GOP playing politics with health care.<br /><br />I can't be the first person to point out that they are the only two men in American history whose push for a national health care system caused them to control of the House of Representatives. Clinton in 1994, Obama in 2010.<br /><br />Also in New York the diplomatic press corps was breathlessly reporting that President Obama would "meet with" Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during the opening of the U.N. General Assembly session.<br /><br />This "meeting" was never likely to be a formal sit-down - that's not the way diplomacy works. U.S. officials said it would simply be "an encounter," but Rouhani didn't even want to be in the same place at the same time with Obama. That might have had more to do with domestic Iranian politics than diplomatic chess playing, but it didn't happen.<br /><br />You can look at that two ways. First, that when the President of the United States makes it clear he (or, someday she) would like to have a chat and that offer is rebuffed, it is a huge international embarrassment to the American President.<br /><br />I look at it the other way: You can put your hand out for a shake, but you can't make the other guy take it.<br /><br />I assume the U.S. Department of State agrees with me that I wouldn't trust Rouhani as far as I could throw the whole nation of Iran, but that doesn't take away from the President's offer.<br /><br />Ted Cruz won't get his way in Washington; Barack Obama didn't get his way in New York.<br /><br /><h3>There was a lot of noise, yesterday, but not much progress.</h3><br /><img height="384" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/9/25/1380093350199/Ted-Cruz-009.jpg" width="640" />

Lots of Noise in DC & NY:Opinion

There was a lot of noise, yesterday, but not much progress. Here in Our Nation's Capital it is difficult to catch your breath as the day...

Library of Congress evacuated after water alarm goes off.

WASHINGTON  - The historic main building of the Library of Congress was evacuated after a water alarm went off.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSkAg_ixG4VavS6lFXLlYJqCmg7fvY7ySAb8kVWp74S7MUl6s-gQ9rz83IMm1Ujx4BbYqOQ4Rh1dh-oMrm3sQlvW4Zfdk85iZlv8hdiuuZAlbuBqir0Tdr9Y7Uwzr8PS6el6_zEts1bHw/s1600/library_of_congress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSkAg_ixG4VavS6lFXLlYJqCmg7fvY7ySAb8kVWp74S7MUl6s-gQ9rz83IMm1Ujx4BbYqOQ4Rh1dh-oMrm3sQlvW4Zfdk85iZlv8hdiuuZAlbuBqir0Tdr9Y7Uwzr8PS6el6_zEts1bHw/s1600/library_of_congress.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Kimberly Schneider says the water alarm went off in the Thomas Jefferson building Tuesday night.<br /><br />The Washington Post reports it was not immediately clear what triggered the alarm and no information was available about any damage.<br /><br />In addition to its book collection, the building completed in 1897 houses artistic, historic and cultural treasures.<br /><br />The building is located across the street from the U.S. Capitol.

Library of Congress evacuated after water alarm goes off.

WASHINGTON  - The historic main building of the Library of Congress was evacuated after a water alarm went off. U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Kimb...

Washington D.C. Gunman From Fort Worth: NBC News

<a href="http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Confirmed-Shooter-at-Navy-Yard-One-Person-Shot-223897891.html" target="_blank">NBC News</a> is reporting that a 34-year-old man from Fort Worth is the gunman behind a mass shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington D.C.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6B6P2Fu2Y7qRevoDY96RIFlTuOfaPPC_vNqIQpdbUBFjhxLOsaoa2Wj91BhTWYh3BCesynkwxfsSULJDk_q2cZY-vxZdRQYPrSySZcR667RL5zs5cMh0ZW1RKSr7HPHG9bSGcvOWxEcA/s1600/navyyardmap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6B6P2Fu2Y7qRevoDY96RIFlTuOfaPPC_vNqIQpdbUBFjhxLOsaoa2Wj91BhTWYh3BCesynkwxfsSULJDk_q2cZY-vxZdRQYPrSySZcR667RL5zs5cMh0ZW1RKSr7HPHG9bSGcvOWxEcA/s1600/navyyardmap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><img src="http://media.nbcbayarea.com/designimages/transparent.gif" /><br />The gunman, identified as Aaron Alexis, is one of the 12 people confirmed to have died in the shooting Monday morning.  Alexis was identified Monday using his fingerprints, officials said.<br /><br />Tarrant County records show Alexis was arrested in Fort Worth in Sept. 2010 for discharging a firearm in city limits.  Fort Worth police filed the report with the Tarrant County district attorney's office, but charges were never filed.<br /><br />Alexis had begun working as a civilian contractor for the Navy, according to NBC's Pete Williams.<br /><br />NBC News reports Alexis entered the building using another man's identification card. That person was later taken into custody and was being questioned by police.<br /><br /><iframe height="1" id="nbcLP151186265" src="http://www.nbcwashington.com/templates/nbc_blank" width="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">var nbcLP={};nbcLP.aRandomNumber=Math.floor(Math.random()*10000);nbcLP.currentPageLoc=encodeURIComponent(window.location.href);nbcLP.currentSiteLoc=encodeURIComponent(window.location.host);nbcLP.defaultWidth=652;nbcLP.defaultHeight=367;nbcLP.cmsID="151186265";nbcLP.vidPid="bSnPmU6Fqx_R&t=0--684117079";nbcLP.lvshell="155769905";nbcLP.vidSec="TK";nbcLP.vidSubSec="TK";nbcLP.vidFrame=document.getElementById("nbcLP151186265");nbcLP.vidFrame.style.border="none";nbcLP.vidFrame.width=nbcLP.defaultWidth;nbcLP.vidFrame.height=nbcLP.defaultHeight;nbcLP.vidFrame.scrolling="no";nbcLP.vidFrame.src="http://www.nbcwashington.com/templates/nbc_partner_player?cmsID="+nbcLP.cmsID+"&videoID="+nbcLP.vidPid+"&lvshell="+nbcLP.lvshell+"&width="+nbcLP.defaultWidth+"&height="+nbcLP.defaultHeight+"&sec="+nbcLP.vidSec+"&subsec="+nbcLP.vidSubSec+"&turl="+nbcLP.currentSiteLoc+"&ourl="+nbcLP.currentPageLoc+"&rand="+nbcLP.aRandomNumber;</script>

Washington D.C. Gunman From Fort Worth: NBC News

NBC News is reporting that a 34-year-old man from Fort Worth is the gunman behind a mass shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington D.C. The g...

At least 12 dead in Navy Yard shooting; two possible suspects at large

At least twelve people are dead after as many as three shooters dressed in military style uniforms opened fire in a rampage at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday, police said, spreading fear and chaos across the region as authorities tried to contain the incident.<br /><br /><img src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/09/16/article-2421980-1BDB1F8F000005DC-691_634x475.jpg" /><br /><br /><br />D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said in a mid-day news conference that one of the suspected shooters is dead, while authorities are looking for two other suspects wearing green and tan military style clothing.<br />“The big concern for us right now is that we have potentially two other shooters that we have not located at this point,” Lanier said.<br /><br />Lanier described one as a white male wearing what appeared to be a khaki tan military uniform and a beret, and carrying a handgun. She said police also are looking for a black man, about 50, wearing an olive military-style uniform, and possessing a “long gun.”<br /><br />Police are asking anyone with information on these two people to call 202-727-9099.<br /><br />Two law enforcement officials said there are at least nine fatalities, including the shooter. The dead shooter had an assault rifle and a handgun, two law enforcement officials said. One said he also had a shotgun.<br /><br /><a href="http://media.nbcphiladelphia.com/images/260*146/donut5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media.nbcphiladelphia.com/images/260*146/donut5.jpg" /></a>The officials said police are working under the theory that there may be additional shooters because of witness accounts and surveillance video. One of those officials also said all the weapons were not accounted for.<br /><br />At least two police officers were among those shot. Police on the scene said one is a D.C. Metropolitan Police officer who was shot twice in the leg and was evacuated to a hospital. Lanier said he was in stable condition after engaging the shooter with gunfire. The other was a base officer. The D.C. officer, a male, was conscious at MedStar Washington Hospital Center and his chances for survival were good, hospital officials said.<br /><br />Janis Orlowski, the chief medical officer at Washington Hospital Center, said three victims in all were brought to the center, all in critical condition but alert, responsive and able to talk with doctors. The victims were also able to speak briefly to law enforcement officers before undergoing surgery or treatment, she said.<br /><br />The other two victims at the hospital were female civilians, Orlowski said at a press conference. All are likely to survive.<br /><br />Ten public and charter schools and a public school administration building in the District were placed on lockdown as a precaution, and flights out of Reagan National Airport were briefly halted, causing delays even after they began departing again.<br /><br />Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, the chief of Naval Operations, was evacuated from his residence at the Navy Yard complex shortly after the first report of shots fired, Navy officials said.<br /><br />Greenert, a four-star admiral and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was safely evacuated to the Pentagon along with his wife, Darleen, said Cmdr. Ryan Perry, a Navy spokesman.<br /><br />The U.S. Navy said that three shots were fired around 8:20 a.m. at Building 197, where about 3,000 people work.<br /><br />Rick Mason, a program management analyst who is a civilian with the U.S. Navy, told the Associated Press that a gunman was shooting from a fourth floor overlook in the hallway outside his office. He said the gunman was aiming at people in the building’s first floor cafeteria.<br /><br />Tim Jirus, a Navy commander who works in Building 197, said that as he was evacuating the building he saw a co-worker who had been shot getting into a police car, and heard more shots fired from inside his workplace.<br /><br />A worse sight lay just ahead. Jirus went to an alley where he thought he would be safe, and talked briefly with a man there about what was going on. Jirus said he heard two gunshots, loudly echoing off the building. It caused him to spin around and look in the direction of the sound. When he turned back, he looked down and saw the man he had been conversing with lying on the ground, shot in the head.<br />Uncertain where the shooter was, he ran.<br /><br />“I was just lucky,” he said. “The other person was shorter than me. There were two shots, he got that guy, he didn’t get me. . . .The randomness of it -- standing right next to me, one person gets shot.”<br /><br />David Stevens, a Navy contractor, was on the phone talking in building 197 when he heard an initial volley of shots fired. He heard people shouting that a shooter was on the building’s fourth floor.<br /><br />He said he ran to the edge of a glass atrium that overlooks all the floors and glanced up, only to hear a “second deluge” of shots. The fire alarm sounded, and people began exiting the building.<br /><br />Stevens described the building as very secure. He said employees must present an ID at the entrances. Visitors must have security clearance to get in.<br /><br />“It’s unbelievable that someone could get a rifle in there -- if that’s what the shooter had,” he said.<br /><br />Two Navy yard employees interviewed on CNN said they were fired on in a hallway by a gunman they described as a tall black man.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/48qm3B-v9xg?rel=0" width="640"></iframe> <br />A woman who gave her name as Terry Durham said that as she and co-workers were evacuating, she saw a man down the hall raise a rifle and fire toward them, hitting a wall. “He was tall. He appeared to be dark-skinned,” she said.<br /><br />“He was a tall black guy,” said her co-worker, Todd Brundage. “He didn’t say a word.”<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/abbd06f38c8f0bf489499f03bf3aa0217b7dba68/c=319-0-1841-1523&r=x483&c=480x480/local/-/media/USATODAY/test/2013/09/16/1379353816000-lanier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mass shooting at Washington Navy Yard" border="0" height="640" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/abbd06f38c8f0bf489499f03bf3aa0217b7dba68/c=319-0-1841-1523&r=x483&c=480x480/local/-/media/USATODAY/test/2013/09/16/1379353816000-lanier.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />One man who said he was at his desk on the second floor when the shooting began recalled hearing a loud noise “like someone dropping an old metal desk.” The man, who declined to give his name, said there was a pause, then several noises close together and he realized the danger: “There’s a shooter in the building. I started walking toward the door and I heard people running down the hall.”<br /><br />Employees described the chaos, as a fire alarm sounded and people shouted, “Where is he? Where is he?”<br /><br />Police closed the 11th Street Bridge as well as M Street SE between 2nd and 4th streets SE due to the shooting. Entrances to the Navy Yard Metro station remain open.<br /><br />U.S. Capitol Police confirmed enhanced security at the Capitol, but no immediate threat.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="A person is evacuated by helicopter." height="480" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/048426e985c988a97bd5b46e173b518c39ead9b0/c=537-160-1763-1084&r=x513&c=680x510/local/-/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/09/16/1379346568004-XXX-Navy-Yard-Shooting-jmg-4565.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">A person is evacuated by helicopter.</span></td></tr></tbody></table>As helicopters circled overhead and emergency vehicles continued to rush to the scene, crowds of onlookers gathered on sidewalks and at a construction site near the Navy Yard, but police pushed them back, yelling at them to keep a distance from the grounds.<br /><br />President Obama on Monday expressed sympathy for the victims of the shooting in the Navy Yard in Southeast Washington and said justice must be sought.<br /><br />“I’ve made it clear to my team that we want the investigation to be seamless, so that local and federal authorities are working together,” he said. <iframe height="1" id="nbcLP151186265" src="http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/templates/nbc_blank" width="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">var nbcLP={};nbcLP.aRandomNumber=Math.floor(Math.random()*10000);nbcLP.currentPageLoc=encodeURIComponent(window.location.href);nbcLP.currentSiteLoc=encodeURIComponent(window.location.host);nbcLP.defaultWidth=652;nbcLP.defaultHeight=367;nbcLP.cmsID="151186265";nbcLP.vidPid="bSnPmU6Fqx_R&t=0--686769135";nbcLP.lvshell="155769905";nbcLP.vidSec="TK";nbcLP.vidSubSec="TK";nbcLP.vidFrame=document.getElementById("nbcLP151186265");nbcLP.vidFrame.style.border="none";nbcLP.vidFrame.width=nbcLP.defaultWidth;nbcLP.vidFrame.height=nbcLP.defaultHeight;nbcLP.vidFrame.scrolling="no";nbcLP.vidFrame.src="http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/templates/nbc_partner_player?cmsID="+nbcLP.cmsID+"&videoID="+nbcLP.vidPid+"&lvshell="+nbcLP.lvshell+"&width="+nbcLP.defaultWidth+"&height="+nbcLP.defaultHeight+"&sec="+nbcLP.vidSec+"&subsec="+nbcLP.vidSubSec+"&turl="+nbcLP.currentSiteLoc+"&ourl="+nbcLP.currentPageLoc+"&rand="+nbcLP.aRandomNumber;</script>

At least 12 dead in Navy Yard shooting; two possible suspects at large

At least twelve people are dead after as many as three shooters dressed in military style uniforms opened fire in a rampage at the Washingto...

Controversy Surrounds New D.C. Parking Permits

A -D.C. council member says new proposed parking permits for visitors to the city could create more headaches for drivers.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEq0UFpA-dpPEtUrkaQuutdnLdiJtd6pji6_xkff2mzw9pa8uK2HfEKlnrV3-l22H2s-m2ngwI4kVZ8h0TJaROml9OBbcN_yMMdZ1u5p-Ya_JVDHG3IwhuccV9oUC1ZbWUwPKY0M5s1YU/s1600/WRC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEq0UFpA-dpPEtUrkaQuutdnLdiJtd6pji6_xkff2mzw9pa8uK2HfEKlnrV3-l22H2s-m2ngwI4kVZ8h0TJaROml9OBbcN_yMMdZ1u5p-Ya_JVDHG3IwhuccV9oUC1ZbWUwPKY0M5s1YU/s1600/WRC.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />Right now, a non-resident can park in zoned areas for two hours. Visitor passes require a trip to the local police station, for a vehicle-specific permit that's only valid for a certain period of time.<br /><br />The District Department of Transportation has proposed a new plan -- a renewable, one-year "visitor" permit given to every household.<br /><br />"The problem is that she just told me I get two even with a rental car, which means I can't park in front of my house that I'm an owner of," one D.C. resident told News4.<br /><br />Council member Mary Cheh worries the permits could be traded, bartered or even sold to non-D.C. residents and up making parking problems even worse.<br /><br />"I don't think we should just start a new program without looking at the other aspects of it; whether you're going to have it everywhere, are there some areas you wouldn't have it?" Cheh said.<br /><br />Cheh said another problem with the passes is that the District may initally give the permits free of charge.

Controversy Surrounds New D.C. Parking Permits

A -D.C. council member says new proposed parking permits for visitors to the city could create more headaches for drivers. Right now, a non-...

Did Justice Department support anti-Zimmerman protests after Martin shooting?

<h3>A conservative watchdog group accused the Justice Department of helping manage the "pressure campaign" last year against George Zimmerman in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting, citing documents that show an obscure agency spent thousands assisting local demonstrations.</h3><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3VBEP1nGuis4uIeqOKcAeoWzcln9xxq5Utx02lTSff4zip4l0nPVXv38F5sG1ZPzGTzIenJltPZ6aZrI7VnTuChG-eVmQG7tPmS2qKrW-xA1LPZGsNWN6LEKan_tn7OTkaxmZGi2XAHY/s1600/rallies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3VBEP1nGuis4uIeqOKcAeoWzcln9xxq5Utx02lTSff4zip4l0nPVXv38F5sG1ZPzGTzIenJltPZ6aZrI7VnTuChG-eVmQG7tPmS2qKrW-xA1LPZGsNWN6LEKan_tn7OTkaxmZGi2XAHY/s1600/rallies.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The little-known agency, the Community Relations Service, is described by the Justice Department as their "peacemaker" for community conflicts over race. </div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaF71n_L06XeDUOzZAsb4Puj799L_5iKSsNmB65oNc59Raq-UsMysaWIxYVtQWRxRHIVuyyeBeZVp8OyFwCfXjPSTJKZMmE-JDIedUWzwO1-DVYtH94jZ_7vFKxT6ssTZxcCBA0lQPhc4/s1600/512x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaF71n_L06XeDUOzZAsb4Puj799L_5iKSsNmB65oNc59Raq-UsMysaWIxYVtQWRxRHIVuyyeBeZVp8OyFwCfXjPSTJKZMmE-JDIedUWzwO1-DVYtH94jZ_7vFKxT6ssTZxcCBA0lQPhc4/s1600/512x.jpg" width="266" /></a>The protests last spring over Martin's death certainly qualified as such a conflict. But while the department claims its "peacemaker" agency does not "take sides" in such disputes, Judicial Watch said the documents and public accounts show otherwise.<br /><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"These documents detail the extraordinary intervention by the Justice Department in the pressure campaign leading to the prosecution of George Zimmerman," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. </div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The documents the group received -- and has since published online -- show the CRS agency filing a series of expenses incurred during the late March and early April demonstrations. </div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">One filing from late March recorded $674 in expenses for their deployment to Sanford, Fla., to "work marches, demonstrations and rallies related to the shooting and death of an African-American teen by a neighborhood watch captain." </div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That description could only apply to the Trayvon Martin killing, for which Zimmerman is currently on trial. The heated protests and national media attention helped build the pressure last year for Zimmeran's arrest -- he was not initially charged after claiming self-defense. </div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgml1VSHKcWOllxflaM11qPgpw7KRBJDkIu8Mi3p7MmfOMce6dXkUPFcca_UyeWMhzWjkH5PtxwQ93yR8QPZFSJNKwFR5-4bc4ZcaPDwipf8CCBIbzR4gvRpAAz5823EP5UFf7bF-Nz4rM/s1600/al-sharpton-jesse-jackson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgml1VSHKcWOllxflaM11qPgpw7KRBJDkIu8Mi3p7MmfOMce6dXkUPFcca_UyeWMhzWjkH5PtxwQ93yR8QPZFSJNKwFR5-4bc4ZcaPDwipf8CCBIbzR4gvRpAAz5823EP5UFf7bF-Nz4rM/s1600/al-sharpton-jesse-jackson.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When reached for comment, DOJ spokesperson Dena Iverson said, "The Community Relations Service was in Sanford, Florida fulfilling their mandated mission." </div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A DOJ official also told Fox News that the unit was only in Sanford to support local efforts aimed at "reducing tensions and the potential for violence." </div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"For more than 49 years CRS has done significant work in a variety of conflicts, disputes, demonstrations and protests in communities across the country," the official said. </div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7YT_oQI1hglbeMbq2zmhP9EC7RXkfG4KoxOA41iPvewUihQGMGhnGKIxe_-AzWmxGBZ7wr8idniQ8yrXaV2VaebhuOLIXjcHAV6sONKbhEr_sKzyW-fq3oPbTkMbrfGw1sJKLOYiblOQ/s1600/al-sharpton-trayvon-martin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7YT_oQI1hglbeMbq2zmhP9EC7RXkfG4KoxOA41iPvewUihQGMGhnGKIxe_-AzWmxGBZ7wr8idniQ8yrXaV2VaebhuOLIXjcHAV6sONKbhEr_sKzyW-fq3oPbTkMbrfGw1sJKLOYiblOQ/s1600/al-sharpton-trayvon-martin.jpg" width="320" /></a>The filings by the Justice Department agency detailing their involvement are all similar. They mostly cite work on "support" and "technical assistance" for organizers and law enforcement agencies, as well as "onsite mediation." </div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Judicial Watch, in claiming the agency crossed a line by aiding the anti-Zimmerman events, points to an <a href="http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-04-15/news/os-trayvon-martin-george-zimmerman-justice-departm-20120415_1_federal-workers-racial-tensions-peacekeepers" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">April 2012 article in the Orlando Sentinel</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />. </div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That article detailed the role the CRS unit played during the protests. In one case, the Sentinel said they helped "set up a meeting between the local NAACP and elected officials that led to the temporary resignation of police Chief Bill Lee." </div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In another, the article said they arranged an escort for college students for a 40-mile march to "demand justice." One church leader was quoted as saying, "They were there for us."<br /><br /><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrjCcZKGoor9MijKtm-vPdmar2qUzD78Oi-LNylJf4ALjuKtPwynjk8v-c4DHVOyMy9354warvIQ773ybAdhnT7qPi6qGe2Bq-U79Fv0nf_PIE9CyQh60ee6qR67J-n1emhmFsJyROgwI/s1600/al-ben.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrjCcZKGoor9MijKtm-vPdmar2qUzD78Oi-LNylJf4ALjuKtPwynjk8v-c4DHVOyMy9354warvIQ773ybAdhnT7qPi6qGe2Bq-U79Fv0nf_PIE9CyQh60ee6qR67J-n1emhmFsJyROgwI/s1600/al-ben.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>But it's not clear from the article whether the unit's involvement crossed the line from mediation to advocacy. The article generally described their role as teaching civil-rights organizers how to manage crowds and easing tensions. An agency official said their goal was to "build local capacity to deal with these issues." </div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Justice Department did not respond Wednesday to requests from Fox News for comment on the Judicial Watch documents. </div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The CRS unit was established under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. </div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"For more than 45 years, CRS has been asked to provide its experienced mediators to help local communities resolve conflicts and disturbances relating to race, color, or national origin," <a href="http://www.justice.gov/crs/about-crs.htm" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">the department says on its website</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/10/did-justice-department-support-anti-zimmerman-protests-after-trayvon-shooting/" target="_blank">source</a></div>

Did Justice Department support anti-Zimmerman protests after Martin shooting?

A conservative watchdog group accused the Justice Department of helping manage the "pressure campaign" last year against George Zi...

Indianapolis Colts safety Lefeged arrested on gun charges in Washington, D.C.

<blockquote class="tr_bq">Joe Lefeged, a safety with the Indianapolis Colts,was arrested on gun charges early Saturday after a car he was in fled police after a traffic stop.</blockquote><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Colts safety Lefeged arrested: Indianapolis Colts' Joe Lefeged" class="image" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/a6/f3a5dfd6efcfe33926d120656cd7a3/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indianapolis Colts' Joe Lefeged was arrested on gun charges after a traffic stop Saturday, June 29, in Washington.</td></tr></tbody></table>WASHINGTON — Indianapolis Colts safety Joe Lefeged was arrested early Saturday after officers found a semi-automatic pistol in the car he was riding in, police said.<br /><br />Lefeged was a front-seat passenger in a Chevy Camaro that fled a traffic stop for speeding in northeast Washington just after midnight.<br /><br />Officers smelled marijuana in the car and found a plastic bottle of vodka and orange juice in the center console and a semi-automatic pistol under the front passenger seat, police documents show.<br /><br />A receipt and purchase paperwork showed Lefeged bought the gun this year for about $900, police said.<br /><br />Lefeged and another passenger were caught when they tried to run from the car in different directions, police said. The driver ran away and was not immediately caught.<br /><br />Lefeged was being held without bond at D.C. jail on a weapon charge. He faces a preliminary court hearing Tuesday. A lawyer listed as representing him did not return a call seeking comment Saturday afternoon.<br /><br />"We are aware of the reports regarding Joe Lefeged in Washington, D.C. At this time, we will have no further comment on the pending matter until we gain more information," the Colts said in a statement Saturday.<br /><br />Police say officers stopped the car for speeding and because another passenger in the car was standing completely upright in the backseat. After police repeatedly told the driver to put the car in park, the driver sped off, nearly striking officers who had surrounded the white convertible, police said.<br /><br />Police say they recovered the car nearby and arrested Lefeged as he tried to run away.<br /><br />Officers found a .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun "in plain view sticking out from underneath the front passenger seat," as well as a clear, plastic container of alcohol, according to charging documents.<br /><br />Prosecutors aren't pursuing charges against the other passenger, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office said.<br /><br />Authorities say Lefeged had Maryland State Police purchase paperwork for the pistol but was not authorized to carry the weapon in D.C., which has strict gun laws.<br /><br />Lefeged, 25, grew up outside of Washington and was a star high school football player in the region.<br /><br />Now entering his third NFL season, he played college football for Rutgers and was signed by the Colts as an undrafted free agent in July 2011.<br /><br />He started four games last season and recorded two tackles and a forced fumble in a playoffs loss to the Baltimore Ravens in January.<br /><br />The arrest comes as the NFL grapples with gun violence.<br /><br />Tight end Aaron Hernandez was charged this week with orchestrating the execution-style slaying of a semi-pro football player and was swiftly released by the New England Patriots.<br /><br />Last year, former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend and then turned the gun on himself.<br /><div><br /></div>

Indianapolis Colts safety Lefeged arrested on gun charges in Washington, D.C.

Joe Lefeged, a safety with the Indianapolis Colts,was arrested on gun charges early Saturday after a car he was in fled police after a traff...

Disorder among U.S.Republicans over immigration bill

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNMGovkdBJmy7epploPxPkwLBknTF-nBaw96sGtXN3mLJvzd1evSY3hkkj5RU5YbtDwKsYS04TnuMjuQ_wwJBvUT9jqZeV5cddRlZ5C9LLmguuZ5Ei_p1CucS4uCDzgUmnAXbumSATfJs/s128/P-USA.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNMGovkdBJmy7epploPxPkwLBknTF-nBaw96sGtXN3mLJvzd1evSY3hkkj5RU5YbtDwKsYS04TnuMjuQ_wwJBvUT9jqZeV5cddRlZ5C9LLmguuZ5Ei_p1CucS4uCDzgUmnAXbumSATfJs/s128/P-USA.png" /></a>WASHINGTON, July 27 - U.S. Republicans are in disarray over an immigration overhaul bill that is making its way through Congress, with some hailing the legislation and others lampooning it.<br /><br />The bill includes plans to spend more than 40 billion U.S. dollars to beef up the U.S.-Mexico border with thousands of additional law enforcement personnel. It also provides a 13-year path to citizenship for roughly 11 million illegal immigrants, whereby they would pay fines and back taxes before becoming eligible for legal status.<br /><br />Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua that House Speaker John Boehner does not control his Republican caucus. He noted that many Republicans oppose the bill, including the pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.<br /><br />Another major disagreement among Republicans is border security. Republican opponents of the bill argue that securing the border will take time, if not years, and contend that border security must happen before undocumented workers are provided a path to citizenship.<br /><br />But the bill's GOP supporters contend that the legislation's provision to provide an additional 20,000 border agents will significantly ratchet up border security.<br /><br />Republican Senator John McCain has come out strongly in favor of the bill. He told CNN's "New Day" program on Tuesday that the legislation would "militarize" the U.S.-Mexico border.<br /><br />The statement came on the heels of comments by Senator Rand Paul, a member of the Tea Party movement, who said Sunday that the bill was "dead on arrival" in the House, arguing that border security must precede immigration reform.<br /><br />Critics also said allowing a path to citizenship would lower wages for the lower middle class and working class, as unskilled, new immigrants from developing countries are more likely to accept lower wages. Others dismiss that argument, countering there will be little impact on wages.<br /><br />Former GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan on Tuesday told CBS' "This Morning" that the bill's provisions, which toughen border security with new agents and billions of dollars worth of high tech equipment including infrared cameras, "obviously makes final legislation more likely."<br /><br />In sharp contrast to Republicans, Democrats have remained unified on the bill, with President Barack Obama touting the legislation as key to ensuring continued success for the world's largest economy.<br /><br />The bill is expected to sail through the Senate this week, but will have a tougher time getting through he House, experts said.<br /><br />Some senators, however, questioned the urgency of passing the bill so soon. Senator Paul said Wednesday that he would have liked to introduce an amendment that would prohibit undocumented workers from receiving welfare payments. He questioned Congress' need to push the bill through the Senate this week.

Disorder among U.S.Republicans over immigration bill

WASHINGTON, July 27 - U.S. Republicans are in disarray over an immigration overhaul bill that is making its way through Congress, with some ...

Obama jokes about radical 2nd term changes

<br />WASHINGTON <— President Barack Obama joked Saturday about his plans for a radical second-term evolution from a "strapping young Muslim Socialist" to retiree golfer, all with a new hairstyle like first lady Michelle's. <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPiEw4AaDjszrIeXo7FwHGCjcaLS4_5NIQ5QIYJt1X7PRzR4mNMx_ffkjff3RLJzQYwtfWUz9AXfE_-AX3Wv4Gr-jTPWgE40s2EUHw7TZ5aYSMQa2iSpUdY3o22NEqERNz7LfYuknPPWnt/s1600/DCCK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPiEw4AaDjszrIeXo7FwHGCjcaLS4_5NIQ5QIYJt1X7PRzR4mNMx_ffkjff3RLJzQYwtfWUz9AXfE_-AX3Wv4Gr-jTPWgE40s2EUHw7TZ5aYSMQa2iSpUdY3o22NEqERNz7LfYuknPPWnt/s1600/DCCK.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. </td></tr></tbody></table><br />Obama used this year's annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner to poke fun at himself and some of his political adversaries, asking if it was still possible to be brought down a peg after 4½ years as commander-in-chief.<br /><br />Entering to the rap track "All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khaled, Obama joked about how re-election would allow him to unleash a radical agenda. But then he showed a picture of himself golfing on a mock magazine cover of "Senior Leisure."<br /><br />"I'm not the strapping young Muslim Socialist that I used to be," the president remarked, and then recounted his recent 2-for-22 basketball shooting performance at the White House Easter Egg hunt.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbJR8KaRaZQIEQ3UWG-oeRSuij6HFbSkVDXqUqbYETVDpfMtYujnqQ9C_I49tAESO8MzLiOWhORNjoe0zkN2NVDFG8xsK-mzGa589aPXbU0xonlvQpR5gwuUSCcDFBi8jZgQxlNp8iN-RU/s1600/DDCK3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbJR8KaRaZQIEQ3UWG-oeRSuij6HFbSkVDXqUqbYETVDpfMtYujnqQ9C_I49tAESO8MzLiOWhORNjoe0zkN2NVDFG8xsK-mzGa589aPXbU0xonlvQpR5gwuUSCcDFBi8jZgQxlNp8iN-RU/s1600/DDCK3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />But Obama's most dramatic shift for the next four years appeared to be aesthetic. He presented a montage of shots featuring him with bangs similar to those sometimes sported by his wife.<br /><br />Obama closed by noting the nation's recent tragedies in Massachusetts and Texas, praising Americans of all stripes from first responders to local journalists for serving the public good.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2wVF71heL_VK13En75FJTSs4ut7L5Gh_sDhz96huv_CQwPnjr1NoGoykYno1NQqmxR1NOfylFbe1bkFL22u2jrcXswGEXHe-msJDe58lQKgI-ucdnpQIOpnCdhjrzaoNQPTQ5TlyxRv07/s1600/DDCK2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2wVF71heL_VK13En75FJTSs4ut7L5Gh_sDhz96huv_CQwPnjr1NoGoykYno1NQqmxR1NOfylFbe1bkFL22u2jrcXswGEXHe-msJDe58lQKgI-ucdnpQIOpnCdhjrzaoNQPTQ5TlyxRv07/s1600/DDCK2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Saturday night's banquet not far from the White House attracted the usual assortment of stars from Hollywood and beyond. Actors Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Claire Danes, who play government characters on series, were among the attendees, as was Korean entertainer Psy. Several Cabinet members, governors and members of Congress were present.<br /><br />And despite coming at a somber time, nearly two weeks after the deadly Boston Marathon bombing and 10 days after a devastating fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, the president and political allies and rivals alike took the opportunity to enjoy some humor. Late-night talk-show host Conan O'Brien headlined the event.<br /><br />Some of Obama's jokes came at his Republican rivals' expense. He asked that the GOP's minority outreach begin with him as a "trial run" and said he'd take his recent charm offensive with Republicans on the road, including to a book-burning event with Rep. Michele Bachmann.<br /><br />Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson would have had better success getting Obama out of office if he simply offered the president $100 million to drop out of last year's race, Obama quipped.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjIdGx3vQtPPvZvDr-K55aZHxRko4MfjQ-Dl_DZ6qcKebc5l5YbGaI_ehXq223BhzKwFeY3QOY4l8G9yw7beDug6z_4cf5VN0ku5spN7NMz1ZbfaHILwZQWshoJHB0VdR_w89UXVQgMTm9/s1600/DDCK1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjIdGx3vQtPPvZvDr-K55aZHxRko4MfjQ-Dl_DZ6qcKebc5l5YbGaI_ehXq223BhzKwFeY3QOY4l8G9yw7beDug6z_4cf5VN0ku5spN7NMz1ZbfaHILwZQWshoJHB0VdR_w89UXVQgMTm9/s1600/DDCK1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />And on the 2016 election, the president noted in self-referential irony that potential Republican candidate Sen. Marco Rubio wasn't qualified because he hasn't even served a full term in the Senate. Obama served less than four years of his six-year Senate term before he was elected president in 2008.<br /><br />The gala also was an opportunity for six journalists, including Associated Press White House Correspondent Julie Pace, to be honored for their coverage of the presidency and national issues.<br /><br />The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza won the Aldo Beckman Award, which recognizes excellence in the coverage of the presidency.<br /><br />Pace won the Merriman Smith Award for a print journalist for coverage on deadline.<br /><br />ABC's Terry Moran was the winner of the broadcast Merriman Smith Award for deadline reporting.<br /><br />Reporters Jim Morris, Chris Hamby and Ronnie Greene of the Center for Public Integrity won the Edgar A. Poe Award for coverage of issues of national significance.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDZOoROBlVQxIT2l0wYYzqD07otQf2kI-L652WQKrkfundmolnjIgWglNykmvMnVmC6YeY3_jJxYQhP133VkHstmwtwRL7EBpY8RMW5UeW1U_YKp2zXyIvkbAUSq1kkTvRhsxQyoG6Lr-v/s1600/%2540publimetro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDZOoROBlVQxIT2l0wYYzqD07otQf2kI-L652WQKrkfundmolnjIgWglNykmvMnVmC6YeY3_jJxYQhP133VkHstmwtwRL7EBpY8RMW5UeW1U_YKp2zXyIvkbAUSq1kkTvRhsxQyoG6Lr-v/s1600/%2540publimetro.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>

Obama jokes about radical 2nd term changes

WASHINGTON <— President Barack Obama joked Saturday about his plans for a radical second-term evolution from a "strapping young Musl...