SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Raising fresh questions about his appointment to Congress, Sen. Roland Burris admitted in a document released Saturday that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s brother asked him for campaign fundraising help before the governor named Burris as Illinois’ junior senator.
The disclosure reflects a major omission from Burris’ testimony in January when an Illinois House impeachment committee specifically asked if he had ever spoken to Robert Blagojevich or other aides to the now-deposed governor about the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama.
State Rep. Jim Durkin, the impeachment committee’s ranking Republican, told The Associated Press that he and House Republican Leader Tom Cross will ask Sunday for an outside investigation into whether Burris perjured himself.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada also said he was reviewing the disclosure, the latest twist for Senate Democrats in Washington who only consented to seat Burris on the condition that there were no “pay to play” promises exchanged in the appointment.
Burris said he voluntarily gave the committee a Feb. 4 affidavit disclosing the contact with Robert Blagojevich because “there were several facts that I was not given the opportunity to make during my testimony to the impeachment committee.”
The affidavit, released by Burris’ office after it was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, said Robert Blagojevich called him three times – once in October and twice after the November election – to seek his fundraising assistance.
Robert Blagojevich’s attorney said his client believes one of the conversations was recorded by the FBI.
Burris, a Democrat like the former governor, said he told Robert Blagojevich he would not raise money because it would look like he was trying to win favor from the governor for his appointment. But he said he did ask the governor’s brother “what was going on with the selection of a successor” to Obama in the Senate and “he said he had heard my name mentioned in the discussions.”
It’s the second time Burris has changed his story. In an unsolicited affidavit to the impeachment committee on Jan. 6, Burris said he had only one limited conversation with the governor before accepting the Senate appointment.
Then, appearing before the committee Jan. 8, he said he told former Blagojevich aide-turned-lobbyist Lon Monk last summer that he was interested in the post.
The governor appointed Burris, a former state attorney general, to the Senate seat on Dec. 30, three weeks after federal agents arrested Blagojevich on a complaint alleging he had tried to trade the appointment for campaign cash or a high-paying job. The state House impeached Blagojevich and the state Senate removed him from office on Jan. 29.
Reid and Dick Durbin of Illinois, among other Senate Democrats, initially said they would not seat anyone appointed by Blagojevich but eventually relented after accepting Burris’ impeachment committee testimony under oath that there were no promises exchanged for his appointment.
A spokesman for Durbin said the senator was overseas and had not seen the affidavit or compared it to the testimony. The White House had no comment.
State House impeachment committee chairwoman Barbara Flynn Currie, a Democrat, said she saw the affidavit earlier this week but did not have time to share it with all committee members until now. She said she was planning committee action but that seeking an outside investigation was premature at this point.
The affidavit discloses for the first time that Burris believes he likely told former Blagojevich advisers Doug Scofield and John Wyma of his interest in the post at a fundraiser in June and later asked about it when he spoke to Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris, who was arrested with Blagojevich on Dec. 9.
Scofield, Wyma and Harris were among the Blagojevich associates Burris was asked about in his Jan. 8 testimony by Durkin.
In response, Burris said he had spoken only to Monk.
“This wasn’t a couple of questions that I can understand someone may forget, it goes way beyond that,” Durkin said Saturday. “To say that he wasn’t given the opportunity to explain himself is a load of B.S.”
Durkin said he doesn’t trust majority Democrats in the General Assembly to conduct a fair investigation into whether Burris perjured himself. But he said he doesn’t know yet who should conduct the inquiry.
A log of Harris’ calls released to the AP by the governor’s office indicates Burris called Harris four times in November – the last time on Nov. 26, when the log indicates the two spoke. Burris’ affidavit says he had called Harris to recommend his nephew for a state job and during the conversation asked about the Senate seat.
A spokeswoman for Burris said he would not make himself available for interviews Saturday.
Robert Blagojevich’s lawyer, Michael Ettinger, said his client contacted Burris in October to ask him to host a fundraiser for his brother because Burris had contributed in the past, but Burris said he didn’t want to commit before the election. Ettinger said the subject of the Senate seat wasn’t raised.
Ettinger said Robert Blagojevich remembers only one other conversation in November from the governor’s campaign office, which the FBI had wiretapped at the time. He said his client confirmed Burris’ account that he declined the fundraiser because of the potential conflict.
But he also told Ettinger no one on his brother’s staff had ever mentioned Burris as being interested in the seat.
A publicist for the former governor released a statement saying Blagojevich “acted ethically and honestly and believes Sen. Burris did too.”
In explaining his incomplete testimony, Burris said in the affidavit he recalled mentioning Monk “but was then asked another question and did not mention anyone else.”
His lawyer, Timothy Wright III, said in a cover letter Burris answered “truthfully and to the best of his recollection,” but that the “fluid nature” of the questioning and a review of the transcript showed Burris that he “was unable to fully respond to several matters.”
CLARENCE, N.Y. – A commuter plane that smashed into a house apparently plunged flat to the ground rather than nose-diving, ending up pointed away from the airport it was trying to reach, investigators said Saturday.
Investigators did not offer an explanation as to why the plane was pointed away from the Buffalo airport, but it does raise the possibility the pilot was fighting an icy airplane: Air safety guidelines says a pilot can try a 180-degree turn to rid a plane of ice.
Other possible explanations are that the aircraft was spinning or flipped upon impact.
Flight data showed the plane’s safety systems warned the pilot that the aircraft was perilously close to losing lift and plummeting from the sky. The ensuing crash killed 49 people on the plane and one in the house.
Continental Connection Flight 3407 was cleared to land on a runway pointing to the southwest, but it crashed with its nose pointed northeast, said Steve Chealander, a National Transportation Safety Board member.
The Newark, N.J.-to-Buffalo flight didn’t nose-dive into the house, as initially reported by some witnesses, Chealander said.
It will take as many as four days to remove human remains from the site, which he called an “excavation.”
“Keep in mind, there’s an airplane that fell on top of a house, and they’re now intermingled,” he said.
The plane – on its descent to Buffalo Niagara International Airport in a light snow and mist – plunged suddenly about six miles shy of the runway and exploded.
A “stick shaker” and “stick pusher” mechanism had activated to warn Capt. Marvin Renslow that the plane was about to lose aerodynamic lift, a condition called a stall. When the “stick pusher” engaged, it would have pointed the nose of the plane toward the ground to try to increase lift.
Crash investigators picked through incinerated wreckage Saturday, gathering evidence to determine what brought down the plane. Icing on the aircraft is suspected to have played a role, but officials have stopped short of calling that the cause.
Chealander said indicator lights showed that deicing equipment on the tail, wings and propeller appeared to be working and that investigators who examined both engines said it appears they were working normally at the time of the crash.
Experts were analyzing data from the black boxes, including statements by crew members about a buildup of ice on the wings and windshield of the plane, Chealander said.
If ice is a problem in flight, guidelines from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Foundation say pilots can take a number of steps, including changing speed, pulling the nose up or down, or trying a 180-degree turn.
On Friday, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood had told him he believes the aircraft made a 180-degree turn at 5,000 feet.
But there could be other explanations for why the plane was facing the wrong way.
Chealander said the NTSB would use data on the black boxes to determine whether the plane was in a flat spin before it crashed. Flight data indicated “severe” pitching and rolling before impact, so the violent nature of the crash also could have turned the aircraft around.
Other aircraft in the area Thursday night told air traffic controllers they also experienced icing around the time that the plane went down.
Icing is one of several elements being examined by investigators, Chealander said, adding that a full report will probably take a year.
DNA and dental records will be used to identify the bodies, he said.
One aspect of the investigation will focus on the crew, how they were trained and whether they had enough time to rest between flights. Other investigators focused on the weather, the mechanics of the plane and whether the engine, wings and various mechanics of the plane operated as they were designed to.
ISLAMABAD – Dozens of followers of Pakistan’s top Taliban commander were in a compound when a suspected U.S. missile attack hit Saturday, killing 27 militants in an al-Qaida stronghold near the Afghan border, officials said.
The strike appeared to be the deadliest yet by the American drone aircraft that prowl the frontier, and defied Pakistani warnings that the tactic is fueling extremism in the nuclear-armed Islamic nation.
In an interview unrelated to the attack, President Asif Ali Zardari said the Taliban had expanded their presence to a “huge amount” of Pakistan and were even eyeing a takeover of the state.
“We’re fighting for the survival of Pakistan. We’re not fighting for the survival of anybody else,” Zardari said, according to a transcript of his remarks that CBS television said it would air Sunday.
Many Pakistanis believe the country is fighting Islamist militants, who have enjoyed state support in the past, only at Washington’s behest.
Remotely piloted U.S. aircraft are believed to have launched more than 30 attacks over the past year, and American officials say al-Qaida’s leadership and ability to support the insurgency in Afghanistan has been significantly weakened. But Pakistani officials say the vast majority of the victims are civilians.
After Saturday’s strike, Taliban fighters surrounded the flattened compound in the village of Shrawangai Nazarkhel and carried away the dead and wounded in several vehicles. The village is in South Waziristan, part of the tribally governed area along the Afghan frontier considered the likely redoubt of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.
The victims included about 15 ethnic Uzbek militants and several Afghans, said Pakistani intelligence officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. The seniority of the militants was unclear.
Two of the officials said dozens of followers of Pakistan’s top Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, were staying in the housing compound when it was hit. There was no indication that Mehsud was present.
Pakistan’s former government and the CIA have named Mehsud as the prime suspect behind the December 2007 killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Pakistani officials accuse him of harboring foreign fighters, including Central Asians linked to al-Qaida, and of training suicide bombers.
The accounts of Saturday’s strike could not be verified independently. The tribally governed region is unsafe for reporters. The U.S. Embassy had no comment, while Pakistan’s army spokesman was unavailable.
The new U.S. administration has brushed off Pakistani criticism that the missile strikes fuel extremist and anti-American sentiment and undercuts the government’s own counterinsurgency strategy.
“The government is doing everything possible to stop it and I hope that America listens to the voice of the people of Pakistan,” Pakistan’s Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said Saturday.
Yet many analysts suspect Pakistan has quietly agreed to the attacks in order not to endanger billions of dollars in American and Western support for its powerful military and its ailing economy.
The pro-Western government in Islamabad, led by Bhutto widower Zardari, has signed peace deals with tribal leaders in the northwest while launching a series of military operations against hard-liners.
However, government forces are bogged down on several fronts in the northwest, and Taliban militants have sustained a campaign that has included a string of abductions and other attacks on foreigners.
On Friday, the kidnappers of an American employee of the United Nations threatened to kill him within 72 hours and issued a grainy 20-second video of the blindfolded John Solecki saying he was “sick and in trouble.”
Gunmen seized Solecki on Feb. 2 after shooting his driver to death as they drove to work in Quetta, a southwestern city near the Afghan border.
The kidnappers identified themselves as the previously unknown Baluchistan Liberation United Front, indicating a link to local separatists rather than to Islamist militants.
Fears for Solecki’s safety are intense after Taliban militants apparently beheaded an abducted Polish geologist in early February. A U.N. statement said it was aware of the kidnappers’ demand for the release of 141 women allegedly held in Pakistan and was seeking “urgent contact to discuss ways of securing his safe release.”
Malik said the international community should know that the demands were “highly unrealistic.”
“I have shared that list of 141 women with authorities and all intelligence agencies. It does not have any reality,” he told reporters in Quetta.
Malik said authorities trying to free Solecki were following strong leads and he was hopeful they would succeed.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke Saturday with Zardari about the kidnapping, and “they agreed on the need to secure the safe and immediate release of John Solecki,” Ban’s office said in a statement.
WHITTLESEA, Australia – Australians mourned the victims of deadly wildfires at Sunday church services across the country, as news emerged of a class action lawsuit against a power company over the cause of one of the blazes.
More than 180 people were killed and 1,800 homes destroyed when some 400 blazes tore across Victoria state on Feb. 7 in Australia’s worst-ever wildfire disaster. Police have arrested one man on arson charges connected to one fire and suspect foul play in at least one other.
A law firm lodged a suit in Victoria’s Supreme Court against power supplier SP Ausnet alleging negligence for allowing an overhead power line to fall, starting a wildfire, The Age newspaper reported.
SP Ausnet was not immediately available to comment on the report.
Residents of towns in the 1,500-square mile (3,900-square kilometer) fire zone gathered at church services Sunday to pray for the dead and seek comfort from each other. The scene was repeated at churches across the country, which has been deeply shocked by the tragedy.
At Whittlesea, a town about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of the state capital of Melbourne, about 200 people attended the Whittlesea Christ Church for services led by the Archbishop of Melbourne, Philip Freier, and Governor General Quentin Bryce.
Whittlesea has become a center for relief efforts for neighboring towns such as Kinglake, where scores of people died and which was almost completely destroyed.
An outpouring of charity has raised more than 90 million Australian dollars ($60 million) in donations to official relief funds.
Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin announced Sunday that families whose homes were destroyed would get a $AU10,000 cash payment to start the rebuilding process. The federal and Victoria government have promised millions of dollars more, and say a comprehensive rebuilding strategy would be released later this week.
Wildfires are common each Australian summer, when tinder-dry forests ignite in hot and windy conditions and can burn for weeks on end. Government researchers say the causes of up to half the 60,000 fires in Australia each year are suspicious, with non-suspect causes being lightning strikes, power line mishaps and human activity such as sparks from power tools.
Victoria Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon said Sunday that police were aware of the reported class action suit involving the Kinglake fire. She declined to answer directly when asked if police had removed a section of power line and a power pole as evidence.
“At this stage we are not able to confirm how it started,” Nixon told Nine Network television. “I understand there is some legal action that people are taking, but at this stage we’re still investigating its cause.”
The firm reportedly behind the action, Slidders Lawyers, said on its Web site it was helping landowners and leaseholders get compensation for wildfires that occurred in 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2009. It invited people affected by the recent disaster to register details with the firm.
It offered no other details, and no one at the firm was immediately available to comment.
Firefighters, including specialists flown in from the United States, continued to battle about a dozen blazes in Victoria, and a pall of dark smoke hung over a huge area, including Melbourne.
Cooler, even wet conditions were allowing firefighters to make good progress in containing the fire, the Country Fire Association said.
Source:yahoo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The financial collapse has hit the city known as Wall Street South.
For years, Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp. helped turn Charlotte into a financial powerhouse. Now, the big banks have thrust it into the same predicament as the real Wall Street – the city is losing thousands of jobs and an unquantifiable amount of prestige. Residents who invested heavily in the banks have seen their wealth dissipate and lifestyles change radically.
“It’s kind of sad, disheartening because the banks have been the backbone of Charlotte for so long,” said Carl Clayton, a 55-year-old retired school teacher.
The loss of so many bank jobs is causing upheaval in other industries. Consumers who have been laid off or fear being out of work are curtailing their spending, forcing restaurants and retailers to close – among them Morton’s, a high-end steakhouse, and a 15-month-old Home Depot Design Center. Even some of the Charlotte’s lively night clubs have shuttered their doors.
“There’s a bit of a state of disbelief,” said Bob Morgan, president of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. “We are seeing things happen that no one else has contemplated before.”
Charlotte remains the nation’s second-biggest bank town by assets – second to New York, and in front of San Francisco. But, Morgan said, “we don’t know what the city is going to look like once we emerge.”
“We do know that tremendous wealth has already been lost.”
A big reason why is the amount of banking shares owned by people who have worked for Wachovia, now owned by Wells Fargo & Co., and Bank of America. Both have used their stock to compensate employees.
Bank of America’s shares have been among the hardest hit among financial companies. The company has lost more than 56 percent of its value since it closed on its acquisition of investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co. at the beginning of the year. The stock is down nearly 85 percent from a year ago.
Last year, before Wachovia was acquired by Wells Fargo, its shares had slid 85 percent.
Clayton estimates he has lost about $60,000 because of stock holdings in the two banks, along with other North Carolina banks, including BB&T Corp.
“I had a lot of bank stock, but now it’s gone,” Clayton said. “What wealth I had, is gone.”
Residents and employees never expected such a downfall. Wachovia, once headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C., joined the Top 5 ranks of national banks after it was acquired by Charlotte-based First Union Corp. in 2001. The combined company took Wachovia’s name.
Banker Hugh McColl Jr. led NationsBank Corp. through some 70 acquisitions starting in the early 1980s. His biggest coup was San Francisco-based BankAmerica Corp., a financial institution bigger than NationsBank. He adopted the name and also moved the headquarters to Charlotte.
Some say Charlotte’s troubles began in 2006, when Wachovia acquired mortgage lender Golden West Financial Corp. for roughly $25 billion at the height of the housing boom. With that purchase, Wachovia inherited a $122 billion portfolio of deteriorating mortgages, leaving the company with huge losses. Charlotte residents were unnerved as they watched Wachovia falter and then be taken over by Wells Fargo in what amounted to a fire sale late last year.
Down the street, at Bank of America, things were looking just as bleak. A series of bad bets in the investment banking unit over the past year sank companywide profits, and as Bank of America completed its acquisition of struggling investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co., shareholders watched its stock price slide to historic lows.
Both Wells Fargo and Bank of America have said they remain “committed” to Charlotte.
Wells Fargo, based in San Francisco, has said Charlotte will be its eastern headquarters, though it remains unclear exactly what that means. The fear is that Wells Fargo, as it completes its integration of Wachovia, will keep shedding Charlotte positions. Wachovia has about 20,000 employees in the city.
Bank of America, meanwhile, with about 15,000 employees in Charlotte, is eliminating some 35,000 jobs companywide.
North Carolina already has nearly 400,000 unemployed workers. The jobless rate was 8.7 percent in December, the highest since 1983, according to the most recent available data.
Charlotte, with a population of nearly 700,000, is the 20th-largest city in the country. About 45 percent of the residents of its home county, Mecklenburg, make more than $50,000 a year, according to data supplied by the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce.
Outside the downtown offices buildings filled with bank employees, there’s a sense of disbelief as people huddle together drinking coffee or smoking cigarettes and then shuffle off to their jobs. When a reporter approached employees for interviews, they declined to speak, or said they didn’t want to give their names, worried about keeping their jobs.
Charlotte relies on the banks for more than employment – its lifestyle, even its skyline has depended on Wachovia and Bank of America.
Wachovia sponsors the city’s annual PGA tournament, among the most popular on tour, while Bank of America’s name is on the football stadium and the bank is a sponsor of one of NASCAR’s top auto races. Both fill towering downtown office buildings – Wells Fargo, now by way of Wachovia, is building a 48-story headquarters and adjoining city arts campus. The bankers and traders who work for both helped create the demand – and now vacancies – for the high-rise condos near by.
“I have received more calls over the past month from people wanting to list their homes, with a majority of them having financial problems,” said Rich Ferretti, a broker at Jamison Reality in Matthews, a suburb of Charlotte.
Stores in the city’s affluent SouthPark area are less crowded on the weekends. And a recent happy hour at Capital Grille, located just across from Bank of America’s headquarters, was sparsely attended.
Charlotte also faces civic and philanthropic repercussions. Unlike Wachovia, Wells Fargo’s executives have few North Carolina ties. Bank of America typically offers up the lead gift on projects.
“We will honor our existing commitments and we are still in the process of determining any future commitments,” Wells Fargo spokeswoman Mary Eshet said.
Now, the city is waiting for major changes.
“A lot of our friends work for the banks,” said Leslie Hunter, a 38-year-old mother of two. “People are not stopping everything, but their awareness has increased.”
After being laid off from his bank consulting job 11 months ago, Jim Edwards’ daily routine of networking, applying for jobs and going to the gym keeps his spirits up.
“I’ve been out of work and living on my retirement income,” said the 62-year-old, who added it’s been a struggle finding employment because no one is hiring.
While many unknowns remain, Mayor Pat McCrory is optimistic.
“Charlotte does have very strong resilience and I anticipate that a lot of the talent that’s moving out of the banks will stay,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Some job relief may be moving in. GMAC Financial Services and Morgan Stanley are rumored to be looking to move at least parts of their companies to the Charlotte area.
GMAC Financial Service’s chief executive, Al G. de Molina, used to be Bank of America’s chief financial officer. Morgan Stanley has already hired at least four former Wachovia executives to help the New York-based firm’s retail banking expansion effort.
McCrory wouldn’t talk about the two firms, but said the large amount of talent in Charlotte will “attract others in the financial services industry to set up here.”
“We’re going through a major adjustment, but when the economy rebounds, I think Charlotte will rebound the quickest,” he said.
Source:yahoo
(CNN) — A “handful” of United Nations staff are working around the clock to save a growing number of children caught in heavy crossfire between government forces and Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka’s volatile northeast, a U.N. spokesman said Saturday.
Children as young as 4 months old are being treated in local hospitals for shrapnel injuries and other “wounds of war,” spokesman James Elder told CNN.
“There is just intense fighting in a small area where children and other civilians are,” Elder said. “The space (where conflict is taking place) is shrinking and the fighting is augmenting.”
Thursday, U.N. aid workers rescued 50 critically injured children and 105 adults from intense fighting, he said.
“We are trying to get as many people out of there as we can,” Elder said.
Humanitarian groups say as many as 250,000 unprotected civilians are trapped in the crossfire between government troops and rebel forces in northern Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa this week promised to allow safe passage to trapped civilians and urged the Tamil Tigers to promise the same.
“We have declared a safe zone for civilians, the coordinates of which were announced by the security forces,” Rajapaksa said on his government’s Web site.
“It is unfortunate that the (Tamil Tiger group) is exploiting this declared safe zone for civilians by placing their heavy artillery within the safe zone and using it as a launching pad to attack security forces and indiscriminately kill civilians.”
The fighting has created a “nightmarish” situation for civilians living in the conflict zone, Elder said.
An emerging shortage of humanitarian supplies and diminished access to clean water, sanitation, and food are compounding a crisis that has humanitarian agencies fearing for the safety of civilians, he said.
Sunday, Sri Lanka soldiers seized a key rebel stronghold in a surprise attack deep in Tamil held territory.
Troops crossed a lagoon and entered the town of Mullaittivu before encountering heavy resistance from Tamil fighters, according to the government-run news agency.
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The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) — commonly known as the Tamil Tigers — have fought for an independent homeland for the country’s ethnic Tamil minority since 1983. The civil war has left more than 70,000 people dead.
source:cnn
ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) – Egypt has begun installing cameras and motion sensors along its border with the Gaza Strip to try to combat smuggling to the Hamas-run territory, security sources said on Saturday.
The sources said Egyptian authorities had begun installing the equipment two days ago with joint U.S., French and German expertise, and added that they hoped the sensors and cameras would help detect any tunnel construction in the border area.
“Cables that are part of a tunnel detection device are being installed along the Gaza-Egypt border,” a security source said, adding the cables were being installed from south of Rafah to the Mediterranean coast.
The source said some cameras and sensors had already been installed, and the cameras would be connected by the cables.
For the 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip, the tunnels have become a main source of goods, including fuel, since Israel tightened its embargo after Hamas seized control of Gaza from the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.
Israel bombed the tunnels during its recent 22-day Gaza offensive, and its military fears Hamas could use them to re-arm. But many tunnels have sophisticated systems and seem to have survived weeks of Israeli bombardment.
Roughly 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the Gaza offensive before both sides declared an end to the fighting on January 18. Israel says its offensive was aimed at halting Hamas rocket attacks on its southern communities.
Egypt, which has kept its Rafah border crossing with the territory largely closed, has agreed to help stop the tunnel smuggling with international technical assistance.
But no firm plan is yet in place as Israel and Hamas argue through Egyptian mediators about installing a longer term ceasefire that would meet Israel’s demands for shutting off the arms supply and Hamas’s demands for an easing of the blockade.
source:reuters
U.S. President Barack Obama warned his fellow Americans Saturday that no single administrative measure will be able to single-handedly pull the country out of the economic doldrums.
“No one bill, no matter how comprehensive, can cure what ails our economy,” he said in his second presidential radio address, broadcast on radio and on the Internet on Saturday.
“So just as we jump-start job creation, we must also ensure that markets are stable, credit is flowing and families can stay in their homes.”
On Friday, government economists said the national economy shrank 3.8 per cent over the final three months of 2008 and is expected to decline even further during the current quarter. It was the latest sign that America’s economic troubles are worsening.
The president and his staff are currently working on adjusting the US$700 billion financial bailout program signed into law by President George Bush last October. At present, the bailout has only $350 billion left for investment.
Some of Obama’s aides suggest the president may ask Congress for more money to tackle what he described as the “devastating” economic problems at hand.
On Saturday, Obama didn’t give concrete details on how his administration would allocate the remaining bailout dollars, but said his ideal bailout would include “a strategy for reviving our financial system that gets credit flowing to businesses and families.”
“We’ll help lower mortgage costs and extend loans to small businesses so they can create jobs. We’ll ensure that CEOs are not draining funds that should be advancing our recovery.”
And as the president has promised, any incoming financial package will be subject to “unprecedented transparency” measures Americans will be able to use to follow their money as it is invested, Obama said.
The president also said the full details of his bailout efforts will “soon” be announced by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Last week, Obama’s $825 billion stimulus package — a separate investment of taxpayer dollars that is unrelated to the bailout money introduced by Bush — was passed in the House even though not a single Republican voted for it. Now it must pass through the Senate, though Vice President Joe Biden has said it will do better with the GOP the second time around.
The Republican Party signalled Saturday that it was willing to work with the president on his stimulus plan, but said party members hold concerns about the level of spending included in the plan.
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a Republican radio address that “a problem that started on Wall Street is reaching deeper and deeper into Main Street.”
McConnell said, however, that Obama’s stimulus plan, as tabled, “falls short of the president’s vision for a bill that creates jobs and puts us on a path to long-term economic help.”
He said he hopes the Obama administration will listen to their concerns.
source:ctv
WASHINGTON, Jan 24: Hours after US missiles killed 22 people in Fata, President Barack Obama convened a meeting of his top national security advisers and endorsed the decision to continue drone strikes into Pakistan.
The US media, quoting unidentified official sources, reported that the first meeting of Mr Obama’s National Security Council focused on Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The New York Times reported on Saturday that the decision to attack alleged terrorist targets in Fata on Friday “dispelled for the moment any notion that Mr Obama would rein in the Predator attacks.”
The Washington Post noted that the strikes “offered the first tangible sign of President Obama’s commitment to sustained military pressure on the terrorist groups” in Fata.
At his daily White House briefing, press secretary Robert Gibbs declined to answer questions about the strikes, saying: “I’m not going to get into these matters.”
Remotely piloted Predator drones operated by the Central Intelligence Agency have carried out 28 missile attacks in Fata since last summer, killing at least 132 people.
The NYT, quoting Pakistani officials, reported that as many as 100 of them were civilians.
Although US and Pakistani officials insist that the missiles targeted Al Qaeda and Taliban suspects, many civilians were also killed in the attacks, making it harder for the country’s shaky government to win support for its decision to join the US-led war against terror.
After Friday’s strikes, a Pakistani security official said in Islamabad that at least 10 insurgents, including five foreign nationals and possibly a high-value target such as a senior Al Qaeda or Taliban official, were among the 22 killed.
But US officials told NYT in Washington that “there were no immediate signs that the strikes had killed any senior Qaeda leaders.”
Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington, however, said that Islamabad “hopes President Obama will be more patient while dealing with Pakistan”.
Appealing to the new US administration to “hear us out,” Mr Haqqani said: “We will review all options if Obama does not adopt a positive policy towards us.”
Meanwhile, the US media reported that President Obama and his top national security team are likely in the coming days to review other counterterrorism measures put in place by the Bush administration. These include former President George W. Bush’s decision to send US Special Operations forces to Fata in July to carry out ground attacks without the approval of the Pakistan government.
The Washington Post noted that the ‘shaky’ Zardari government had hoped for warm relations with the Obama administration, “but members of Mr Obama’s new national security team have already telegraphed their intention to make firmer demands of Islamabad than the Bush administration.”
The Obama administration, the report said, backed up those demands with a threatened curtailment of the plentiful military aid that has been at the heart of US-Pakistan ties for the past three decades.
In August 2007, Mr Obama had declared that he favoured taking direct action in Pakistan against potential threats to US security if Pakistani security forces do not act.
Islamabad, however, had hoped that Mr Obama will tone down his rhetoric after the election.
But his Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton indicated during her Senate confirmation hearing that the new administration will not relent in holding Pakistan to account for any shortfalls in the continuing battle against extremists.
In her written answers to the lawmakers’ questions, published in the US media on Saturday, Secretary Clinton pledged that Washington will “condition” future US military aid on Pakistan’s efforts to close down terrorist training camps and evict foreign fighters.
She also demanded that Pakistan “prevent” the continued use of its historically lawless northern territories as a sanctuary by either the Taliban or Al Qaeda. And she promised that Washington would provide all the support Pakistan needs if it specifically goes after targets such as Osama bin Laden, who is believed to be using Pakistani mountains as a hideout.
At the same time, Ms Clinton pledged to triple non-military aid to Pakistan, long dwarfed by the more than $6 billion funnelled to Pakistani military forces under President George W. Bush through the Pentagon’s counterterrorism office in Islamabad.
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama took to the airwaves yesterday to promote his economic aid plan in what’s-it-mean-for-me terms: thousands of better schools, lower electricity bills, health coverage for millions who lose insurance.
It was the latest appeal from the new president for a massive spending bill designed to inject almost $1 trillion into the economy and fulfill campaign pledges.
As lawmakers consider an $825-billion plan and Obama woos them with an eye toward a second economic package, he used his first White House-based radio and Internet address to update the public about his goals.
“Our economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four. And we could lose a generation of potential, as more young Americans are forced to forgo college dreams or the chance to train for the jobs of the future,” Obama said in a five-minute address.
“In short, if we do not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse.”
Obama aides have refused to rule out that the administration would seek a second economic recovery plan – even before Congress approves the first – to patch an ailing economy. Some are considering a sequel to assuage members of their own Democratic Party who fret that too little of the money is going toward public works projects that would employ constituents.
Along with the speech, Obama’s economic team released a report designed to outline tangible benefits of the plan and shore up support. Aides said they wanted people to understand exactly what they could expect if Congress supported the proposed legislation.
The stimulus plan
Aspects of the $825-billion stimulus plan being put together by the Obama administration and Congress
CASH PAYMENTS
Seniors, disabled and veterans: $300 payments to Social Security beneficiaries, and $300 payments under the Supplemental Security income program for elderly and disabled people living in poverty. Veterans receiving disability or pension payments would also receive $300. The cash payments are one-time only.
TAXES
Individuals: $500-per-worker, $1,000-per-couple tax cut for two years, costing about $142 billion; greater access to the $1,000-per-child tax credit for the working poor; expanding the earned-income tax credit to include families with three children; a $2,500 college tuition tax credit; $7,500 tax credit for middle-income, first-time home buyers who purchase homes in the first half of 2009; temporarily suspends taxation of unemployment benefits.
Businesses: An infusion of cash into money-losing companies by allowing them to claim tax credits on past profits dating back five years instead of two; bonus depreciation for businesses investing in new plants and equipment; a doubling of the amount small businesses can write off for capital investments and new equipment purchases.
Energy: $31 billion in tax credits to boost renewable energy production and promote energy efficiency, including making it easier for money-losing companies to benefit from energy tax credits. Makes tax credits for energy-efficient homes more generous.
SPENDING
Aid to the poor and unemployed: $40 billion to provide extended unemployment benefits through Dec. 31, increase them by $25 a week and provide them to part-time and other workers.
Health care: $27 billion to subsidize health care insurance for the unemployed and provide coverage through Medicaid; $87 billion to help states with Medicaid.
Infrastructure: About $140 billion, including $27 billion for road and bridge construction and repair; $20 billion to repair and renovate school and university buildings; $9 billion for improved access to broadband; and $1.4 billion for western water projects.
Education: Almost $100 billion, including $77 billion in grants to states for special education, local school districts, and a $500 increase in the maximum Pell Grant.
GOALS
Double within three years the amount of energy that could be produced from renewable resources.
Upgrade 10,000 schools for about 5 million students.
Save $2 billion a year by making federal buildings energy efficient.
Triple the number of undergraduate and graduate fellowships in science.
Tighten security at 90 ports.
Source:newsday
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