Am 9. Januar wird Microsofts CEO Steve Ballmer die CES 2012 mit seiner Keynote er?ffnen.
(Jan Apostel)
Source: http://www.hartware.net/news_53600.html
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? In a bid to end a worsening standoff over extending a tax break for Americans, President Barack Obama urged Republican House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday to pass a short-term extension and return to talks on a year-long deal in the New Year.
While Boehner showed no immediate signs of backing down on his demand that Congress tackle the long-term deal to extend a payroll tax cut before it expires at year's end, calls for compromise in his own party grew. With 2012 elections looming, some Republicans fear they will be blamed for letting the tax bill rise on January 1 for 160 million Americans.
Obama telephoned Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, to stress his willingness to work with Congress to get an agreement on the expiring payroll tax cut for 160 million Americans, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
Obama asked Boehner and House Republicans to drop their opposition to a short-term measure that the Senate passed overwhelmingly at the weekend and signaled an unwillingness to reopen negotiations now, as Republicans are demanding.
Obama and many economists say the payroll tax cut is crucial to the country's fragile economic recovery.
"The president reiterated the need and his commitment to work with Congress to extend the payroll tax cuts for the entire year," Carney said, adding that the two-month extension negotiated by the Senate was "the only option to ensure that middle class families are not hit with a tax hike in 10 days."
While Obama is not reopening talks, his gesture on Wednesday might be seen as a nod to Republican demands. It came just hours after Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor called for the president to get directly involved to resolve the dispute.
Meanwhile, House Republicans have been coming under heavy fire from fellow Senate Republicans and conservatives over their refusal to consider the two-month deal eked out by the Senate leadership on Friday night. Senate negotiators had been unable to agree on how to pay for a longer-term extension.
'WHEN PAYCHECKS GET SMALLER'
"The smartest thing for (House Republicans) to do would be to pass this (bipartisan Senate bill), live to fight another day and then push for a full-year extension," a senior Senate Republican aide said.
"If and when paychecks get smaller, people are going to ask, 'Why?'" the aide said. "We (Republicans) get the blame, Washington gets the blame and it won't be great for Senate Democrats either," the aide said.
The standoff caps a tumultuous year in U.S. politics that has raised serious concerns among both voters and investors about Washington's ability to make sound economic policy and slow the growth of its trillion dollar-plus deficit.
In the final days of the payroll tax cut debate, Republicans
are in unfamiliar territory after a year of largely winning the battle on taxes and budgets. They are now struggling to live up to their reputation as the party of lower taxes, while hardball tactics that had served them well before might now backfire.
Boehner's control over his caucus, which includes many Tea Party movement-aligned fiscal conservatives, has also come under increased scrutiny after House members revolted against the Senate deal.
Senate Democrats, sensing they have a political advantage on an issue that has sharply divided Republicans in the Senate and the House, are refusing to reopen negotiations. Most have already left Washington for the holidays.
The showdown has the potential to deliver a political lift to Obama and his Democrats at the expense of Republicans who want to make 2012 a referendum on Obama's handling of the economy.
"Obama doesn't have to offer that much right now," said Julian Zelizer, a political historian at Princeton University. The Republicans are the ones that have come out looking bad. Obama isn't putting much on the table beyond saying think twice about this and let's reach an agreement."
Obama seemed to agree. After the calls to Boehner and Reid, he went Christmas shopping with dog Bo while his wife and daughters waited for him to join them in Hawaii.
EMPTY CHAIRS
The day started off with mounting pressure on Boehner and House Republicans to end the standoff, from Reid to fellow Republicans to the opinion page of the Wall Street Journal.
As the war of messages escalated, Boehner called reporters, photographers and TV crews to a room on Capitol Hill where he sat at a high-glossed wooden table flanked by Cantor and eight House Republican negotiators.
"We are here ready to do our work," Boehner said. Across the table were the empty chairs reserved for the Democratic negotiators.
An editorial in the Wall Street Journal, which has often disagreed vehemently with Obama's economic policies, gave Republicans a scathing critique of their handling of the payroll tax cut issue, saying they "achieved the small miracle of letting Mr. Obama position himself as an election-year tax cutter."
The editorial urged Republicans "to cut their losses and find a way to extend the payroll holiday quickly."
The Wall Street Journal editorial page often gives insight into the thinking of leading conservatives in U.S. business and politics. Wednesday's editorial, headlined "The GOP's Payroll Tax Fiasco" suggests widespread anxiety among conservatives over the House Republican tactics.
A number of Republican senators have also blasted their House colleagues over their handling of the issue.
Republican Senator Scott Brown said: "House Republicans would rather continue playing politics than find solutions" and added that their actions would damage a fragile economy.
If the Congress cannot reach a deal by December 31, the payroll tax American workers pay to fund the Social Security federal retirement program will rise immediately to 6.2 percent, from 4.2 percent.
Many economists and the White House warn that U.S. economic growth will suffer in 2012 as most workers would be hit with an effective $1,000-a-year tax hike.
(Writing by Ross Colvin and Mary Milliken, additional reporting by Caren Bohan, Laura MacInnis, Kim Dixon and Paul Eckert; Editing by Vicki Allen)
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Akihito expressed gratitude to all who have worked in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which devastated northeastern Japan and left 20,000 people dead or missing. Those he thanked included military personnel, residents of northeastern Japan, volunteers, workers at a hobbled nuclear plant and overseas contributors to relief efforts.
"Looking back on this year, I must say this has been a truly distressing year, dominated by disasters," he said in a statement from the Imperial Household Agency.
"I feel that the Japanese people have come together as a nation to squarely face the disaster," said Akihito, smiling next to his wife, Empress Michiko, who was dressed in a pale beige dress.
He was accompanied by his two sons and their wives.
Akihito, the son of Hirohito ? who announced Japan's surrender after World War II ? said Japanese people have learned their lesson from history and have vowed never to go to war again. He urged everyone not to forget that lesson of peace, despite the passage of time.
Akihito was hospitalized last month for a fever and an infection, but appeared to be in good health. He said he felt better and thanked people for worrying about his health.
Akihito has three eligible male successors ? his two sons and a grandson.
Japan's emperor, revered as divine during the wartime years, now has a largely ceremonial function as a "symbol of the nation."
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Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsGamecore/~3/FkTbJPF7lt4/
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NEW YORK (AP) ? Fewer people will fly this holiday season, but flights will still be packed.
That's according to a forecast released Tuesday by the main trade group representing U.S. airlines. Airlines for America predicts that about 43.3 million travelers will fly on U.S. carriers over the three-week holiday period, a 1 percent decline from a year earlier. That works out to about 20,000 fewer people per day. The trade group attributes the decline to "lingering economic concerns" and high energy prices that are limiting would-be travelers' disposable income.
About 1.6 million to 2.3 million people are forecast to fly each day between Wednesday and the first week of January.
Even with fewer passengers, fliers won't have more room to stretch out. Flights will be full because airlines have reduced the number of flights and planes, the trade group said.
Packed planes don't just mean less leg room, though. Fuller planes also mean more delays if something goes wrong. Last year, when major snowstorms shut airports and crippled airlines, millions of travelers waited days to find other travel options.
A4A didn't offer a specific forecast for what passengers are paying to fly. But its chief economist, John Heimlich, expects fares in December will be on par with the rest of 2011, or about 10 percent higher than a year ago.
Even with higher fares, A4A notes that airlines are holding on to less than a penny in profit for every dollar in revenue. That's because operating expenses, mostly due to higher fuel prices, are climbing just as fast as sales.
Travelers bracing for packed planes and long lines should keep these tips in mind to make travel run smoothly:
AT HOME
? Check in a full 24 hours ahead of your flight. This will help in getting the seat you want and possibly give you a leg up later on. Some airlines board fliers according to check-in times.
? Don't forget your bags. When you check in online, make sure you indicate if you have a checked bag. Checking in luggage online will save time at the airport.
? Arm yourself with information. Look up the airline's customer service number and its contract of carriage ? the list of rights you have on a flight ? on the airline's website before you leave home. It'll pay off if something goes wrong.
? Brings snacks and an empty water bottle. You can fill the water bottle after you go through security.
? Don't wrap gifts. The TSA will unwrap anything they deem suspicious. Don't risk it.
? Pack sensibly. The holidays might not be the best time to stuff a carry-on to avoid a checked bag fee. Overhead bins will be extremely full.
AT THE AIRPORT
? Arrive early. It's the easiest way to de-stress your trip.
? Plot your attack. There are smartphone applications that let you check everything from the emptiest parking lots to security wait times. You can also sign up for flight alerts though the airlines or online travel sites that will let you know if you know if your flight is delayed or canceled.
? Wear slip-on shoes. They're the easiest to get on and off at security. This year, though, kids under 12 won't have to remove their shoes.
? Think like a seasoned traveler. Have your liquids in a plastic bag outside of your suitcase before approaching security. Take off your belt, and remove everything from your pockets (new body scanners are more sensitive to those items than metal detectors.) Also, have your boarding pass and identification in your hand to speed things up.
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LONDON ? The British government will restructure the country's banks by separating their retail activities from riskier investment banking operations, Business Secretary Vince Cable said Sunday.
Cable said the government will comply with the recommendations of an independent commission set up after the 2008 banking crisis and "proceed with the separation of the banks."
"It's absolutely right that we make the British economy safe," Cable told the BBC. "We just cannot risk having a repetition of that financial catastrophe that we had three years ago."
Treasury chief George Osborne is due to lay out the government's plans in Parliament on Monday. Cable told the BBC that the necessary legislation would be passed before the government's term ends in 2015.
The British government bought up large chunks of the country's banking system after it ran into major financial difficulties during the 2008 credit crunch. The British taxpayer now fully owns mortgage lenders Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, along with 83 percent of Royal Bank of Scotland and 41 percent of Lloyd's Banking Group.
Northern Rock, however, is due to be sold to Richard Branson's Virgin Money.
The Independent Commission on Banking recommended in September that the banks be restructured by 2019 to reduce the risks of taxpayers having to bear the cost of any future bailouts.
The commission, chaired by former Bank of England chief economist John Vickers, said retail banks should be "legally, economically and operationally separate" from the parent companies.
It also recommended that retail banks should be required to boost the amount of equity capital they hold.
The commission estimated its proposals would cost the banks up to 7 billion pounds ($11 billion) a year, and critics of the plan say it could slow lending at a time when the economy is in danger of sliding back into recession.
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Nearly a year away from the 2012 election, we?ll talk to the president?s 2008 campaign manager, now White House Senior Adviser, David Plouffe. Then author of the definitive new biography on the late Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson; Author of the new book ?The Time of Our Lives,? NBC News Special Correspondent, Tom Brokaw; Former Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm; and Republican strategist, Mike Murphy.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/45714394#45714394
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WASHINGTON ? Bipartisan agreement is near on a massive $1 trillion-plus year-end spending package and should be reached in time avert a possible government shutdown this weekend, Senate leaders said Thursday.
The optimism came hours after Republicans said they planned to push the legislation through the House with only GOP votes. Overnight, they unveiled details of the bill, which curbs agency budgets but drops many policy provisions sought by GOP conservatives.
Democrats had been holding up the huge bill, seeking leverage in talks on extending payroll tax cuts and unemployment insurance, two pillars of Obama's jobs agenda.
But Thursday morning, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he had talked to top Senate Democrats who helped write the spending bill and that remaining issues "should be resolvable." He and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., expressed optimism that disputes over that bill and a separate measure extending a payroll tax cut were near an end.
The spending bill contains language to roll back President Barack Obama's loosening of restrictions on the rights of Cuban immigrants to send money to relatives in Cuba or travel to the island to visit them. Earlier this year, the White House promised a veto over the restrictions on travel and gifts, which are supported by many in the GOP-leaning Cuban-American community, a powerful political force in the swing state of Florida.
Release of the legislation came just a couple of hours after the White House issued a statement saying that Obama "continues to have significant concerns about a number of provisions" in the legislation.
White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer called for another stopgap funding bill to buy time for talks on both the spending bill and the payroll tax measure. Funding runs out Friday at midnight.
The underlying bill has bipartisan backing but could encounter turbulence with conservative tea party lawmakers seeking far more significant cuts to government agencies. The measure pays for day-to-day operating budgets of 10 Cabinet departments and programs ranging from border security to flood control to combating AIDS and famine in Africa.
Changes are still possible in the bill before a vote.
On spending, the measure implements this summer's hard-fought budget pact between President Barack Obama and Republican leaders. That deal essentially freezes agency budgets, on average, at levels that were approved back in April for the recently completed budget year.
The bill chips away at the Pentagon budget, foreign aid and environmental spending but boosts funding for veterans programs. The Securities and Exchange Commission, responsible for enforcing new regulations under last year's financial overhaul, won a 10 percent budget increase, even as the tax-collecting IRS absorbs a more than 3 percent cut to its budget.
Popular education initiatives for special-needs children and disadvantaged schools were basically frozen and Obama's cherished "Race to the Top" initiative, which provides grants to better-performing schools, would absorb a more than 20 percent cut.
Environmentalists scored clear wins in stopping virtually every significant GOP initiative to roll back Environmental Protection Agency rules. Most importantly, industry forces seeking to block new greenhouse gas and clean air rules, as well as a new clean water regulation opposed by mountaintop removal mining interests, were denied. But Republicans succeeded in blocking new energy efficiency standards for light bulbs and won delays to a new Labor Department rule requiring a reduction of coal dust responsible for black lung disease.
Drafted behind closed doors, the proposed bill would provide $115 billion for overseas security operations in Afghanistan and Iraq but give the Pentagon just a 1 percent boost in annual spending not directly related to the wars. The Environmental Protection Agency's budget would be cut by 3.5 percent. Foreign aid spending would drop and House lawmakers would absorb a 6 percent cut to their office budgets.
The measure generally consists of relatively small adjustments to thousands of individual programs. Agencies like the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement will get a boost within the Homeland Security Department, while GOP defense hawks won additional funding to modernize the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. The troubled, over-budget, next-generation F-35 fighter plane program would be largely protected.
Social conservatives won a ban on government-funded abortions in Washington, D.C., and restored a longstanding ban on funding for needle exchange programs used to prevent the spread of HIV. But efforts to take away federal funding for Planned Parenthood failed, as expected.
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