Police: shooter dead after opening fire at Marysville-Pilchuck High School,Two dead, four wounded

A gunman believed to have opened fire at Marysville-Pilchuck High School Friday morning is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to two law-enforcement sources.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtA62xTwCfAm7NJp9k5seULACsW8p3RjNXuEHlg29TGt7AiPGLrWD23k7BeTd8ByOUzocArSMf4Hr0rYIrgsLg7Shk2QH3w3PnNukVmtIMWqfQGU_XVxGbBt2YFpT69aFhONluLIy3ZGE/s1600/amarysville_pilchuck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtA62xTwCfAm7NJp9k5seULACsW8p3RjNXuEHlg29TGt7AiPGLrWD23k7BeTd8ByOUzocArSMf4Hr0rYIrgsLg7Shk2QH3w3PnNukVmtIMWqfQGU_XVxGbBt2YFpT69aFhONluLIy3ZGE/s1600/amarysville_pilchuck.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>Police have not released details, but there are reports of as many as seven other people shot.</b></blockquote><br />Ambulances are staging around the school and police are searching room to room with guns drawn, leaving tape to mark the doors of the rooms that have been cleared.<br /><br />Some students were being evacuated from the school, walking out and across the fields with their hands up. Some were being bused to a nearby church. Others were being told to stay inside classrooms.<br /><br />Some of the injured were taken by ambulance to an Everett hospital.<br /><br />The shooting was reported about 10:45 a.m.<br /><br /><b>2 students injured in shooting at Marysville Pilchuck High School.</b><br /><br />At least two students were injured Friday morning when a shooter opened fire at Marysville Pilchuck High School, police and witnesses said.<br /><br />Squadrons of police cars swarmed to the school after receiving reports of an active shooter opening fire.<br /><br />Update:<br /><br /><b>Police: Two dead, four wounded in shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.</b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWOJGavtqfUgcGQXgqob3j0FLq7XY_Xi26Q9il4OBDbZjGSDA47GbRp08ZDdZ1PfBhZsJDGZfKMKFwzhWABZPwlqDd2dTEVdSx3WrQA-w0rHspNcPauiKvBQztKi5YSv5IM4o3HXjKVUk/s1600/M2_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWOJGavtqfUgcGQXgqob3j0FLq7XY_Xi26Q9il4OBDbZjGSDA47GbRp08ZDdZ1PfBhZsJDGZfKMKFwzhWABZPwlqDd2dTEVdSx3WrQA-w0rHspNcPauiKvBQztKi5YSv5IM4o3HXjKVUk/s1600/M2_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Two students are dead at Marysville-Pilchuck High School Friday morning after one of them opened fire in the cafeteria before turning the gun on himself, according to law-enforcement sources.<br /><br />Police said four other people were wounded  in the 10:45 a.m. shooting.<br /><br />Austin Joyner, a student at the school, said on Twitter that he saw the shooter come into the cafeteria, walk over to a table, pull out a gun and shoot students who were sitting there.<br /><br />Students reported pandemonium in lunchroom after the shooting, with dozens rushing for doors and then jumping a fence to escape.<br /><br />Freshman Austin Wright said every exit in lunchroom jammed with kid escaping gunfire. “I heard three gunshots and I ran.”<br /><br />Four of the injured were taken by ambulance to Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett. Three were in critical condition, with head injuries. A fourth, with lesser injuries, was transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.<br /><br />At a noon news conference, Marysville Police Commander Robb Lamoureaux called the scene an active investigation and said police officers are still going door-to-door to ensure the school campus is safe.  They are leaving tape to mark the doors of the rooms that have been cleared. Officers are finding students and staff members hiding alone or in small groups.<br /><br />“We are confident that there was only one shooter and that the shooter is dead,” Lamoureaux said. He did not confirm reports of injuries. Students were reporting that he was a freshman.<br /><br />Some of the school’s 1,200 students were being evacuated, walking out and across the fields with their hands up. Others were being told to stay inside classrooms.<br /><br />Sophomore Arlene Cortez, 16, says she locked herself in a classroom with other students for about 45 minutes before police came in.<br /><br />Some were bused to the nearby Shoultes Gospel Hall, where they are being accounted for. Lamoureaux urged parents and family members of students to stay away from the scene, saying authorities would provide information on a location for them to be reunited with students.<br /><br />At the church, tearful parents and students were being reunited, and hugging.<br /><br />“I never thought I would be standing here after a school shooting,” said Heather Parker, whose son, Corbin, is a senior. “He’s pretty shook up. He just said ‘I’m okay.’ He was trying to calm me down.”<br /><br />Adam Holston, 14, a freshman, was just leaving the lunch room when the gunfire broke out. “Everyone just started running. I could hear the gun shots and my heart was racing and we didn’t know what was going on.”<br /><br />Some ran out to the parking lot, some to the field.<br /><br />“Someone opened a door and we all ran into classrooms and just stayed there.”<br /><br />He said all kids have been loaded on buses now. His sister is a senior. He’s been texting with her and she OK.<br /><br />“The person who everyone thinks did it was just acting normally. It didn’t seem like there was  anything wrong.”<br /><br />Jery Holston has two children in the school now communicating with him by cell phone. They are both OK. Adam is a freshman; Kayliegh is a senior.<br /><br />Holston said Adam called him this morning yelling, “Dad, dad, hurry, someone is shooting. Please come.” He said his son ran and hid outside in the field by the stadium.<br /><br />Jery was in Stanwood at the time. “I probably did a hundred miles per hour to get there. I didn’t stop for anything. My heart went into my stomach. As a father, this has been my fear since my kids have been in school, that something like this would happen.”<br /><br />Ayn Dietrich-Williams, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Seattle, said agents are on their way to Marysville to offer assistance.<br /><br />All school activities and sports have been canceled Friday.

Police: shooter dead after opening fire at Marysville-Pilchuck High School,Two dead, four wounded

A gunman believed to have opened fire at Marysville-Pilchuck High School Friday morning is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, accordi...

Americans face post-foreclosure hell as wages garnished,assets seized

<blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>deficiency judgment</b></blockquote><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU_uk8yT1hgKZLmKnBGkEc5ykB8YO2GdlSOM-Kls8J6J2cZ9S1awZwpuj0g7iBgSAZeZQERgOa2pUz1UFfQuRvz-d6oZdyA99oTDq2IF15uOtr7EchHm39H_eDsDXezNI6dDLhSv5Ro9M/s1600/fhfa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU_uk8yT1hgKZLmKnBGkEc5ykB8YO2GdlSOM-Kls8J6J2cZ9S1awZwpuj0g7iBgSAZeZQERgOa2pUz1UFfQuRvz-d6oZdyA99oTDq2IF15uOtr7EchHm39H_eDsDXezNI6dDLhSv5Ro9M/s1600/fhfa.jpg" width="320" /></a>Many thousands of Americans who lost their homes in the housing bust, but have since begun to rebuild their finances, are suddenly facing a new foreclosure nightmare: debt collectors are chasing them down for the money they still owe by freezing their bank accounts, garnishing their wages and seizing their assets.<br /><br />By now, banks have usually sold the houses. But the proceeds of those sales were often not enough to cover the amount of the loan, plus penalties, legal bills and fees. The two big government-controlled housing finance companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as other mortgage players, are increasingly pressing borrowers to pay whatever they still owe on mortgages they defaulted on years ago.<br /><br />Using a legal tool known as a "deficiency judgment," lenders can ensure that borrowers are haunted by these zombie-like debts for years, and sometimes decades, to come. Before the housing bubble, banks often refrained from seeking deficiency judgments, which were seen as costly and an invitation for bad publicity. Some of the biggest banks still feel that way.<br /><br />But the housing crisis saddled lenders with more than $1 trillion of foreclosed loans, leading to unprecedented losses. Now, at least some large lenders want their money back, and they figure it’s the perfect time to pursue borrowers: many of those who went through foreclosure have gotten new jobs, paid off old debts and even, in some cases, bought new homes.<br /><br />"Just because they don't have the money to pay the entire mortgage, doesn't mean they don't have enough for a deficiency judgment," said Florida foreclosure defense attorney Michael Wayslik.<br /><br />Advocates for the banks say that the former homeowners ought to pay what they owe. Consumer advocates counter that deficiency judgments blast those who have just recovered from financial collapse back into debt — and that the banks bear culpability because they made the unsustainable loans in the first place.<br /><br />  <br /><br /><b>“SLAPPED TO THE FLOOR”</b><br /><br />Borrowers are usually astonished to find out they still owe thousands of dollars on homes they haven't thought about for years.<br /><br />In 2008, bank teller Danell Huthsing broke up with her boyfriend and moved out of the concrete bungalow they shared in Jacksonville, Florida. Her name was on the mortgage even after she moved out, and when her boyfriend defaulted on the loan, her name was on the foreclosure papers, too.<br /><br />She moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where she managed to amass $20,000 of savings and restore her previously stellar credit score in her job as a service worker at an Amtrak station. <br /><br />But on July 5, a process server showed up on her doorstep with a lawsuit demanding $91,000 for the portion of her mortgage that was still unpaid after the home was foreclosed and sold. If she loses, the debt collector that filed the suit can freeze her bank account, garnish up to 25 percent of her wages, and seize her paid-off 2005 Honda Accord.<br /><br />"For seven years you think you're good to go, that you've put this behind you," said Huthsing, who cleared her savings out of the bank and stowed the money in a safe to protect it from getting seized. "Then wham, you get slapped to the floor again."<br /><br />Bankruptcy is one way out for consumers in this rub. But it has serious drawbacks: it can trash a consumer's credit report for up to ten years, making it difficult to get credit cards, car loans or home financing. Oftentimes, borrowers will instead go on a repayment plan or simply settle the suits — without questioning the filings or hiring a lawyer — in exchange for paying a lower amount.<br /><br />Though court officials and attorneys in foreclosure-ravaged regions like Florida, Ohio and Illinois all say the cases are surging, no one keeps official tabs on the number nationally. "Statistically, this is a real difficult task to get a handle on," said Geoff Walsh, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. <br /><br />Officials in individual counties say that the cases, while virtually zero a year or two ago, now number in the hundreds in each county. Thirty-eight states, along with the District of Columbia, allow financial institutions recourse to claw back these funds.<br /><br />"I've definitely noticed a huge uptick," said Cook County, Illinois homeowner attorney Sandra Emerson. "They didn’t include language in court motions to pursue these. Now, they do."<br /><br /><b>"A CURSE"</b><br /><br />Three of the biggest mortgage lenders, Bank of America, Citigroup, (C.N) JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC.N), all say that they typically don't pursue deficiency judgments, though they reserve the right to do so. "We may pursue them on a case-by-case basis looking at a variety of factors, including investor and mortgage insurer requirements, the financial status of the borrower and the type of hardship," said Wells Fargo spokesman Tom Goyda. The banks would not comment on why they avoid deficiency judgments.<br /><br />Perhaps the most aggressive among the debt pursuers is Fannie Mae. Of the 595,128 foreclosures Fannie Mae was involved in – either through owning or guaranteeing the loans - from January 2010 through June 2012, it referred 293,134 to debt collectors for possible pursuit of deficiency judgments, according to a 2013 report by the Inspector General for the agency’s regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency.<br /><br />It is unclear how many of the loans that get sent to debt collectors actually get deficiency judgments, but the IG urged the FHFA to direct Fannie Mae, along with Freddie Mac, to pursue more of them from the people who could repay them.<br /><br />It appears as if Fannie Mae is doing just that. In Florida alone in the past year, for example, at least 10,000 lawsuits have been filed — representing hundreds of millions of dollars of payments, according to Jacksonville, Florida-based attorney Chip Parker.<br /><br />Parker is about to file a class action lawsuit against the Dallas-based debt collection company, Dyck O'Neal, which is working to recoup the money on behalf of Fannie Mae. The class action will allege that Dyck O'Neal violated fair debt collection practices by suing people in the state of Florida who actually lived out of state. Dyck O'Neal declined to comment.<br /><br />In Lee County, Florida, for example, Dyck O'Neal only filed four foreclosure-related deficiency judgment cases last year. So far this year, it has filed 360 in the county, which has more than 650,000 residents and includes Ft. Myers. The insurer the Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Company has also filed about 1,000 cases this past year in Florida alone.<br /><br />Andrew Wilson, a spokesman for Fannie Mae, said the finance giant is focusing on "strategic defaulters:" those who could have paid their mortgages but did not. Fannie Mae analyzes borrowers' ability to repay based on their open credit lines, assets, income, expenses, credit history, mortgages and properties, according to the 2013 IG report.  "Fannie Mae and the taxpayers suffered a loss. We're focusing on people who had the ability to make a payment but decided not to do so,” said Wilson.<br /><br />Freddie Mac spokesman Brad German said the decision to pursue deficiency judgments for any particular loan is made on a "case-by-case basis."<br /><br /><b>The FHFA declined to comment.</b><br /><br />But homeowner-defense lawyers point out that separating strategic defaulters from those who were in real distress can be tricky. If a distressed borrower suddenly manages to improve their financial position – by, for example, getting a better-paying job - they can be classified as a strategic defaulter.<br /><br />Dyck O'Neal works with most national lenders and servicing companies to collect on charged-off residential real estate. It purchases foreclosure debts outright, often for pennies on the dollar, and also performs collections on a contingency basis on behalf of entities like Fannie Mae. "The debt collectors tend to be much more aggressive than the lenders had been," the National Consumer Law Center's Walsh said.<br /><br />A big reason for the new surge in deficiency claims, attorneys say, is that states like Florida have recently enacted laws limiting the time financial institutions have to sue for the debt after a foreclosure. In Florida, for example, financial institutions now only have a year after a foreclosure sale to sue — down from five.<br /><br />Once financial institutions secure a judgment, they can sometimes have years to collect on the claim. In Maryland, for example, they have as long as 36 years to chase people down for the debt. Financial institutions can charge post-judgment interest of an estimated 4.75 percent a year on the remaining balance until the statute of limitation runs out, which can drive people deeper into debt. <br /><br />"This is monumentally unfair and damaging to the economy," said Ira Rheingold, the executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. "It prevents people from moving forward with their lives."<br /><br />Software developer Doug Weinberg was just getting back on his feet when he got served in July with a $61,000 deficiency judgment on his old condo in Miami's Biscayne Bay. Weinberg thought the ordeal was over after Bank of America, which rejected Weinberg’s short sale offers, foreclosed in 2009.<br /><br />"It's a curse," said Weinberg. "It's still haunting me. It just doesn't go away."

Americans face post-foreclosure hell as wages garnished,assets seized

deficiency judgment Many thousands of Americans who lost their homes in the housing bust, but have since begun to rebuild their finances, ar...

CDC head criticized for blaming 'protocol breach' as nurse gets Ebola

Some healthcare experts are bristling at the assertion by a top U.S. health official that a “protocol breach” caused a Dallas nurse to be infected with Ebola while caring for a dying patient, saying the case instead shows how far the nation’s hospitals are from adequately training staff to deal with the deadly virus.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKmAZaBGVgBwXha89vPRCLUDiriVbFujxMHPMBXYRxYfDfuXy-nlUbeLzlRlcjuHNz4ZJnwRwwWftKY05etAwmK9K29A6PlSl783R_HQtvpCLAPVvakNatr_pqI-xm_dBADLnhimIZAI8/s1600/zombies2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKmAZaBGVgBwXha89vPRCLUDiriVbFujxMHPMBXYRxYfDfuXy-nlUbeLzlRlcjuHNz4ZJnwRwwWftKY05etAwmK9K29A6PlSl783R_HQtvpCLAPVvakNatr_pqI-xm_dBADLnhimIZAI8/s1600/zombies2.jpg" /></a>Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, made the declaration on Sunday at a news conference and called for an investigation into how the unidentified nurse became infected while caring for Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States. Duncan died last week at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.<br /><br />Healthcare and infection control experts said that hospital staff need to be coached through the stages of treating an Ebola patient, making sure they have the right safety equipment and know how to use it properly to prevent infection.<br /><br />It was not immediately clear whether the Texas hospital prepared its staff with simulation drills before admitting Duncan, but a recent survey of nurses nationwide suggests few have been briefed on Ebola preparations. Officials at the hospital did not respond to requests for comment.<br /><br />Some experts also question the CDC’s assertion that any U.S. hospital should be prepared to treat an Ebola patient as the outbreak ravaging West Africa begins to spread globally. Given the level of training required to do the job safely, U.S. health authorities should consider designating a hospital in each region as the go-to facility for Ebola, they said.<br /><br />"You don't scapegoat and blame when you have a disease outbreak," said Bonnie Castillo, a registered nurse and a disaster relief expert at National Nurses United, which serves as both a union and a professional association for U.S. nurses. "We have a system failure. That is what we have to correct."   <br /><br />More than 4,000 people have died in the worst Ebola outbreak on record that began in West Africa in March.<br /><br />In recent months, the CDC has published detailed guidelines on how to handle various aspects of Ebola, from lab specimens and infectious waste to the proper use of protective equipment.<br /><br />How that information gets communicated to frontline workers, however, varies widely, Castillo said.<br /><br />In many cases, hospitals "post something on a bulletin board referring workers and nurses to the CDC guidelines. That is not how you drill and practice and become expert," she said.<br /><br />CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said the agency is still investigating the case of the Dallas nurse, but stressed that "meticulous adherence to protocols" is critical in handling Ebola. "One slight slip can result in someone becoming infected."<br /><br />Skinner said the CDC is going to step up its education and training efforts on how to triage and handle patients, and may consider designating specific hospitals in each region as an Ebola treatment facility.<br /><br />"We've been doing a lot over the past few months, but clearly there is more to do," he said. "The notion of possibly transporting patients diagnosed with Ebola to these hospitals is not something that is out of the question and is something we may look into.”<br /><br /><b>LEGAL RECOURSE</b><br /><br />Dr. Gavin Macgregor-Skinner, an expert on public health preparedness at Pennsylvania State University, also disagreed with the talk of a breach of protocol, saying it just puts the onus on the nurse.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWMfNpfa7hTX0P5u8dxkjuFTGpFi1pCAtN4u38FmIQZZJOmp_uitb4SdpTJO3E3gKMYjN_0Ph9PlwMGG0XRAPVGVESFxjuc1PKDT6hkdaOILDx9J-GztnPMhwovjxRfn5D_lyIVebY0I/s1600/cdc1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWMfNpfa7hTX0P5u8dxkjuFTGpFi1pCAtN4u38FmIQZZJOmp_uitb4SdpTJO3E3gKMYjN_0Ph9PlwMGG0XRAPVGVESFxjuc1PKDT6hkdaOILDx9J-GztnPMhwovjxRfn5D_lyIVebY0I/s1600/cdc1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />"I think that is just wrong," said Macgregor-Skinner, who helped the Nigerian government train healthcare workers when a traveler from Liberia touched off an outbreak of Ebola this past summer.<br /><br />“We haven't provided them with a national training program. We haven't provided them with the necessary experts that have actually worked in hospitals with Ebola," he added in reference to U.S. hospital staff.<br /><br />Legal experts said the Dallas nurse may be entitled to compensation if the hospital carries workers' compensation insurance. If it doesn’t, she would have the right to sue the hospital for damages under Texas law, said Jay Harvey, a lawyer in Austin, Texas.   <br /><br />Her ability to show that the hospital was negligent by, for example, not providing proper training, would be key to winning such a suit, Harvey said.<br /><br />Sean Kaufman, president of Behavioral-Based Improvement Solutions in Atlanta, helped train healthcare staff at a special isolation unit at Atlanta's Emory University which treated U.S. aid workers Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, the first two Ebola patients to be treated on U.S. soil.<br /><br />He would observe the nurses and doctors as they cared for patients and keep detailed notes when someone would accidentally touch their sleeve or mask with an infected glove.<br /><br />He then helped coach them through the process of carefully removing their infected gear. Facilities caring for Ebola patients are encouraged to use a buddy system so that colleagues are watching each other to make sure they don't take risks.<br /><br />"Doctors and nurses get lost in patient care. They do things that put themselves at risk because their lens is patient-driven," Kaufman said. In Dallas, "I suspect no one was watching to make sure the people who were taking care of the patients were taking care of themselves," he said.<br /><br />CDC and Texas health officials said the nurse who became infected had been wearing the recommended personal protective gear for Ebola, which consists of gloves, a gown, a mask, and a shield to protect the eyes from possible splatters from the patient.<br /><br />According to experts, that gear offers the minimum level of protection. When an Ebola patient enters the latter stages of the disease, as Duncan did, they become so-called fluid producers, Kaufman said.<br /><br />"Towards of end of the illness, the virus is trying to live and thrive. It's trying to get out of the person's body. It's producing massive amounts of fluid," he said.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguwE5jh-R4_fPPMdisQS2QgoycSx2VETW-ipkw3uAc3X0Eiluf_VDFJbM1EQthkSMh_gikgYk51T47fZ_FtOQNL9_4VklakIubZ4Dj53Xm0FLtLYpM0LxqklRfiu2TvFoBWL_MJMKfeso/s1600/CDC.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/AVvXsEguwE5jh-R4_fPPMdisQS2QgoycSx2VETW-ipkw3uAc3X0Eiluf_VDFJbM1EQthkSMh_gikgYk51T47fZ_FtOQNL9_4VklakIubZ4Dj53Xm0FLtLYpM0LxqklRfiu2TvFoBWL_MJMKfeso/s1600/CDC.png" /></a>At that point, caregivers need to add more layers of protective gear, such as double gloves and a respirator or a full bodysuit. Those kinds of decisions need to be made by managers who are constantly assessing the risk to healthcare workers, Kaufman said.<br /><br />Macgregor-Skinner said all U.S. hospitals must be ready to identify and isolate an Ebola patient, but should also be able to turn to a regional facility that is better prepared to receive them.<br /><br />“Every hospital can then prevent the spread of Ebola, but not every hospital in the U.S. can admit a patient in the hospital for long-term care,” he said.

CDC head criticized for blaming 'protocol breach' as nurse gets Ebola

Some healthcare experts are bristling at the assertion by a top U.S. health official that a “protocol breach” caused a Dallas nurse to be in...

Obama hangs tough on migrant detention despite slowing influx

The surge in child migration from Central America is receding but the United States is aggressively pushing ahead with plans to expand detentions, a little-publicized part of a broader campaign to deter illegal migrants.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpiJbIOSiiH1jtDCiwElJjJ4q5X4BzWwKYOsGqxjZjUySRBTxjbKS1Rxoqxmvc2hvMJoFXpCut7pHmhyphenhyphenwGMoZr4oJ5z4xgIgqrA8OCzlfdyUQJLlAllFbN860CvY92dBc6N4WHk-aLmtc/s1600/report.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpiJbIOSiiH1jtDCiwElJjJ4q5X4BzWwKYOsGqxjZjUySRBTxjbKS1Rxoqxmvc2hvMJoFXpCut7pHmhyphenhyphenwGMoZr4oJ5z4xgIgqrA8OCzlfdyUQJLlAllFbN860CvY92dBc6N4WHk-aLmtc/s1600/report.jpg" width="320" /></a>Under pressure from opposition Republicans to stem the unprecedented flow of children earlier this year, the Obama administration beginning in June pledged to speedily return them to their home countries and help better secure borders in Mexico and Central America.<br /><br />    But a third leg of that strategy has quietly created a network of family detention centers to lock up some children and their parents rather than freeing them pending deportation hearings.<br /><br />The centers, which were opened this summer to receive families with children, are in Artesia, New Mexico and Karnes, Texas. Another one in Texas is scheduled to open in coming months. With little public debate, they have effectively become flagships of the Obama administration's "get tough" campaign to discourage future border crossings.<br /><br />These augment a Pennsylvania facility that has been in operation since 2001, but holds only small numbers of people.<br /><br />    It represents a U-turn for the Obama administration, which for five years favored less restrictive programs, such as ankle bracelets and telephone check-ins, for keeping tabs on families while they awaited court decisions on whether or not they would be deported.<br /><br />In 2012, the administration noted these programs saved "many millions of dollars." <br /><br />    "The Obama administration in 2009 decided that it was going to turn away from family detention ... the turn back is really alarming," said Carl Takei of the American Civil Liberties Union.<br /><br />The White House referred briefly to "increased detainment" in a fact sheet it issued on July 8 on an emergency funding request to Congress. But the policy change, which immigration groups characterize as a major shift for the administration, has not been laid out in detail.<br /><br /><b>SIGNIFICANT EXPANSION</b><br /><br />The big expansion of detention beds, from only 90 last year to about 3,700 by the end of this year, comes amid data showing that the seasonal migration wave has receded. The number of families coming over the border declined to 3,295 in August, from 16,329 in June.<br /><br />    "These (family detention) facilities will help ensure more timely and effective removals that comply with our legal and international obligations, while deterring others from taking the dangerous journey and illegally crossing into the United States," a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman said.<br /><br />Human rights groups counter that the new policy is badly misguided. Michelle Brane, director of a migrant rights program at the Women’s Refugee Commission, said children, some of them infants and toddlers, cannot be properly cared for in large detention centers.<br /><br />    The policy shift on detention centers, which has not been debated much in Congress, follows President Barack Obama's warning last summer to illegal migrants from Central America that they would be detained and promptly shipped back home if they attempted to make the dangerous journey.<br /><br />Immigration advocates argue that many of these children have valid claims for asylum and flee to the United States because their governments cannot protect them from both gang and domestic violence.<br /><br />    The detention centers are intended to discourage another migrant wave that some fear will start early next year, said Marshall Fitz, an immigration specialist at the Center for American Progress, which has close ties to the White House.<br /><br />    March to June, when it is neither dangerously cold nor hot, have been peak months for children, either traveling alone or with their parents, to brave the journey to the U.S. border by foot and atop trains.<br /><br />"We could see the same thing come back again and I want to build against that," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on Thursday.<br /><br /><b>POOR CONDITIONS</b><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLNrCzwkRpFHt7kuNM0uBuVB7jm5URdqXiIrQpaNb7teVcaKqankfvVcZyRftqWM98kJfpc9vu3qXXfZX5wqnTyopLvNLrQE9WfJhV8vr4Hwj484Bzx2BWQTuSW5T4p-gGGbTtZ4U4lw/s1600/gNews.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLNrCzwkRpFHt7kuNM0uBuVB7jm5URdqXiIrQpaNb7teVcaKqankfvVcZyRftqWM98kJfpc9vu3qXXfZX5wqnTyopLvNLrQE9WfJhV8vr4Hwj484Bzx2BWQTuSW5T4p-gGGbTtZ4U4lw/s1600/gNews.jpg" /></a>Advocacy groups and defense lawyers donating their services to detainees complain of unsafe conditions, poor medical care and inadequate access to lawyers at the government-run center in Artesia and the Karnes facility, which is operated by the GEO Group, a for-profit operator of prisons.<br /><br />   Responding to allegations of sexual assault at Karnes, ICE said the agency was "committed to ensuring all individuals in our custody are held and treated in a safe, secure and humane manner" and that it has a "zero-tolerance policy for all forms of sexual abuse or assault." GEO has denied the allegations.<br /><br />A Department of Homeland Security inspector general report this month said that while conditions in Artesia were improving, more progress was needed.<br /><br />    Congress could weigh in on the new detention policy later this year when it debates a bill to fund agencies administering the program.

Obama hangs tough on migrant detention despite slowing influx

The surge in child migration from Central America is receding but the United States is aggressively pushing ahead with plans to expand deten...

Clinton Library documents illustrate testy relationship with press

White House staff under former President Bill Clinton explored ways to manage public relations and fend off the national press as a series of scandals brewed in the 1990s, a new batch of previously withheld documents showed on Friday.<br /><br /><a href="http://us.mobile.reuters.com/do/getNewsImages?n=politicsNews&u=USKCN0HZ26N20141010&i=1" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.mobile.reuters.com/do/getNewsImages?n=politicsNews&u=USKCN0HZ26N20141010&i=1" /></a>The seventh and final release of Clinton administration documents from the Clinton Presidential Library and the National Archives comes as former first lady Hillary Clinton considers a possible White House bid in 2016.<br /><br />The nearly 10,000 pages of documents released on Friday did not appear to contain revelations that would affect her possible campaign. But the papers did offer inside looks at a Clinton White House dealing with controversies such as the 1993 death of White House lawyer Vincent Foster and the 1998 scandal surrounding Bill Clinton's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.<br /><br />In a July 1998 email, White House adviser Sidney Blumenthal had harsh words about Linda Tripp, a former White House aide who secretly taped Lewinsky talking about her relationship with Clinton.<br /><br />Blumenthal wrote that Tripp was an unreliable witness who might have "initiated" the creation of a key document, and said if this were true Tripp "would be a liar, a worthless witness and open to prosecution herself."<br /><br />In another email, Blumenthal encouraged a journalist to write an unflattering story about conservative literary agent Lucianne Goldberg, who helped introduce Tripp to journalists and conservative activists.<br /><br />Another document showed White House staffer James Kennedy discussing what the White House should say about whether Clinton planned to watch an interview ABC anchor Barbara Walters conducted with Lewinsky.<br /><br />Kennedy told a press aide: "I had a line about him not planning on watching TV next Wednesday, but one of the lawyers took it out. Perhaps (press secretary) Joe (Lockhart), if asked, can say he usually watches 'Star Trek: Voyager' at that hour."<br /><br />Bill Clinton, who was in his second term in office at the time, was impeached by the House of Representatives over the Lewinsky affair but acquitted by the Senate. Hillary Clinton went on to become a senator, stage an unsuccessful bid for the White House and then serve as secretary of state in President Barack Obama's first term.<br /><br />Although she has not yet said if she will run for president again, Hillary Clinton has been considered the likely frontrunner for the Democrats since leaving her post as the country's top diplomat in February 2013. She has recently stepped up her campaign activities for Democrats running in November's midterm elections.<br /><br /><b>ADVICE ON A 'SPIN OPERATION'</b><br /><br />The files focusing on Foster's death show the White House legal office deliberated over responding to Freedom of Information Act requests for Foster's office logs, phone records, and a handwritten suicide note.<br /><br />Republicans had accused the White House of covering up facts surrounding Foster's death. White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum cited "no significant public interest" and family privacy concerns in denying the requests.<br /><br />A lengthy memo written by White House staffer David Dreyer outlined the administration's strategy to manage hearings on the Clintons' involvement in an Arkansas land deal known as Whitewater that involved risky loans from savings and loans groups run by Clinton political backers.<br /><br />They expected questions about Foster's death, as Foster was working to manage the scandal before he died.<br /><br />"This is going to be a bad story," Dreyer began. He recommended making the hearings difficult for reporters to cover, and using Democratic lawmakers to conduct a "spin operation."<br /><br />Staffers also had hometown politics in mind: one wrote in 1999 that then Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee hated Bill Clinton, one of his predecessors, and was planning a Senate race against Democrat Blanche Lincoln.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYn-K_GlC77mZ769XacEs-awlMzfXiq0nzMYDZLkhUsPDg2qtSDX349N7v9HZN_PtVOtXZiaGXPmAAK86bJDLOTY1CMoyDdG4b75kDufNALXAdcTkvTZwWHWqCTvLfklPu34GUaQspx2o/s1600/vads_p.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYn-K_GlC77mZ769XacEs-awlMzfXiq0nzMYDZLkhUsPDg2qtSDX349N7v9HZN_PtVOtXZiaGXPmAAK86bJDLOTY1CMoyDdG4b75kDufNALXAdcTkvTZwWHWqCTvLfklPu34GUaQspx2o/s1600/vads_p.jpg" /></a>Because of that, the note said, Clinton should give Huckabee a "quick/warm response" to the governor's request for a national proclamation highlighting the importance of positive images on television.<br /><br />The files also included details of Hillary Clinton's unsuccessful work to pass healthcare legislation. Healthcare became a political flashpoint again following the controversial rollout of Obama's own healthcare law in 2013.<br /><br />Clinton says she will decide in early 2015 whether to pursue the job that eluded her in 2008, when she lost her party's primary contest to Obama.

Clinton Library documents illustrate testy relationship with press

White House staff under former President Bill Clinton explored ways to manage public relations and fend off the national press as a series o...

Kansas Supreme Court temporarily blocks gay marriages

The legal battle over gay rights in Kansas reached the state's highest court and the federal courts on Friday hours after two women were married outside a county courthouse.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAGd_97E6teffeUt6m_5TKICthRgqZfxoL-KvU7djeKbA5XJ2XzF4PpMPNkPQPEjIMZvjTU_glsae7MpCHT5zrbMzkqosEd2rMLSD0xwdjhTY2cxqxELrkoJZiduw-83DWr0m59WcIio/s1600/index.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAGd_97E6teffeUt6m_5TKICthRgqZfxoL-KvU7djeKbA5XJ2XzF4PpMPNkPQPEjIMZvjTU_glsae7MpCHT5zrbMzkqosEd2rMLSD0xwdjhTY2cxqxELrkoJZiduw-83DWr0m59WcIio/s1600/index.jpg" /></a>The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday blocked temporarily the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Kansas, but said couples could file applications, and the ACLU of Kansas filed a lawsuit challenging the state's ban on gay marriage.<br /><br />"I shouldn't have to leave my state to get a basic civil right," one of the plaintiffs in the ACLU lawsuit, Kerry Wilks, had told Reuters on Tuesday. "This is part of a larger issue - it's about basic equality for gays and lesbians."<br /><br />The Kansas Supreme Court set oral arguments for Nov. 6 and asked attorneys in part to address whether a judge in Johnson County, the state's most populous, was correct in ordering clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.<br /><br />The judge issued his order Wednesday based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision not to review a U.S. appeals court ruling that struck down bans on gay marriage in other states.<br /><br />The Kansas attorney general had asked the state Supreme Court to nullify the Johnson County judge's order and to order that no other licenses be issued.<br /><br />Amid the debate, two women wed Friday in front of the Johnson County courthouse, District Court Clerk Sandy McCurdy said. McCurdy did not release their names.<br /><br />They were the only same-sex couple who had sought a marriage license on Tuesday, McCurdy said. They received their license on Friday following the three-day waiting period required under Kansas law, and were married quickly.<br /><br />Fifty-two same-sex couples had sought marriage licenses as of Friday afternoon in Johnson County, McCurdy said.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFgO5BWxaZNL9YAq1X-mCZviaZqgGk89sSQAcLnZvkiiYe0fzBzBlkXbzdZSEFOEpKZIeM2-QW77Smeued4OgjB3gbFStbLKOCiISoosNiYQu5DkMT6669LM5U8rdQ8fyqSDx_DyYQwLQ/s1600/tour_41a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFgO5BWxaZNL9YAq1X-mCZviaZqgGk89sSQAcLnZvkiiYe0fzBzBlkXbzdZSEFOEpKZIeM2-QW77Smeued4OgjB3gbFStbLKOCiISoosNiYQu5DkMT6669LM5U8rdQ8fyqSDx_DyYQwLQ/s1600/tour_41a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Kansas bans same-sex marriage by state law and its state constitution, a position expected to be overturned following a U.S. Supreme Court decision on Monday.<br /><br />The U.S. Supreme Court decided not to review U.S. appeals court decision striking down bans in Oklahoma and Utah, which are in the same U.S. appeals court circuit as Kansas, meaning the state is bound by that court's rulings.

Kansas Supreme Court temporarily blocks gay marriages

The legal battle over gay rights in Kansas reached the state's highest court and the federal courts on Friday hours after two women were...

Virginia tells agencies to clear way for adoptions by gay couples

Virginia same-sex couples can now legally adopt children and also become foster parents, the Virginia Department of Social Services said in a bulletin on Friday to its local offices across the state.<br /><br /><a href="http://us.mobile.reuters.com/do/getNewsImages?n=politicsNews&u=USKCN0HZ25220141010&i=1" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://us.mobile.reuters.com/do/getNewsImages?n=politicsNews&u=USKCN0HZ25220141010&i=1" width="320" /></a>Governor Terry McAuliffe ordered the bulletin sent on Friday after the U.S. Supreme Court this week declined to hear appeals that sought to keep bans on same-sex marriage in place in Virginia and four other states.<br /><br />"Now that same-sex marriage in Virginia is officially legal, we owe it to all Virginians to ensure that every couple is treated equally under all of our laws, no matter whom they love," said McAuliffe, a Democrat in his first year in office.<br /><br />"This historic decision opened the door to marriage equality, and now it is my sincerest hope that it will also open more doors for Virginia children who need loving families."<br /><br />Polls had shown a majority of Virginia voters approving of gay marriage and following McAuliffe's swearing-in in January, after four years of Republican rule, state officials had said they would no longer defend the state's ban on the practice.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTF_xNo4rh6T0gNRvAxVKeiMrJR2FazakQYSGgKa2h3EfRGuXzDf-HUFk9dwitbg__EtjFGTvFS7ESKV5DUCAH4g9cVs1JzsL6PfL-8hP8Mbl35anQ8ynNQRvs7l2Rlgi68tIbIUhP_M/s1600/vadss_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTF_xNo4rh6T0gNRvAxVKeiMrJR2FazakQYSGgKa2h3EfRGuXzDf-HUFk9dwitbg__EtjFGTvFS7ESKV5DUCAH4g9cVs1JzsL6PfL-8hP8Mbl35anQ8ynNQRvs7l2Rlgi68tIbIUhP_M/s1600/vadss_logo.jpg" /></a>Margaret Schultze, commissioner of the state Department of Social Services, said her department would be reviewing all applicable statutes and regulations to determine what amendments need to be made to state policies.<br /><br />A spokesman for The Family Foundation of Virginia, which opposes adoptions by gay or lesbian couples, denounced the action.<br /><br />"We now live in a Virginia where the government is intentionally going to deny children either a mom or a dad, simply to appease the desire of adults and not in the best interest of kids," Chris Freund said.

Virginia tells agencies to clear way for adoptions by gay couples

Virginia same-sex couples can now legally adopt children and also become foster parents, the Virginia Department of Social Services said in ...

White House denies considering executive action to close Guantanamo

The White House on Thursday denied a report that President Barack Obama is putting together options for executive action to close the controversial U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in defiance of congressional wishes.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssk_W6FN1SN9ThPX4QCQLPpmJ6cc4WSZd7RR74lRPH9QQ9n6rAXTe17yEXDGzd97TRrJspS-xmvCRHeKwEVCFLy5E5AbCZ-z4w7_HCnrA_Bk8LBzKswIeuQmd7D8Z6Dv0crljlb3MHTA/s1600/Guantanamo_Bay_map.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssk_W6FN1SN9ThPX4QCQLPpmJ6cc4WSZd7RR74lRPH9QQ9n6rAXTe17yEXDGzd97TRrJspS-xmvCRHeKwEVCFLy5E5AbCZ-z4w7_HCnrA_Bk8LBzKswIeuQmd7D8Z6Dv0crljlb3MHTA/s1600/Guantanamo_Bay_map.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />The Wall Street Journal, citing administration officials, reported that the White House was "drafting options" to close the facility by overriding a ban put in place by Congress that prohibits prisoners from being brought to the United States.<br /><br />"Since the president came into office in 2009 the administration has been examining all possible ways we could get to closure of the facility, but we are not drafting options to override the law," said Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council.<br /><br />"We are continuing to work on transfers (of prisoners) and calling on Congress to lift restrictions."<br /><br />Obama has vowed since his 2008 presidential campaign to close the prison camp, which critics say violates U.S. principles by keeping detainees locked up without trial.<br /><br />The White House has long objected to congressional restrictions that would prevent the camp from closing.<br /><br />"Our position right now, our policy right now, is seeking support from Congress to lift the restrictions that we feel are misguided," said Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman.<br /><br />Many Republicans consider the prison, which still holds about 150 prisoners, essential in the fight against international terrorism because it allows prisoners to be held outside the United States.<br /><br />John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, said on Thursday an "overwhelming majority" of the American people opposed allowing prisoners from Guantanamo to enter the United States.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw-Kr_TCbkUUgwT51u5WG2YTHrRxVuaTG3vvQLieKaVZRGFPkm7BeeeXZye8aV1jpvp7s-Hj-oOAcr3mmsi3HlXQaxVEfZchADYeCL0s43U0hhdGf2gqe3cogEksi6yjnR4qaL0yBp2mk/s1600/guantanamo-map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw-Kr_TCbkUUgwT51u5WG2YTHrRxVuaTG3vvQLieKaVZRGFPkm7BeeeXZye8aV1jpvp7s-Hj-oOAcr3mmsi3HlXQaxVEfZchADYeCL0s43U0hhdGf2gqe3cogEksi6yjnR4qaL0yBp2mk/s1600/guantanamo-map.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />"Even as Islamic jihadists are beheading Americans, the White House is so eager to bring these terrorists from Guantanamo Bay to the United States that it is examining ways to thwart Congress and unilaterally re-write the law," he said in a statement. "Not only is this scheme dangerous, it is yet another example of what will be this administration’s legacy of lawlessness."<br /><br />The White House said it would continue to make efforts to repatriate or resettle detainees or prosecute them through federal courts or military commission proceedings. The administration would also proceed in talks with foreign governments to negotiate possible prisoner transfers.

White House denies considering executive action to close Guantanamo

The White House on Thursday denied a report that President Barack Obama is putting together options for executive action to close the contro...

Oregon governor says hurt by fiancée's marriage of convenience

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber said on Friday he was pained by his fiancée's admission that she illegally married an immigrant seeking U.S. citizenship in exchange for $5,000, but indicated he still supported her.<br /><br /><a href="http://us.mobile.reuters.com/do/getNewsImages?n=politicsNews&u=USKCN0HZ2D220141010&i=1" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.mobile.reuters.com/do/getNewsImages?n=politicsNews&u=USKCN0HZ2D220141010&i=1" /></a>A tearful Cylvia Hayes told a news conference on Thursday that the 1997 "marriage of convenience" took place when she was 30 and both she and the 18-year-old student were attending Washington state's Evergreen State College. The pair divorced in 2002.<br /><br />"I was obviously very taken aback by it and hurt. I have some processing to do on that end," Kitzhaber said, addressing the allegations for the first time during a televised political debate against a gubernatorial challenger.<br /><br />"I'm proud of her and I support her. This is now a personal issue and we need time to work through this together," said Kitzhaber, a Democrat seeking re-election in November.<br /><br />Hayes, the founder of an environmental consulting firm, said Kitzhaber had not known about the marriage until Wednesday, and that he was not present at Hayes' announcement at her request.<br /><br />Hayes said she deeply regretted her actions. She said she accepted about $5,000 for the marriage, but never lived with the man and met him only a handful of times, adding she had not seen him since they divorced in 2002.<br /><br />The exchange on the illegal marriage amounted to only a fraction of a wide-ranging debate that also focused on state education funding, same-sex marriage and proposed coal exports, among the issues leading up to the November election.<br /><br />"This is not something that involves us, it involves Cylvia Hayes and the IRS and the governor," Kitzhaber's Republican opponent, Dennis Richardson, said at the public radio-sponsored debate.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkCXU9ohZD8JSirr7_PCkZN-rbb8QlU3hUV4xsDd4NqJ08x21_aqVVORnAEciH20VaRRbpB4s-aGrgYoKhr_m-GWFG3Zzkw7Gph5vo7HAe7eAa4ZUTpBkMzCnGjtQkC2XrIYM6nZI-44/s1600/Blocksp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkCXU9ohZD8JSirr7_PCkZN-rbb8QlU3hUV4xsDd4NqJ08x21_aqVVORnAEciH20VaRRbpB4s-aGrgYoKhr_m-GWFG3Zzkw7Gph5vo7HAe7eAa4ZUTpBkMzCnGjtQkC2XrIYM6nZI-44/s1600/Blocksp.jpg" /></a>Richardson also called on a prosecutor to investigate allegations that Hayes used political connections to secure lucrative consulting contracts, which Kitzhaber waved off as a "double standard" against women, saying, "We have not violated the law."<br /><br />It was unclear how the admission of an illegal marriage will affect the race, in which Kitzhaber seeks an unprecedented fourth term.<br /><br />Kitzhaber leads Richardson in public opinion polls by nearly 10 percentage points, according to the latest average by Real Clear Politics.

Oregon governor says hurt by fiancée's marriage of convenience

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber said on Friday he was pained by his fiancée's admission that she illegally married an immigrant seeking U...

Florida candidates for governor face off in Spanish TV debate

Florida's Republican Governor Rick Scott and his Democratic challenger Charlie Crist squared off in the first televised debate of the election campaign for governor on Friday, an expensive and closely watched race in the nation's largest swing state.<br /><br /><a href="http://us.mobile.reuters.com/do/getNewsImages?n=politicsNews&u=USKCN0HZ23620141010&i=1" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.mobile.reuters.com/do/getNewsImages?n=politicsNews&u=USKCN0HZ23620141010&i=1" /></a>The hour-long debate lacked any knockout blows as the candidates traded jabs at each other's records while avoiding serious gaffes in a campaign marked by negativity on both sides.<br /><br />The debate, conducted in English, was hosted by Spanish-language TV network Telemundo and will be broadcast statewide on Friday evening with a Spanish translation.<br /><br />Both parties are campaigning hard for the support of Hispanics, who are the fastest growing segment of Florida's electorate, accounting for 14 percent of registered voters. Scott and Crist both picked Hispanic running mates for this campaign, a first in state history.<br /><br />Crist holds a significant 53-29 percent lead over Scott among Hispanics who are turned off by Republican policies on immigration, healthcare and the minimum wage, according to a poll released on Friday by Latino Decisions.<br /><br />The poll, paid for by the National Council of La Raza, a national Hispanic civil rights group, showed strong Hispanic support for Medicaid expansion in Florida as well as raising the minimum wage, both of which Republicans oppose.<br /><br />During the debate, Scott accused Crist, a former Republican governor, of being a smooth-talking flip-flopper, highlighting his record as a politician who changed parties and reversed his position on issues such as gay marriage and immigration.<br /><br />"Charlie talks a big game, but there is no action," Scott said, referring to Crist's failure to pass legislation he now advocates when he was governor from 2007-2011.<br /><br />Crist accused Scott, a millionaire former healthcare executive, of ignoring the interests of low income and middle class voters, many of whom are Hispanic.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"It seems Governor Scott may be out of touch. That’s unfortunate," said Crist.</blockquote><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipKg7Z_9zf9o0wmRpWBl1hBcrO-P3GC9LJzQ4tuJFaqLYlq16AV0U9AGUWxQwX8u5Jz0ZAJ8jgTsLkCJhK2YY1n0tmVPDMNrXeNG21ZXpelCVw0JHn_IRd7zOzUaUexOUuUgA9SuhZZ5k/s1600/Blocksp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipKg7Z_9zf9o0wmRpWBl1hBcrO-P3GC9LJzQ4tuJFaqLYlq16AV0U9AGUWxQwX8u5Jz0ZAJ8jgTsLkCJhK2YY1n0tmVPDMNrXeNG21ZXpelCVw0JHn_IRd7zOzUaUexOUuUgA9SuhZZ5k/s1600/Blocksp.jpg" /></a><br />The two candidates stand on opposite sides of a number of key issues, including education funding, same-sex marriage, medical marijuana and raising the minimum wage.<br /><br />Support for Crist appeared to be gaining ground this week after a series of polls showed him overtaking Scott by a narrow margin.

Florida candidates for governor face off in Spanish TV debate

Florida's Republican Governor Rick Scott and his Democratic challenger Charlie Crist squared off in the first televised debate of the el...

TV host Olbermann apologized to Clinton for Lewinsky coverage

Keith Olbermann, a liberal television host whose MSNBC show focused in 1998 on President Bill Clinton's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, once apologized to Clinton for his coverage, according to documents released on Friday.<br /><br />Olbermann sought the president's forgiveness for "whatever part I may have played in perpetuating this ceaseless coverage," according to a White House email describing his apology.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_tZbplRflL7ziR9KDMkiTBE-cJbH49nnleJpezCAIXMSXXN8VGuZRhXgglQ6Qa8bGzLDABvZXQ9l_I0937Q4HNdDkcxjpMhA7DucvGWpFh1kXW2ctthoqQmMph6nZ16QEqc6JbEzdtTE/s1600/1j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_tZbplRflL7ziR9KDMkiTBE-cJbH49nnleJpezCAIXMSXXN8VGuZRhXgglQ6Qa8bGzLDABvZXQ9l_I0937Q4HNdDkcxjpMhA7DucvGWpFh1kXW2ctthoqQmMph6nZ16QEqc6JbEzdtTE/s1600/1j.jpg" width="320" /></a>The email was included in a new batch of previously unreleased Clinton administration documents that was made public by the Clinton Presidential Library.<br /><br />"I'll be heading back to my previous career in sports as quickly as possible," added the commentator, whose career has shifted several times between political television and sportscasting jobs.<br /><br />In response, a White House aide suggested at the time that Clinton should send Olbermann the standard thank-you note for public correspondence.<br /><br />Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives over the affair in 1998, but was acquitted by the Senate.

TV host Olbermann apologized to Clinton for Lewinsky coverage

Keith Olbermann, a liberal television host whose MSNBC show focused in 1998 on President Bill Clinton's affair with White House intern M...

2 Face Court-Martial in Naval Academy Assault Case

<h3>WASHINGTON — Two former Naval Academy football players accused of sexually assaulting a female midshipman at an off-campus party will face court-martial proceedings, the latest in a string of high-profile cases in the military that are drawing increased scrutiny from the Pentagon and Congress. </h3><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="http://www.publimetro.us/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img abp="19" alt="" height="405" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/10/11/us/NAVAL/NAVAL-popup.jpg" width="650" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span abp="29">Eric Graham, left, is charged with abusive sexual contact and Joshua Tate with aggravated sexual assault in a 2012 episode.</span></td></tr></tbody></table>The case stems from a “yoga and toga” party last year near the academy in Annapolis, Md., where the woman, then a 20-year-old second-year student, arrived intoxicated and later had sex with some of the players. In grueling testimony last month during a military hearing at the Washington Navy Yard, she said she had no memory of parts of the evening.<br /><br />The day after the party, the woman testified, she learned via social media of the encounters with three players, who were subsequently charged with sexually assaulting her and making false statements. The investigation was stymied in part by the woman’s initial refusal to cooperate, academy officials said.<br /><br />The superintendent of the academy, Vice Adm. Michael H. Miller, following an initial hearing known as an Article 32 hearing, referred two midshipmen, Eric Graham and Joshua Tate, to general court-martial. Mr. Graham is charged with abusive sexual contact and Mr. Tate with aggravated sexual assault. Both are charged with making false official statements. Admiral Miller did not refer charges against another midshipman, Tra’ves Bush, the third player accused.<br /><br />Admiral Miller, who is what the military calls the “convening authority” in the case, made the highly unusual choice of pressing for courts-martial against the advice of the investigating officer, who oversaw the hearing and predicted the prosecution would fail to convict the three men.<br /><br />Admiral Miller determined that there were not reasonable grounds for the charges against Mr. Bush, but that “reasonable grounds did exist to believe that the offenses were committed by Midshipman Graham and Midshipman Tate,” said John Schofield, a spokesman for the academy.<br /><br />He added: “The convening authority decision is not based on the probability of a successful prosecution. Rather, it is the convening authority’s responsibility to independently evaluate evidence and determine if reasonable grounds exist that a crime has been committed by the accused.”<br /><br />Andrew Weinstein, the lawyer for Mr. Bush, said he felt gratified. “Midshipman Bush is a young man who has committed his life to the protection of our country,” Mr. Weinstein wrote in an e-mailed statement, “and with these criminal charges now behind him, he looks forward to continuing his loyal and devoted service.”<br /><br />Chip Herrington, the lawyer for Mr. Graham, said his client was “not guilty and the allegations of sex abuse against him are completely false.”<br /><br />Pointing to the recommendation of the hearing investigator, Mr. Herrington said: “Obviously, we are disappointed with Vice Admiral Miller’s rejection of the recommendation of his own investigating officer. However, we believe we have the truth on our side.”<br /><br />During the Article 32 hearing, the woman was aggressively grilled about her sexual habits, generating public outrage about the proceedings, which help determine whether cases are sent to court-martial. Article 32 hearings permit questions not allowed in civilian courts.<br /><br />Susan Burke, the woman’s lawyer, said, “We’re pleased that the two men have been court-martialed,” although she was unhappy that one was not. “Despite the abusive Article 32 process,” Ms. Burke said, “the victim is strong and remains willing to testify at trial.”<br /><br />Defense lawyers in the case may argue that the case be thrown out because of so-called unlawful command influence exercised by President Obama, who has called for sex offenders in the military to be punished severely. Mr. Obama, as commander in chief of the armed forces, is considered the most powerful person to wield such influence.<br /><br /> Several sexual assault cases across branches of the military have been thrown out or curtailed on such grounds. “We have no doubt that the president’s comments have had an influence with regard to the public pressure placed on Vice Admiral Miller,” Mr. Herrington said.<br /><br />The problem of sexual assault in the military has increasingly alarmed Congress, which is considering changes to the system, including removing prosecutorial powers from commanders and perhaps re-examining the entire Article 32 process.<br /><br />“Admiral Miller’s action does nothing to foster public confidence in the administration of justice in the armed forces,” said Eugene R. Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School. “His referral of charges against two individuals to a general court-martial in no way blunts the force of the compelling arguments for fundamental reform of the Article 32 process and the transfer of the charging power from commanders to military prosecutors entirely independent of the chain of command.”<br /><div><br /></div>

2 Face Court-Martial in Naval Academy Assault Case

WASHINGTON — Two former Naval Academy football players accused of sexually assaulting a female midshipman at an off-campus party will face c...

Obamacare push accelerates as shutdown begins

<h3>The Obama administration accelerated its push to persuade individual Americans to sign up for the most extensive overhaul of the U.S. health care system in 50 years as the program's foes in Congress fought to delay its launch and a federal government shutdown began.</h3><br /><span abp="173" class="media hover"><img abp="174" alt="Obamacare: State decisions on insurance exchanges and percentage of population by state without health insurance, 2011." class="image articleimage" data-class="img1" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/4d/628591ed7cba5d5559152dd94eb/_h0_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" /></span><br /><span abp="173" class="media hover"><br /></span>In opinion pieces featured in nearly 30 local newspapers, Vice President Joe Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius urged millions of uninsured Americans to ignore the battle in Congress over President Barack Obama's health care law and instead focus on the access their families need to medical services.<br /><br /><br />"Come Tuesday, Americans will be able to see for themselves that the Affordable Care Act isn't actually about Washington politics," Biden wrote in a piece printed in outlets including the Des Moines Register in Iowa and the Birmingham News in Alabama. "It's about regular people shopping for insurance they can finally afford, and purchasing security and peace of mind along with it."<br /><br />The key element of the president's health care reform, known widely as Obamacare, was due to launch Tuesday with the opening of online insurance exchanges, or marketplaces, in all 50 states and the District of Columbia offering subsidized health coverage.<br /><br />State officials and community groups on Monday said they were putting the final touches on their exchange openings. The Department of Health and Human Services said that 900 businesses and organizations had volunteered to explain the new law to Americans nationwide.<br /><br />The roll-out would proceed even as Republican lawmakers fought to delay the overhaul by attaching amendments to a government funding measure.<br /><br /><span abp="140" class="media hover"></span><br /><h3>Congress faces a midnight deadline to reach an agreement or force federal agencies to close, or partially close, at the start of the federal government's fiscal year on Oct. 1.</h3><br /><a href="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/4d/935151a06766a24380c6b863b5db83/_h0_w295_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img abp="141" alt="Obamacare: Chart breaks down Affordable Care Act levels and qualifications." border="0" class="image articleimage" data-class="img1" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/4d/935151a06766a24380c6b863b5db83/_h0_w295_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" /></a>Republican Rep. Charles Boustany of Louisiana, a leading Obamacare critic, expressed misgivings ranging from the cost of coverage to the role of the Internal Revenue Service, a favorite target for conservatives that will help determine eligibility status and subsidy levels for applicants.<br /><br />"We know that the IRS is in the mix of this ... We know there are major problems there. I have really deep concerns about where this is going," he said on Fox News.<br /><br />As many as 7 million Americans are expected to sign up for health coverage via the new exchanges for 2014, the year Obamacare's main provisions take effect. Another 8 million are expected to receive benefits through an expansion of the government's Medicaid program for the poor.<br /><br /><br />The Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, requires that health insurance companies provide a basic package of benefits and prohibits them from excluding people due to prior illness. It provides billions of dollars in government subsidies, in the form of tax credits, to help individuals buy insurance on the basis of annual income. It also requires that all Americans obtain insurance or pay a fine.<br /><br />Republicans and other groups have fought the law for creating what they say is an intrusive government system to oversee health care that will place financial burdens on individuals and businesses.<br /><br /><h3>EXCHANGES SET TO OPEN FOR BUSINESS</h3><br />New York, Colorado, Oregon and some other states running their own exchanges plan to open at 8 a.m. local time Tuesday, while others may open as early as midnight. Senior administration officials say they would prefer to have people accessing the federally-run marketplace for 36 states during daylight hours when government and call center offices are fully staffed.<br /><br />It promises to be a rocky roll-out. Several exchanges, including Oregon, Colorado and the District of Columbia, have already said key functions for enrolling won't be in place in the first few weeks of October.<br /><br />Over the summer the Obama administration delayed numerous provisions of the law, most notably the requirement that large employers provide health insurance to their workers starting in 2014, as well as elements of the exchanges, such as their ability to sell policies to small employers and their workers and a Spanish version of the main website.<br /><br />Software problems threaten opening-day glitches. Over the weekend, armies of information technology specialists tested and re-tested the complex interfaces and communication links needed to make the exchanges functional.<br /><br />As opening day neared, many exchanges continued to ramp up education and marketing efforts. Kynect, Kentucky's exchange, handed out information at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Minnesota's exchange, as well as HHS, held live online chats to get the word out.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4q_vjBKyO4qhRxYwVTq65fZFPipHLsWN9pTz_OULBwGpHHYqNqOREBHoB71Nao1FKIEEOHAVID4QqcpcLumcyNjeIAYzHJbbvoaUR27FL0p3rZAAMOI8D00dse96NZwnml9jkJkig_bc/s1600/health-data.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4q_vjBKyO4qhRxYwVTq65fZFPipHLsWN9pTz_OULBwGpHHYqNqOREBHoB71Nao1FKIEEOHAVID4QqcpcLumcyNjeIAYzHJbbvoaUR27FL0p3rZAAMOI8D00dse96NZwnml9jkJkig_bc/s1600/health-data.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />From insurance companies to hospital executives to policy experts and politicians, there will be intense focus on how the exchanges function, and how many customers they attract, from the opening bell. For weeks, however, the Obama administration as well as states have played down expectations for Oct. 1.<br /><br />"We are expecting a slight upturn of activity," Rebecca Lozano of the Portico Health Net, a Minnesota group that will help people enroll in coverage, said last week at an event hosted by Families USA, a non-profit that supports the ACA. "We're not imagining a run on the banks" on Oct. 1.<br /><br /><br />"Those with pre-existing conditions are the people we expect to be at the door when the door opens," said Reagan Hunt, executive director of Kentucky Voices for Health. "We have no idea what that number looks like. But in Kentucky, you have about 900,000 people who have been denied coverage in the past due to pre-existing conditions."<br /><br />Sebelius said on Monday that "the key date really is the 15th of December," the deadline for buying coverage that starts on January 1. "For millions of Americans, the new options are going to be affordable, within their own budgets. So Jan. 1 can be a new day. It can begin to change the statistics where we will no longer have a large population in this country who doesn't have access to the best medical care."<br /><div><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="82" alt="Health care overhaul: Federal government form for applying for health coverage: Getting covered through President Barack Obama’s health care law might feel like a combination of doing your taxes and making a big purchase that requires research. You’ll need accurate income information for your household, plus some understanding of how health insurance works, so you can get the financial assistance you qualify for and pick a health plan that’s right for your needs." class="image" data-src="{"default":"http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/6f/de2a82b4552fbc895db1221347dd3b/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg"}" height="425" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/6f/de2a82b4552fbc895db1221347dd3b/_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">Getting covered through President Barack Obama’s health care law might feel like a combination of doing your taxes and making a big purchase that requires research. You’ll need accurate income information for your household, plus some understanding of how health insurance works, so you can get the financial assistance you qualify for and pick a health plan that’s right for your needs.</blockquote></td></tr></tbody></table>

Obamacare push accelerates as shutdown begins

The Obama administration accelerated its push to persuade individual Americans to sign up for the most extensive overhaul of the U.S. health...

More would blame GOP than Obama for govt shutdown

<h3>WASHINGTON — More people will blame congressional Republicans than President Barack Obama if the government shuts down this week and most want a budget deal to avoid disruption to federal funding and services, a poll released on Monday showed.</h3><div><br /><br /></div><br /><img abp="115" alt="Obama: 'Not at all' resigned to a shutdown" class="image" data-src="{"default":"http://img1.catalog.video.msn.com/image.aspx?uuid=b5ad218d-3afb-3543-3eca-5a94ca9925e8&w=300&h=169&so=4"}" height="360" src="http://img1.catalog.video.msn.com/image.aspx?uuid=b5ad218d-3afb-3543-3eca-5a94ca9925e8&w=300&h=169&so=4" width="640" /><br /><br />Forty-six percent said that if government agencies and programs start closing on Tuesday, they would fault Republicans in Congress while 36 percent said they would blame Obama, the CNN survey found. Thirteen percent said both would be at fault.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">What a government shutdown means for you</blockquote><br />About 60 percent of the 803 U.S. adults polled said they want lawmakers to pass a budget agreement to avoid the shutdown, according to the telephone survey conducted over the weekend.<br /><br />Washington faces a midnight Monday deadline to avert a government shutdown, with Republicans and Democrats blaming each other for the funding impasse that could force federal agencies and programs to close for the first time in 17 years.<br /><br /><img abp="82" alt="Government shutdown: A traffic sign is seen near the U.S. Capitol building in Washington." class="image" data-src="{"default":"http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/b6/578abfd16981edfee3578c9f8cb716/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg"}" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/b6/578abfd16981edfee3578c9f8cb716/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" width="628" /><br /><br />The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Sunday passed a measure tying government funding to a delay of Obama's landmark healthcare law. The Democratic-controlled Senate was to reconvene at 2 p.m., and Senate Democrats have vowed to quash the House plan.<br /><br />The CNN poll showed that the 2010 Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare, is not popular, but that most people said overall federal funding is more important.<br /><div><div>While 57 percent said they oppose the healthcare law, 60 percent said "it is more important for Congress to avoid a shutdown than to make major changes to the new health care law," CNN said.<br /><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXEkFkmLsHNXS9qcqCW5U1lygbm9OPq2UOMIDnHJN5SSei7lGdNJE5r7m_7Cr7lEzFxp7fadcRNXKzTu5GNEvns2drc_H3eaJB6aX33KrgIgH6s6LHfwALSe9E-pZJuhJ1tiJsUgTMzgw/s1600/gop.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXEkFkmLsHNXS9qcqCW5U1lygbm9OPq2UOMIDnHJN5SSei7lGdNJE5r7m_7Cr7lEzFxp7fadcRNXKzTu5GNEvns2drc_H3eaJB6aX33KrgIgH6s6LHfwALSe9E-pZJuhJ1tiJsUgTMzgw/s1600/gop.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div>Just one-third said it was more important for Congress to block the healthcare law by cutting its funding, the survey showed.</div><div><br /></div><div>CNN's findings mirror other recent polls that also found more U.S. adults blame conservative Republicans for any possible closure. Overall, surveys have shown people have little tolerance for government shutdowns.</div><div><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq">Who's right? Slippery claims on health law, budget</blockquote><div><br /></div><div>In a CBS/New York Times poll last week, eight in 10 people said it would be unacceptable for Obama or lawmakers to threaten shutdowns during budget negotiations to achieve their goals. A Pew Research Center poll, also released last week, said the majority of people in the United States want lawmakers to be more willing to compromise.</div><div><br /></div><div>Any shutdown would be bad for the Unites States, respondents to CNN's poll said. Nearly seven in 10 said a shutdown for a few days would be negative, with that number rising to nearly eight in 10 if closures last a few weeks.</div><div><br /></div><div>CNN said the poll, conducted Friday through Sunday by ORC International, has a margin of error plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.</div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN1A7AoGfx-yji24Yte3HmnAClez9kEohgglRpCv28tsQDKDlLLe5_J2n8_PziXVJNbklA9rbuIwbpl0hn0x2z2azyQFfEJekHbvp6zTs3PYZYDVGhcP-kbrtlPoM7_Nx2bBCkQmAfj0Y/s1600/nsa_opt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN1A7AoGfx-yji24Yte3HmnAClez9kEohgglRpCv28tsQDKDlLLe5_J2n8_PziXVJNbklA9rbuIwbpl0hn0x2z2azyQFfEJekHbvp6zTs3PYZYDVGhcP-kbrtlPoM7_Nx2bBCkQmAfj0Y/s1600/nsa_opt.jpg" width="622" /></a></div><div><br /></div>

More would blame GOP than Obama for govt shutdown

WASHINGTON — More people will blame congressional Republicans than President Barack Obama if the government shuts down this week and most wa...

Shutdown looming, Senate rejects House budget bill

WASHINGTON —  Republican unity showed unmistakable signs of fraying Monday as the Senate swatted aside the latest tea party-driven demand to delay the nation's health care overhaul in exchange for averting a partial government shutdown at midnight.<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 abp="82" alt="Health law challenge threatens government shutdown: Cathryn Carroll, of Washington, DC, yells at Republican House members: Cathryn Carroll, of Washington, DC, yells at Republican House members as they call on Senate Democrats to &#39;come back to work&#39; on the Senate steps of the US Capitol on Sunday." class="image" data-src="{"default":"http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/ce/ba448b41db4c8a05a942919c3bd3e/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg"}" height="358" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/ce/ba448b41db4c8a05a942919c3bd3e/_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;">Cathryn Carroll, of Washington, DC, yells at Republican House members as they call on Senate Democrats to 'come back to work' on the Senate steps of the US Capitol on Sunday.</td></tr></tbody></table>Even in advance of the 54-46 party-line Senate vote, the stock market dropped as fears spread that the first shutdown in 17 years would inconvenience millions and harm the economy. "We're at the brink," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., as House GOP leaders calculated their next move.<br /><br />Ironically, the issue at the core of the dispute, implementation of key parts of "Obamacare," will begin Tuesday on schedule, shutdown or no.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">What a government shutdown means for you</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">More would blamed GOP than Obama for shutdown</blockquote><br />As lawmakers squabbled, President Barack Obama urged them instead to "act responsibly and do what's right for the American people."<br /><br /><a href="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/7b/373b86728e3f978c1771c2b765058/_h0_w295_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img abp="142" alt="Government shutdown looms: An empty hallway in the Capitol on Sunday morning, Sept. 29" border="0" class="image articleimage" data-class="img1" height="212" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/7b/373b86728e3f978c1771c2b765058/_h0_w295_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><span abp="141" class="media hover"></span><br />At the White House, he said he was willing to discuss long-term budget issues with members of Congress, and expected to do soon. But, he added, "The only way to do that is for everybody to sit down in good faith without threatening to harm women and veterans and children with a government shutdown."<br /><br />Obama's Democratic allies prevailed easily in the Senate on a vote to reject the latest House-passed bill, a measure that would delay the new health care law for a year and repeal a tax on medical devices that helps play for the program.<br /><br />Anticipating their legislation would be rejected, House Republican leaders met in Speaker John Boehner's office to plan their next move. Officials said that even though time was running short, they expected at least one more attempt to squeeze a concession from the White House, likely a demand to force a one-year delay in the requirement for individuals to purchase health coverage or face financial penalties.<br /><br />A shutdown would cause an uneven impact across the face of government, inconveniencing millions.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Budget showdown puts squeeze on US economy</blockquote><br />Many low-to-moderate-income borrowers and first-time homebuyers seeking government-backed mortgages could face delays. Passport applications would be delayed.<br /><br />About 800,000 federal workers, many already reeling from the effect of automatic budget cuts, would be ordered to report to work Tuesday for about four hours — but only to carry out shutdown-related chores such as changing office voicemail messages and completing time cards. Once they departed, they would be under orders not to do any government work.<br /><br />Some critical services such as patrolling the borders, inspecting meat and controlling air traffic would continue. Social Security benefits would be sent, and the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs for the elderly and poor would continue to pay doctors and hospitals.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Neither side giving in as government shutdown looms</blockquote><br />For the first time since the showdown began more than a week ago, there was public dissent from the Republican strategy that has been carried out at the insistence of tea party-aligned lawmakers working in tandem with GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.<br /><br />Rep. Charles Dent, R-Pa., said he was willing to vote for stand-alone legislation that would keep the government running and contained no health care-related provisions. "I would be supportive of it, and I believe the votes are there in the House to pass it at that point," he said.<br /><br />Dent added he has been urging the Republican leadership to allow a vote along those lines.<br /><br />A second Republican, Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado, said, "We haven't given up on Obamacare ... but for this week we may have to give up. We tried everything and Harry Reid won't budge," he said of the Senate majority leader.<br /><br />In response, a spokesman for Boehner said the leadership would discuss options with the rank and file at a closed-door meeting later in the day.<br /><br />Related: Who's right? Slippery claims on health law, budget<br /><br />On Sunday, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she, too, was ready to vote to keep the government open without conditions.<br /><br />In remarks Monday on the House floor, Boehner criticized the Senate for taking the day off on Sunday, after the House had passed legislation shortly before 1 a.m. "Well my goodness, if there's such an emergency, where are they?" he said.<br /><br />Other Republicans sought to blame Democrats for any shutdown, but Dent conceded that Republicans would bear the blame, whether or not they deserved it.<br /><br />The last time the government shutdown, in 1996, Republicans suffered significant political damage, and then-President Bill Clinton's political fortunes were revived in the process.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://img1.catalog.video.msn.com/image.aspx?uuid=378f3de8-4da4-00a7-f984-51b1f7a53b62&w=300&h=169&so=4" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img abp="114" alt="Washington braces for possible government shutdown" border="0" class="image" data-src="{"default":"http://img1.catalog.video.msn.com/image.aspx?uuid=378f3de8-4da4-00a7-f984-51b1f7a53b62&w=300&h=169&so=4"}" height="180" src="http://img1.catalog.video.msn.com/image.aspx?uuid=378f3de8-4da4-00a7-f984-51b1f7a53b62&w=300&h=169&so=4" width="320" /></a>Now, as then, Republicans control the House, and senior lawmakers insist even a shutdown isn't likely to threaten their majority in the 2014 elections. "We may even gain seats," Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, who chairs the party campaign committee, said recently.<br /><br />For all the controversy about other matters, the legislation in question is a spending bill — and there was little if any disagreement about the spending-related issues.<br /><br />The House and Senate have agreed to fix spending for a wide swath of federal programs at an annual level of $986 billion.<br /><br />Without separate legislation to make further reductions, across-the-board cuts would automatically take effect early next year that would reduce the level to $967 billion.<br /><div><br /></div><div></div>

Shutdown looming, Senate rejects House budget bill

WASHINGTON —  Republican unity showed unmistakable signs of fraying Monday as the Senate swatted aside the latest tea party-driven demand to...

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...