The national debt soars. This clock is a little slow. Image: Raphiq Phillips/Flickr/CC BY-SA

The U.S. will soon hit the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling, prompting Congress to vote on again raising the limit. But Congressional Republicans have threatened opposition if the vote does not include budget cuts and long-term debt reduction. If an agreement is not reached by August, it will be an unprecedented situation that will be felt by all consumers.

The limit the U.S. can borrow

The debt ceiling is the maximum limit the government is allowed to borrow to pay its current debts. In the past, Congress has always voted to raise the limit.

If the issue is not settled by August, military employees and dependents may see severe income losses. Those dependent on Social Security may be left out in the cold. The loss of Medicare could drive healthcare expenses to levels beyond the reach of most people. Interest and credit rates could drastically increase, as well as taxes.

Taxes pay only 60 percent

“Given that the government currently only raises taxes to cover 60 percent of what it spends, being able to borrow means that the services people depend on from the government continue,” explains Stan Collender, a partner at Qorvis Communications. If Congress fails to vote for a limit increase, it could lead to much higher taxes, a reduction of expected services or both.

T-bills considered secure, for now

The U.S. government raises money by selling Treasury Bonds, or T-bills, which promise a small return on the money borrowed. As long as the purchasers are confident that the loans are safe, they are willing to trade security for small returns. However, if national loans are defaulted on, the global marketplace will lose faith in the dollar, causing foreign goods to become more expensive. The marketplace would reflect that lack of confidence by an immediate increase in cost of fuel, electronics and many other items dependent on overseas suppliers.

Jobs could be at stake

Jobs could be at stake not only for those on the government payroll, but for those in the private sector as
well. “We don’t know what will happen because this hasn’t happened before,” says Collender. “But if the debt ceiling isn’t raised and the government runs out of cash, at some point the president may decide he has to stop doing certain things, like paying government contractors, for example. That may not sound like such a big deal, but it is if someone in your family, or someone you know, is working for that contractor, or for the supplier of that contractor, or if that contractor is a big employer in your neighborhood or your state.”

Wall Street remains confident

At this point, the market seems to be ignoring the debt ceiling debate, confident that a solution will be reached. Banks are still lending money, interest rates remain low and the stock market is relatively stable.

Sources

Daily Finance
CBS
Huffington Post

Free money from the Fed intended to boost lending was used to pad bank profits with sweetheart bond deals instead. Image: Flickr/DoGoLaCa CC-BY-SA

The Federal Reserve loaned billions to big banks at near-zero interest to bail them out during the financial crisis. Those billions were intended to maintain the flow of credit and prop up the economy. Instead of loaning the money to individuals and small businesses, the banks reaped outrageous returns with the money by investing it in government bonds, a new study has found.

Free money, no strings attached

It was no secret that banks gorged on easy money provided by the Fed during the financial crisis and used the cash to buy Treasuries. A new study released Tuesday by the Congressional Research Service reveals the degree to which banks abused the privilege. The Fed lent more than $3 trillion to banks at interest rates as low as 0.0078 percent with no strings attached, according to the report. The banks pledged junk-rated securities as collateral for the the taxpayer-backed loans. Instead of reinvesting the money in the economy, the banks parked the money in Treasuries and took an easy profit–effectively borrowing money from one branch of the government and loaning it back to another at a much higher rate. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who commissioned the study, called it “direct corporate welfare to big banks.”

Abusing U.S. taxpayers for profit

Some of the taxpayer-financed arbitrage outlined in the CRS report includes a Fed loan of more than $48 billion to Bank of America at rates from 0.25 to 0.5 percent during a three-month period of 2009. In the same period B of A, the largest U.S. lender, tripled its holdings of Treasuries yielding 3.5 percent to nearly $15 billion. In the third quarter of 2009 B of A took $2.9 billion from the Fed at 0.25 percent and bought $12 billion in Treasuries paying 3.2 percent. Also in 2009, J.P. Morgan Chase, the second-largest U.S. bank, borrowed $29 billion from the Fed at 0.3 percent and bought $20 billion in taxpayer-backed U.S. debt yielding 2.1 percent. In 2008, Citigroup took $15.8 billion from the Fed at 1.2 percent; $11.6 billion at 1.1 percent and $4.9 billion at 2.7 percent. At the same time it held $24 billion in Treasuries with an average yield of 3.1 percent.

While banks count cash, credit dries up

While the big banks were adding hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to their balance sheets using free money from the Fed, lending decreased. According to Fed and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation data, credit contracted at nearly the most rapid rate ever recorded. In 2009, outstanding credit to U.S. households declined by $234.5 billion. For non-corporate businesses, credit dropped by $296.1 billion. Small businesses closed. Foreclosures skyrocketed. Millions of Americans lost their jobs. For banks, it was business as usual.

Sources

MarketWatch

Huffington Post

Firedoglake

Starting up and running a small business can be tough, but the new Startup America Partnership aims to make it easier and less expensive. Image: Flickr / comedynose / CC BY

Being an entrepreneur is tough, but a three-month-old private entity, supported by government partnerships, is aiming to make it a little bit easier. Startup America has announced an additional $400 million in business partnerships.

The Startup America Partnership

Startup America is a privately funded association that works in partnership with the U.S. federal government. The Startup America Partnership is technically a White House initiative but is privately funded and managed. Startup America aims to provide discounts and special programs to entrepreneurs to help them start and grow a business. The partnership provides preferred pricing and discounts to members of Startup America as well as workshops, classes and business information that could otherwise cost thousands of dollars. Small businesses account for 44 percent or more of U.S. payroll and generate more than 60 percent of new jobs in the United States. The partnership is intended to help encourage more of these small businesses to grow and hire.

$400 million in new funding

On April 20, Startup America announced more than $400 million in new commitments from big-name businesses. American Express has committed $125 million in preferred pricing for Startup America companies. Google is donating $100 million of Google Ads credits. Facebook will be hosting “Startup Days” in May. HP is offering $100 million in discounts on products for startup companies. Cisco, Ernst and Young, First Data, LinkedIn, The National center for Women & Information Technology and Palindrome Advisors have also signed up to provide services and discounts. This is in addition to existing partnerships with Astia, Cisco, Mass Challenge, IBM, Artists & Instigators, the Pearson Foundation, American Association of Community Colleges, Causecast, Intel, FirstData, Google, Intuit, Microsoft and hundreds more.

Getting involved with Startup America

If you are a small business owner or have an idea for a business, you can get help from the Startup America Partnership. Either before or after you’ve gotten personal loans to start your business, it’s as simple as signing up. Register at Startupamericaparternship.org and start browsing the available deals for your business. Each company has slightly different requirements to take advantage of their Startup America Partnership programs, but they are all listed in that central place. Depending on the business you are starting, the deals with the Startup America Partnership could save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.

Sources

Startup America Partnership Website
SBA.gov

President Obama recently called for a massive overhaul of the energy policy of the nation. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

President Obama has called for a massive overhaul of American energy policy. At a speech at Georgetown University, he announced that he intends to push for greater use of natural gas, spur development in renewable energy technology and reduce American imports of oil. Republicans are accusing him of being hypocritical about domestic oil production.

Speech from president causes spike in natural gas prices

President Obama recently gave a speech at Georgetown University, in which he called for a drastic overhaul of the energy policy of the nation. During the speech, Obama said that he intended to spur greater use of natural gas as transport fuel, which led to a 2 percent increase in the price of natural gas on the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to ABC. Natural gas prices were also given a boost by the incoming cold front heading for the East coast, according to MSNBC. This does not mean natural gas prices will shoot through the roof and keeping the heat on will be impossible, but natural gas imports and production may increase. The president also called for greater development of alternative fuel vehicles and pledged to reduce oil imports by a third in the next 10 years.

Conservatives act as foil to oil initiative

Congressional Republicans were quick to cry foul over the President’s call for reducing oil imports and increasing domestic oil production, according to CNN. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, said the president was just “telling people what they wanted to hear” and was quick to point out that the Obama administration put the freeze on offshore oil drilling after the BP oil spill. A spokesperson for Speaker of the House John Boehner, according to USA Today, echoed a similar sentiment. The President was, though, observing that oil was not a limitless resource and that the United States cannot afford to act as if it were oblivious to that fact.

World oil supply

The president is touching on a real issue when it comes to the long term stability of the world economy. Scientists have been warning for decades that “peak oil,” or the highest level of output of oil possible before supply irrevocably declines, is lurking in the not too distant future. Oil prices have been rising for weeks, according to ABC, because of the possibility of a possible interruption in supply due to unrest in the Middle East, and oil makes the modern world possible. When supplies begin to run out, no amount of money will bring back the days when a person could fill up their gas tank with impunity, so any funding that goes into better alternatives to oil is money well spent.

Sources

ABC on Natural Gas

ABC on Oil Prices

CNN

MSNBC

USA Today

When it comes to frivolous tax arguments, the IRS has zero tolerance for clowning around in the name of tax evasion. Image: CC Stephen Brace/Flickr

When it comes to frivolous tax arguments, the IRS hears new ones every year. On an annual basis, the IRS releases an updated list of frivolous tax arguments made by people trying to avoid paying federal income taxes. Some frivolous tax arguments are amusing, but instead of a laugh, taxpayers who try to use them will get a hefty fine from the IRS.

A caution for would-be tax cheats

The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments is an annual report the IRS has just released for 2011. The 87-page document defines the most popular tax evasion scenarios of all time. The document also includes the official legal policies the government has used to get frivolous tax arguments rejected by courts, as well as the penalties and sanctions levied against would-be tax cheats as a result. Most of the arguments are spread on the Internet by a growing number of scam artists posing as brave crusaders against an unjust government and include refusal to pay federal income taxes for moral, religious, semantic or philosophical reasons.

The cost of frivolous tax arguments

Frivolous tax arguments listed by the agency include cases in which people claim not to be a “person” as defined by the IRS. Others have argued that the federal income tax is unconstitutional or that paying taxes is voluntary. To some taxpayers, military income is exempt and only foreign income is taxable. It has been estimated that every year at least 10,000 people attempt to evade taxes with a frivolous argument, and the number is growing. The IRS penalty for filing a frivolous tax return argument is $5,000. Taxpayers who go to court with their frivolous arguments can receive an IRS penalty up to $25,000. Since the 2000 tax year, the Department of Justice has filed injunctions against more than 455 companies and individuals for frivolous tax arguments.

Popular, and hopeless, tax evasion scenarios

Some of the most popular frivolous tax arguments, according to the IRS, include the claim that paying taxes is against one’s religion, that paying taxes violates the Fifth Amendment and that taxes are considered servitude, which violates the 13th Amendment. The Supreme Court often rules that saying “paying taxes is against my religion” simply will not fly. The Fifth Amendment says a person shall not be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” But the law gives the government authority to collect taxes from U.S. citizens. The 13th Amendment outlaws slavery, but the claim that paying taxes is servitude has been consistently rejected by courts.

Sources

Main Street

Portfolio.com

Christian Science Monitor

Social welfare benefits are expected to rise as more Baby Boomers reach retirement age. (Photo Credit: CC BY/chrstphre campbell/Flickr)

An independent study utilizing Bureau of Economic Analysis data indicates that more than one-third of total U.S. wages and salaries go toward government payouts like Social Security, Medicare and other social welfare benefits. This has shocked numerous economists. CNBC Fast Money Executive Producer John Melloy suggests that this record figure will continue to expand as the majority of the Baby Boom generation retire.

Solving the US wage equation

The U.S. wage survey, which was conducted by TrimTabs Investment Research, indicated that the percentage of salaries has grown significantly, even since 2000. The chunk of wages derived from government aid in 2010 was 35 percent, but in 2000 it was 21 percent. In 1960 it was only 10 percent. As a small consolation, data indicates that the welfare wage is 44 percent in the U.K.

The United States’ dependence upon government stimulus must be broken, said TrimTabs’ Director of Macroeconomic Research, Madeline Schnapp.

“The U.S. economy has become alarmingly dependent on government stimulus,” she said. “Consumption supported by wages and salaries is a much stronger foundation for economic growth than consumption based on social welfare benefits.”

Increasing salaries by 35 percent (from $6.5 trillion to $8.8 trillion) or a 23 percent cut to social welfare payouts (tumbling down 23 percent to $1.7 trillion) are the best options available, according to Schnapp. Considering that the federal government is already stringing together short-term, shoestring measures to avert a government shutdown, experts believe only a serious compromise will turn the tide for U.S. salaries versus social welfare services.

Will the US approve of cutting Social Security?

Difficult decisions must be made to keep the U.S. government from reaching terminal bankruptcy velocity. Yet two of the most often discussed options – cutting Social Security and Medicare – are quite unpopular, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. Across all age groups in the survey, a vast majority checked “unacceptable” when it came to the question of drastically reducing Social Security. That included 67 of respondents who labeled themselves tea party supporters, who generally do not support big government programs.

A majority of poll participants did voice their support for two alternative measures: cutting Social Security and Medicare payments to U.S. citizens in higher income brackets (which received 60 percent support) and increasing the U.S. retirement age to 69 by 2075. Currently, full retirement benefits kick in at age 66. The age isn’t scheduled to increase until 2027, and then it will be 67.

Resources for battling the recession

The recession that set in during 2008 hit the U.S. hard. Thus, it comes as little surprise that welfare payments increased by a mind-boggling $514 billion since then, reports TrimTabs. As the the U.S. housing market remains on shaky ground, dramatic recovery may still be far away. Thus, a cure for the 35 percent welfare wage percentage may still be far away.

Sources

CNBC

Wall Street Journal

For those who can’t afford to work

The February jobs report indicates that unemployment is starting to consistently decline. Photo Credit: Nightscream/Luigi Novi/Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY 3.0

The February jobs report indicates that unemployment has declined slightly since January. The rate of unemployment declined .01 percent to 8.9 percent over February. It is the third month in a row that unemployment has decreased.

Employers adding jobs

The February jobs report was recently released by the Department of Labor, and it showed that the increase in hires during the month of February was a small one, but an increase nonetheless. The unemployment rate decreased by a paltry 0.1 percent, from 9 percent in January to 8.9 percent in February, according to CNN. Employers added 192,000 jobs to the economy, which was a dramatic improvement over January. In January, employers added 63,000 jobs to the overall economy, but January was slower than February as winter weather brought many areas to a near standstill, according to the Los Angeles Times. Besides an increase in hiring once the snow relented, December and January jobs reports were revised by the Labor Department to reflect that 50,000 new hires had gone previously unreported.

Third consecutive month of decreasing unemployment

The unemployment rate has declined for the third month in a row. The rate of unemployment has waxed and waned for the past several years, and there have been declines noted all along the way, but the unemployment rate declined nearly an entire percentage point from December to February, marking significant progress. The number of initial unemployment claims fell to 368,000 recently, marking a three-year low for new filers. More than 9 million people are claiming unemployment benefits, according to Forbes.  The economy is projected by the Federal Reserve to grow between 3.5 and 4 percent during 2011, though rising gas prices are sure to cause some hiccups over the next few months.

Government spending cuts could scuttle recovery

Congressional Republicans are on a mission to drastically cut the federal budget down to size, which some economists believe will negate any progress made toward curbing the high rate of unemployment, according to CBS. Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, predicted that the House Republican plan to cut $61 billion from the federal budget could result in more than 700,000 people losing their jobs. A similar projection was also released by Goldman Sachs, though the objection was raised immediately that Zandi had been one of the most prominent supporters of the various stimulus packages and had claimed that unemployment would stay below 8 percent with stimulus spending.

Sources

CNN

Los Angeles Times

Forbes

CBS

The sun will rise an hour earlier on March 13, 2011, but a study in Indiana found that daylight saving time increased energy costs. Image: CC Christine Matthews/Geograph

Daylight saving time 2011 begins Sunday, March 13. It will be the fifth year since Congress changed daylight saving time in the U.S. from the first Sunday in April to the second Sunday in March. The change was mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, but extending daylight saving time has not proven to save energy.

Daylight saving time: winners and losers

Daylight saving time 2011 moves clocks forward one hour at 2 a.m. on March 13 everywhere in the U.S. except Arizona and Hawaii. Saving energy has been the rationale for daylight saving time since it was first implemented by Germany in World War I to save coal. In theory, extending daylight hours with daylight saving time saves energy by reducing the need for electric lighting. However, it has been argued that manipulating clocks to save energy is the equivalent of extending the length of a rope by cutting off one end and attaching it to the other. Daylight saving time is controversial because it benefits industries in retail and outdoor recreation, yet causes difficulties for such industries as farming and entertainment.

Energy saving benefits called into question

To promote energy savings, a provision in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended the period of daylight saving time by four weeks. The change amended the Uniform Time Act of 1966, and the earlier “spring forward” time was first enacted on March 11, 2007. Authors of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 claimed that extending daylight saving time would add up to a total energy savings in the U.S. of up to 1 percent. However, a study in Indiana after that state put all counties on daylight saving time in 2006 found a net decrease in energy savings. Converting the entire state to daylight saving time cost Indiana households an extra $8.6 million in utility bills due to higher heating costs in the morning and and higher air conditioning costs in the afternoon.

Daylight saving time pros and cons

Daylight saving time hasn’t been proven to save energy, but research has noted an increase of heart attacks during the first week of daylight saving time, attributed to sleep deprivation. On the positive side, research has found that daylight saving time reduces fatal car crashes and vehicle collisions with pedestrians.

Sources

U.S. News and World Report

Wall Street Journal

Wikipedia

Sirhan Sirhan claims to not remember murdering Robert F. Kennedy, and his lawyer argues he was brainwashed into committing the crime. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Sirhan Sirhan, the man who was convicted for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, claims that he does not remember killing Kennedy. Sirhan, a Palestinian immigrant, claims not to remember shooting Kennedy, though he was apprehended at the scene while firing a pistol. His attorney claims he was brainwashed into committing the crime.

Attorney says Sirhan was victim of brainwashing

At an upcoming parole hearing, the lawyer representing convicted murderer Sirhan Sirhan will argue that Sirhan was the victim of  brainwashing, which led his client to assassinate Robert F. Kennedy, according to MSNBC. Sirhan was convicted of the 1968 assassination of Kennedy, younger brother to President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General during the JFK administration. Sirhan’s attorney, William F. Pepper, maintains that his client was the subject of a brainwashing scheme, similar to the plot of “The Manchurian Candidate,” a film about a man brainwashed into assassinating a politician. Pepper maintains that the conditioning Sirhan received resulted in Sirhan shooting Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in June of 1968.

No memory of shooting Kennedy

For some time, Sirhan has maintained that he has no recollection of shooting Robert Kennedy. However, according to the Daily Mail, Sirhan said during his trial that he had committed the crime “with 20 years of malice aforethought,” and that he had committed the crime “for my country,” referencing Kennedy’s support of Israel during the Six Days War of 1967. He was initially sentenced to death, but the Kennedy family opposed the use of the death penalty. His sentence was changed to life in prison after Supreme Court case Furman vs. Georgia led to a national moratorium on the death penalty from 1972 to 1976.

Lax pursuit of parole

Sirhan Sirhan has not been very proactive in pursuing parole. He rarely attends hearings, mostly sending an attorney, and he has declined to send counsel on several occasions. However, his apprehension at the scene makes establishing his innocence or securing his release unlikely. Sirhan was wrestled to the ground by hotel staff and several Kennedy supporters, including journalist George Plimpton and Olympic athlete Rafer Johnson, while still firing his revolver.

Sources

MSNBC

Daily Mail

The Wisconsin Assembly has passed the bill snuffing collective bargaining rights for unionized state employees, but it is unlikely to pass the Wisconsin Senate. Photo Credit: Joe Rowley/Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY

The Wisconsin Assembly has passed the controversial bill diminishing collective bargaining rights of state employees who are union members. The Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin state legislature. Before the bill can go to  Gov. Scott Walker, it has to pass the Wisconsin Senate.

Wisconsin State Senate lacks enough members to pass bill

The Wisconsin Assembly has passed SB11, the controversial bill taking away collective bargaining rights from unionized employees of the state. However, the bill isn’t likely to go anywhere, as there are not enough members of the Wisconsin Senate present in the state to pass the bill, according to MSNBC. The 19 Republican members of the Senate are present, but that’s one person shy of the 20-person quorum,  the minimum number of people required to officially vote on the bill. The Wisconsin Senate is missing 14 Democrats who have decided to flee the capital in protest of the bill. No voting on any legislation can occur until the Senators return.

Assembly Democrats cry foul

The controversial bill was passed in a manner that Wisconsin Democrats view as dishonest. After 60 hours of debate, in which Democrat lawmakers had filibustered and proposed numerous amendments to stall the bill, Wisconsin Assembly Republicans voted to kill debate and called for a quick roll call vote. The bill passed 51 to 17 before some Democrats knew what was transpiring, and 28 failed to vote in time, according to Bloomberg. Attempts to reach out to the absent Senate Democrats by sending Wisconsin state troopers to their homes have been for naught, as they remain in exile in Urbana, Ill. for the time being.

Governor refused to compromise

Gov. Scott Walker, recently the subject of a prank call in which he made controversial statements to a man he thought was campaign donor David Koch, has refused to work with unions at all in resolving the Wisconsin state budget woes. The bill mandates union employees absorb more costs for their pension and health care plans, which unions have agreed to. However, the affected unions have maintained they need to retain collective bargaining rights, which Walker refuses to compromise on. The only state employee unions in Wisconsin that will retain collective bargaining rights are police and firefighter unions.

Sources

MSNBC

Bloomberg

By the time space shuttle Discovery completes its final mission, it will have flown farther and higher than any other ship in the fleet. Image: CC Nasa Images

The space shuttle Discovery launch on Feb. 24 is the third-to-last flight in the 30-year space shuttle program. On board Discovery for its 39th and final mission is a robot known as R2, or Robonaut 2. Discovery is the oldest space shuttle and at the end of this mission will have flown more than 143 million miles, more than any other shuttle in the fleet.

Discovery’s final mission

The space shuttle Discovery launch sends it on an 11-day mission to the International Space Station. Discovery’s final mission was originally scheduled for Nov. 1, 2010, but it was delayed repeatedly by cracks in the structural frame of the shuttle’s external tank. Once Discovery is finally in orbit, it will install a compartment for experiments and storage on the International Space Station. The star of the mission will be R2, a $2 million humanoid “robonaut” that human astronauts have brought along to demonstrate how useful robots can be in space.

Discovery’s storied career

The first space shuttle Discovery launch took place on Aug. 30, 1984. After the Challenger disaster in 1988 and the Columbia disaster in 2003 sidetracked NASA’s space shuttle program, Discovery was the first ship to return to space. In 38 flights, NASA engineers said Discovery had fewer in-flight problems than any other ship in the history of the program. By the time Discovery ends its final mission it will have made 5,628 Earth orbits, spent 363 days in space and carried 246 astronauts, more than any other shuttle.

The space shuttle’s swan song

NASA space shuttles were certified to fly 100 missions. Every shuttle in the fleet will have flown considerably fewer missions than certified when the program reaches its end. The final mission of Discovery will be followed by Endeavour’s swan song in April and, if all goes according to plan, Atlantis will officially end the space shuttle program in June. After Atlantis lifts off, the U.S. will have no government-owned spacecraft prepared to launch for the first time in 60 years. Discovery and its sister ships are destined to go on display in museums.

Sources

Space.com

Chicago Tribune

ABC News

Fox News

The Saudi student's Bush home bomb plot could mean life in prison if he was planning to kill George W. Bush. Image: Wikimedia Commons

Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, a Saudi student in Texas, has been arrested and accused of planning a bombing. Allegedly, the Saudi student’s Bush home bomb plot was intended to kill George W. Bush. The bomb plot was discovered when a chemical company reported “suspicious purchases” to the police.

Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari arrested in Texas

Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari was arrested on Wednesday morning by FBI agents. The South Plains College student, who has been in the United States since 2008, is accused of a bomb plot that would have targeted the Bush home. Aldawasri is accused of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. The FBI has searched Aldawsari’s apartment twice, revealing concentrated acids, wiring, clocks and a Hazmat suit.

Bush home bomb plot funded by scholarships

In a notebook that FBI agents believe belongs to Aldawsari, plans for “Jihad … [that will] target the infidel Americans” were outlined. Aldawsari reportedly received a scholarship that he applied for with the intention of carrying out “Jihad” in the United States. In addition to attending school, Aldawsari made an effort to learn English and how to make explosives. Allegedly, Aldawsari sent himself e-mails identifying potential targets that included homes of U.S. military troops, dams and former President George W. Bush’s home.

Chemical company led to Saudi student arrest

Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari came to the attention of federal officials when a chemical company reported him to the police. Aldawsari attempted to purchase concentrated phenol, which can be used to make picric acid, an explosive component. Aldawsari claimed that the chemical was for “off-campus, personal research.” The company found his behavior suspicious and called the police. Federal agents opened an investigation, and within weeks, the arrest was made. The Saudi student’s Bush home bomb plot could mean up to life in prison and a $250,000 fine if he is found guilty. Former President George W. Bush has been informed of the threat, but he has not made a public statement about it.

Sources

MSNBC
NY Daily News

Rahm Emanuel has been elected Mayor of Chicago. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

The election results are in, and Chicago voters have elected Rahm Emanuel as Mayor of Chicago. Emanuel, the former firebrand White House Chief of Staff for the Obama administration, had to overcome serious legal challenges to his candidacy but handily won the election. He will be inaugurated in May.

Runoff avoided as Emanuel yields majority of votes

Speculation had been rampant that the Chicago mayoral election would result in a second runoff election because candidates wouldn’t receive a sufficient majority of votes, meaning more than 50 percent. In some areas, such as Chicago, a two-round voting system is implemented in the case that no candidate receives more than 50 percent of votes. Rahm Emanuel received 55 percent of the votes in the Chicago election, according to the Christian Science Monitors, avoiding a runoff and becoming the mayor-elect. The closest competition that Rahm faced for mayor was Gery Chico, former Chief of Staff for outgoing Mayor Richard Daley. Chico received 24 percent of the vote.

Legal obstacles

Rahm Emanuel had faced legal challenges in his bid to become the 55th mayor of Chicago. Early on, his candidacy was challenged in court on the grounds that he lived primarily in Washington, D.C., as he was the Chief of Staff for the Obama White House and thus wasn’t a true resident of Chicago, according to the Washington Post. However, a series of appeals that went to the Illinois Supreme Court, which found in favor of Emanuel. He entered a field of six final candidates, and emerged the clear winner.

Emanuel replaces Chicago legend

Rahm Emanuel is taking over from Mayor Richard M. Daley, who has served as Mayor of Chicago since 1989, according to CBS. Emanuel faces a budget deficit of $655 million and rising crime rates. One of his first promises in his victory speech was to add another 1,000 police officers to the City of Chicago and to cut at least $75 million in his first month in office.

Sources

Christian Science Monitor

Washington Post

CBS

New York University has accepted the resignation of Nir Rosen after he made disparaging remarks about Lara Logan. Image: Wikimedia Commons

CBS reporter Lara Logan has spoken out about a violent sexual assault she experienced while reporting in Egypt. Fellow reporter Nir Rosen has resigned from his fellowship at NYU after his reaction raised eyebrows — and ire. Nir Rosen has since apologized to Lara Logan, but the damage from his remarks appears to be done.

CBS reporter Lara Logan’s assault

While she was reporting on the protests in Egypt, Lara Logan was repeatedly hassled as a possible Israeli spy. In the crush of people in Tahrir Square on Friday night, Lara Logan was separated from her crew. According to a CBS statement, Logan was “surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating.” Logan was eventually saved by a group of women and soldiers. She is back in the United States and plans to return to work within weeks.

Nir Rosen’s attacks on Lara Logan

Nir Rosen is a freelance reporter and author who was, until today, a fellow at New York University’s Center on Law and Security. On his Twitter account this week, Rosen repeatedly attempted to make light of Lara Logan’s sexual assault. First, Nir Rosen accused Logan of trying to “outdo” Anderson Cooper, who was hit in the head while reporting in Egypt. After some of his Twitter followers responded negatively, Nir Rosen continued to dig himself deeper by saying:

“Yes yes its wrong what happened to her. Of course. I don’t support that. But, it would have been funny if it happened to Anderson too”

“Jesus Christ, at a moment when she is going to become a martyr and glorified we should at least remember her role as a major war monger”

“Look, she was probably groped like thousands of other women, which is still wrong, but if it was worse than [sic] I’m sorry”

Aftereffects of Rosen’s comments on Logan

The reaction to Nir Rosen’s comments about Lara Logan has been near-immediate. Rosen resigned from New York University and deleted the messages, saying he was “too ashamed of how i have hurt others and the false impression i gave of who i am.” Though Rosen has lost his job and is being lambasted for misogyny and insensitivity, many are wondering why New York University wasn’t more swift and harsh in its reaction to Nir Rosen.

Sources

Washington Post
Politics Daily

The Real Life Superheroes are donning costumes to fight crime and do good works. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Over the past few years, there has been a rising number of real-life comic book style superheroes. Real people are putting on costumes and going out to perform charitable works and try to fight crime. Costumed crusaders were the subject of “Superheroes,” a documentary that was shown at the Slamdance Film Festival.

Caped crusaders break out of comic books

There are real life superheroes patrolling city streets all over North America, performing a wide variety of functions to serve the greater good. Many belong to an organization called Real Life Superheroes” a registry and database of civilians who don capes, masks or any other costume they see fit and go out into their communities to perform civil services. Many of them don’t physically confront criminals, according to MSNBC, but they patrol areas to encourage community awareness of crime and other social problems. Many of these real life caped crusaders focus on charitable works. Portland, Ore., based Zetaman, creator of the Real Life Superheroes website, often goes out distributing food, blankets and other supplies to the homeless.

Documentary calls attention to phenomenon

A documentary about real life superheroes titled “Superheroes” recently debuted at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, where the Sundance Film Festival is held every year. The film is creating some buzz and calling more attention to the services that the Real Life Superheroes perform. They do encounter danger; a superhero in Seattle, Wash., called Phoenix Jones appeared on “Good Morning America” after he received a broken nose while trying to break up a street fight.

Not the first of their kind

The Real Life Superheroes are certainly attracting attention, but community responsibility and involvement is not new in the United States. Since the 1970s, an all-volunteer neighborhood watch group called the Guardian Angels has been patrolling communities all over the world, and they do intervene with crimes in progress. The group, according to Reuters, has lately been very active in cities such as Camden, New Jersey, that lost police officers to budget cuts. The Guardian Angels, founded by Curtis Sliwa, are now located in 144 cities across 15 countries.

Sources

MSNBC

Real Life Superheroes

Reuters

Washington Sports Club was the last place Chandra Levy was seen alive. CC by dbking/Flickr

One of the most famous cold cases in recent history has been drawn to a close. A Washington, D.C., judge sentenced Chandra Levy’s killer to 60 years behind bars. Initially, former congressman Gary Condit was a suspect because the two were having an affair, but evidence pointed strongly to Ingmar Guandique, who was convicted in November of 2010. Guandique was already serving time in prison for attacking women in the same area Levy’s body was found at the time of her disappearance.

Illegal immigrant already serving time

When Chandra Levy disappeared in 2001, many thought it was a cover up for Gary Condit, a Congressman with whom she was having an affair. Condit lost his position in the House of Representatives because of the affair. Levy’s remains were found in 2002 in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. A man who had been convicted of attacks on other women, Salvadoran illegal immigrant, Ingmar Guandique, became a prime suspect. Levy jogged in the Rock Creek Park area, and Guandique already had been convicted of assaulting women who jogged there.

Guandique given a 60-year sentence

Ingmar Guandique was already serving time for his previous assaults and was convicted of murdering Levy in November 2010. The New York Times says the judge sentenced him to twice the minimum and just short of the maximum penalty of life in prison, giving him a total of 60 years for murder. Judge Gerald Fisher stated that he would not get life in prison because Guandique was “close to” but not “the worst of all the worst.” At the sentencing hearing, Chandra Levy’s mother said to Guandique, “You are lower than a cockroach … (expletive) you,” according to MSNBC.

Judge says no to a new trial

Judge Fisher denied a new trial, which was requested by Guandique’s attorneys. In evidence, prosecuting attorneys said the reason Guandique left El Salvador was that he’d been caught attacking women there. Defense attorneys argued that jurors had shared notes during a trial, but the judge said that the evidence against him wasn’t affected by that minor technical issue.

Articles cited

New York Times

MSNBC

Reuters

F18 flyovers cost hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars but are dual-purpose missions. Image: Flickr / russwalker / CC-BY

The Super Bowl flyover has been a tradition for many years. This year’s Super Bowl flyover of five Navy F-18s is estimated to have cost taxpayers $450,000. The Navy points out that these flyovers are training missions, but some question the amount spent to fly over sporting events.

Cost estimates for Super Bowl flyover

The flyover for Super Bowl XLV used Navy F-18s that traveled from Virgina Beach, Va., to Cowboys Stadium in Texas. Though the ceremony has become traditional, the spectators for this Super Bowl flyover saw it only on screens because the retractable roof on the football stadium was closed. The Department of Defense estimates that this five-plane, one-minute flyover cost taxpayers about $450,000. The U.S. Navy confirms that the fuel alone for the trip cost about $109,000.

Dual purpose for flyovers

The U.S. Military undertakes flyovers at a wide variety of sporting events. Each year, the Air Force and Navy receive more than 3,000 requests for flyovers and approve fewer than 900 of them. Both the Navy and Air Force take the cost of these flyovers out of their training budgets. The airtime is used to train pilots in navigation, formation flying and for in-air experience. Both military branches also consider these flyovers to be recruiting events, though there are “precision squadrons,” such as the Blue Angels, that are specifically used for performance and recruiting.

Was the Super Bowl flyover a waste?

There are many questioning whether the Super Bowl flyover was a waste of taxpayer money. Keeping a military aircraft in the air can cost up to $150,000 per hour, depending on the craft. Pilots do need training time and experience to prepare before being sent to conflict areas. Still, many question whether these flyovers are the best use of training time and budget. What do you think about the Super Bowl flyover? Is it a good dual-use public spectacle of training dollars or a waste of taxpayer money?

Source

KHOU

The Gawker leak of e-mails and photos sent to a Craigslist personals ad has caused Chris Lee to resign from the New York House of Representatives. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Christopher Lee has resigned as congressman because of a leaked photo, which he had sent to a woman he met on Craigslist. Lee is a Republican congressman from New York and in the middle of his second term. He announced his resignation seemingly to head off a scandal before it got out of hand.

False claims in personals ad response by ‘Craigslist congressman’

Christopher Lee’s resignation from the New York House of Representatives was the culmination of events that began on Craigslist. Photos were leaked to popular site Gawker.com, according to the Washington Post. Lee responded to a personal ad on Craigslist by an unnamed woman who lived in Maryland. In the ad, the woman asked “will someone prove to me not all CL men look like toads?” Lee, beginning his second term in the House of Representatives, wrote her back claiming that he was a lobbyist on Capitol Hill and that he was younger than his actual age of 46. The two bantered back and forth, but the ruse was discovered once he sent her pictures of himself.

Pictures lead to Gawker leak

When Lee sent shirtless pictures of himself, his Craigslist correspondent asked if he habitually sent pictures of himself topless, and he said that it was “all I had.” As the two kept e-mailing each other, eventually she asked about his marital status, to which he replied that he was divorced. Lee is married and has a son. Vaguely recognizing the photograph, she searched the internet for his name and discovered he was actually older than 40, married and a congressman from the 26th District of New York. She sent the e-mails and pictures to Gawker.com, and the news broke.

Gawker forces resignation

Gawker.com published the pictures and the e-mails on Wednesday., Feb. 9, and the story quickly gained online momentum. Lee wrote a letter to John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, notifying him that he was resigning within hours of the news breaking, according to NPR. A clerk read the letter aloud on the floor later in the day. A special election will have to be called by Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, to replace him.

Sources

Washington Post

NPR

E-mails and photos on Gawker

The defeat of a Patriot Act bill extending government surveillance authority caught House Republican leaders flatfooted. Image: Dyanna/Flickr

When a bill extending key Patriot Act provisions failed to pass in the House, the Republican leadership was eating crow. Several Tea Party freshmen legislators broke from the ranks to side with Democrats in defeating the bill. House Democrats gloated at the apparent state of disarray among the Republican majority, which as a minority had voted in lock-step against any Democratic measure.

Patriot Act surveillance due to expire

The Patriot Act of 2001 laid the foundation for the establishment of a surveillance state. Patriot Act surveillance provisions that failed to pass the House Tuesday would have allowed the FBI to continue using court-approved “roving wiretaps” to inspect library records and to snoop into anything deemed relevant to a terrorism investigation. A “lone-wolf” provision allowing surveillance of noncitizens with no proven terrorist ties was also in the defeated bill. If House Republicans can’t come up with a bill that satisfies their Tea Party acolytes, the government’s power to spy on Americans and noncitizens using these approaches expires on Feb. 28.

Patriot Act no longer a slam dunk

House Republican leaders may have thought the Patriot Act bill would be a slam dunk. To avoid hearings on the bill, the vote was held under “fast track” rules requiring a two-thirds vote to pass. Even though House Speaker John Boehner held the roll call on the bill about a half hour longer than the allotted 15 minutes, the Patriot Act bill failed 277 to 148. Twenty-six republicans voted against the bill, including eight Tea Party freshmen. After the Patriot Act bill was defeated, GOP leaders withdrew a trade bill from a floor vote because they realized any form of Republican legislation wasn’t necessarily guaranteed to pass.

House GOP challenged to govern

After easily delivering legislation on repealing the health care law, the Patriot Act setback called attention to the difficult transition from opposition to actually governing for Republicans. Boehner vowed that the Patriot Act provisions would ultimately be extended. He blamed Democrats for the bill’s failure. Majority Leader Eric Cantor. R-Va., accused Democrats of not being serious about national security. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., told CNN “I think our Republican colleagues are struggling with the burden of leadership and clearly they have not found their footing going forward.”

Sources

Christian Science Monitor

The Hill

CNN

HR 3, a Republican bill written to make getting abortions harder, included the discredited term "forcible rape." Image: CC Yire Shalom 300/Flickr

By writing a bill with language that includes the term “forcible rape,” Republican males in Congress invited an angry backlash in their effort to control reproductive choices of American women. HR 3, a Republican anti-abortion bill called the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, included cases of “forcible rape” as an exception. House Republicans scratched forcible rape from the bill after being accused of trying to change the definition of rape for political purposes.

Note to Republicans: rape is rape

“Forcible rape” is a discredited term widely perceived to imply that some forms of rape aren’t a violent crime. Republicans wrote HR 3 by inserting the term into existing legislation called the Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment is a provision barring the use of certain federal funds for abortions that isn’t a permanent law. It’s called a “rider” that Republicans have attached to key spending bills since 1976. The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act is an effort by House Republicans to make the Hyde Amendment permanent. After scorching criticism from women’s groups and a widely viewed satire on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” mocking the use of the term, Republicans believed removing “forcible rape” from the bill would put the fire out.

Forcible rape and other fine print in HR 3

The original language of the Hyde Amendment lists exceptions for abortions that could be federally funded that include rape, incest or life-threatening illnesses. In HR. 3, Republicans changed the language to exempt only pregnancies resulting from “forcible rape,” not rape cases where the use of force could not be proved. Republicans also wrote HR 3 to exclude statutory rape and limit exemptions for incest to minors only. HR 3 would also hike taxes on Americans with private insurance plans that cover abortions.

Outrage over HR 3 not quelled

Removing the term “forcible rape” from HR 3 did little to quell criticism of the bill. Provisions disqualifying pregnancies resulting from statutory rape or incest in women 18 or older remain in HR 3. Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, told CBS News she found it “deeply offensive” that House Republicans would delete “forcible” but leave in the language regarding incest. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said “I consider the proposal of this bill a violent act against women.” As a top priority for House Republicans, hearings on H.R. 3 start next week.

Sources

CBS News

Washington Post

Mother Jones

Wikipedia