Clock winding down on stimulus compromise
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Democrats wrestled over billions of dollars in potential cuts to education spending Friday as senators searched for a compromise to pass what is now a $900 billion economic recovery plan.
Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska, emerges Friday from Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and other Republicans in an early morning meeting told CNN Radio that they’ve handed over a list of potential cuts to Democratic leaders and are waiting for a response.
"The ball’s really in their court," Collins said. A few hours later, Collins walked out of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office smiling and told reporters, "We’re close."
The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, confirmed Democrats are in a tough debate over cutting what they see as core programs. He singled out education as one of the largest areas of potential cuts — and one of the hardest for Democrats to swallow.
"It’s a painful area for all of us, as Democrats, to make these cuts in education assistance," he said.
There are "substantial" proposed cuts to a $79 billion fund created to help states deal with the economic crisis by giving them more money for schools, Durbin said.
Putting more pressure on senators was news Friday that employers slashed another 598,000 jobs off U.S. payrolls in January, taking the unemployment rate up to 7.6 percent.
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"This is not some abstract debate. It is an urgent and growing crisis," Obama said at a White House ceremony unveiling a new economic advisory board. "If we drag our feet and fail to act, this crisis will turn into a catastrophe."
The frenzy of meetings on Capitol Hill have shifted into yet a higher and more powerful gear.
White House budget director Peter Orszag left a morning meeting in Reid’s office but would not comment on negotiations. Senators who were meeting in their office buildings Thursday are negotiating directly with Reid just outside the chamber doors.
As a handful of Republicans talk compromise, their former flag bearer and presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, warned that the rest of the GO
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John updike
?Furious’ Bruce Springsteen Calls Foul on Proposed Merger Between Ticketmaster and Live Nation
After issuing a heartfelt mea culpa to his fans who had felt stung when he recently paired with the nefarious corporate monolith that is Wal-Mart, Bruce Springsteen capped off what can only be described as an incredibly successful PR blitz by crotch-sliding his way into the living rooms of millions of Americans during a triumphant Super Bowl halftime performance. His boundless energy and indefatigable spirit won over everyone who saw his twelve-minute medley, save of course for that contrarian grumpypants Stephen Metcalf at Slate, who made the curious decision to douse a bottle of Haterade on Springsteen for failing to include “The Wrestler” in his set list. Despite this blip, the Boss sold some 224,000 copies of his new album, good enough for a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200. However, just when Bruce thought he had left the last lingering bits of bad mojo in the dust, another nefarious corporate monolith put the screws to his loyal fan base: Ticketmaster.
In an incident that eerily paralleled last week’s LiveNation/Phish-ticket-selling fiasco, many users who attempted to buy tickets for Springsteen’s upcoming Working On A Dream tour via Ticketmaster encountered error messages which left them unable to buy tickets. Adding insult to injury, these users were then redirected to TicketsNow, the reselling arm of Ticketmaster, which was offering tickets at prices that far exceeded face value. Needless to say, Springsteen Nation was pissed.
Sensing another possible Wal-Mart situation on his hands, Springsteen quickly jumped on the grenade and posted a strongly-worded response on his official website. Not only did he publicly state his opposition to the possible merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation, but he “condemned [Ticketmaster's] practice” and stated that “the abuse of our fans and our trust by Ticketmaster has made us as furious as it has made many of you.” He then followed up on his rhetoric by giving his fans direct access to the people in charge of this blunder, both by posting the contact information for a Ticketmaster employee named Albert Lopez and by encouraging his fans to get in touch with New Jersey’s attorney general.
Even though we applaud Team Springsteen for learning from the mistakes they made during the Wal-Mart debacle, that doesn’t change the fact that their fans got screwed out of a chance to pay face value to see the Boss. Not all is lost, though; there’s always Bonnaroo! Even better? Now that you don’t have to shower for the next five months, the cash that you save on your water bills oughta be at least enough to cover gas money!
Bruce Springsteen “Furious” At Ticketmaster, Rails Against Live Nation Merger [Rock & Roll Daily/Rolling Stone]
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: Beef, Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, Live Nation, Ticketmaster, Wal-Mart
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Greg behrendt
LAst Night’s Action: Lakers Cold in Toronto
kobe down but not out. ap photo/nathan dennette
LA Lakers defeat Toronto Raptors 115-107. It took three quarters but the Lakers defense finally thawed out and showed up to get the stops against the Raptors. Kobe Bryant scored 36 points far less than the 61 he scored Monday night in Madison Square Garden. Pau Gasol showed his consistency playing center with a 31 point, 15 rebound effort after his 31-14 game Monday night. A little alarming is the fact that Gasol played all but 3:30 of the game while Kobe played for 37:33. With the game tonight against the Boston Celtics, hopefully they don’t have a lethargic performance.
UCLA Bruins defeat USC Trojans 76-60. UCLA used a stout defense to limit the Trojans to only 21 first half points thanks mostly to turnovers. The most surprising thing about the game was how lopsided it was. Even John Wooden left the game with four minutes remaining. USC guard Li’l Romeo aka Percy Miller scored a point in the game, the first point in his college career. While on the free throw line the UCLA student section chanted, “Bow Wow’s Better.” Both teams rest for the weekend.
Minnesota Wild defeat Anaheim Ducks 3-0. The Ducks had 34 shots on goal, but Wild’s goalie Niklas Backstrom saved all of them notching his sixth shutout of the season. While the Kings have a problem with keeping leads in the third period, the Ducks have trouble showing up before the third period.
Orlando Magic defeat LA Clippers 125-96. Nothing to see here.
Notable Notes
Tonight’s Action
LA Lakers at Boston Celtics. My asshole is totally clenched over this one. 5:00 pm TNT, AM 570 KLAC.
LA Kings at Washington Capitals. 4:00 pm FSWest, AM 1150 KTLK.
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Auburn recruiting 2009
Georgia LB chooses USC over Texas
The domino effect may have cost Texas with Jarvis Jones, ranked as a four-star linebacker coming out of Columbus (Ga.) Carver High School.
Jones announced for Southern California, but only after the Trojans failed to sign two top-ranked linebackers. Hawaii’s Manti Te’o decided viagra online kaufen on Notre Dame and home-grown California product Vontaze Burfict selected Arizona State. In other words, Jones wouldn’t have to deal with a crowded recruiting class depth chart at USC.
Texas was considered a close runner levitra rezeptfrei-up because of the relationship between Jones and Longhorns defensive coordinator Will Muschamp from the latter’s time at Auburn.
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Its a mad mad mad mad world
Instability, price hikes, growing unemployment and rising debts risk new administration
Mass demonstrations too.
But not in the US, this is Pakistan. When the “not very much moderates” will fall to the masses - what kind of creature will take control in Paki-hell?
The first nine months of Pakistan Peoples Party rule Farooq Tariq
Instability, price hikes, growing unemployment and rising debts are the hallmarks of the first nine months of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government. There are daily demonstrations across Pakistan around one or another of these issues.
There is a real danger of a war between Pakistan and India after the Mumbai terrorist attack on November 26. The statement by Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari about the doubtful Pakistani identity of Ajmal Qasab, the only terrorist captured alive, did not go down very well within the Indian establishment. The joint war-room meeting of all the Indian government’s important officials is a very serious matter.
Rest Here>>
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The $68 Billion Pfizer-Wyeth Deal Won’t Revive the Moribund Merger Market
When Pfizer Inc. (PFE) unveiled a $68 billion buyout offer for U.S. rival Wyeth (WYE) last week, it sparked hopes that the deal might re-ignite the moribund merger market. But when the levitra rezeptfrei Wall Street dealmakers take a closer look, those flames will likely be doused in cold water.
For those rooting for a revival of buyout activity viagra, the merger of the two companies shows that corporate predators are still on the prowl and adequate financing is still available for some big transactions.
But as Money Morning reported recently as part of its ongoing “Outlook 2009″ economic forecasting series, the credit crisis has put the mergers-and-acquisitions (M&A) market into a deep freeze. And not even the marriage of these two U.S. pharmaceutical giants will…
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Winter storms
Mount Redoubt Volcano in Alaska Likely to Erupt
- Scientists Monitoring it 24/7-
The level of seismic activity at Mount Redoubt Volcano, 106 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, has increased and an eruption is possible within days to weeks.
Scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) are monitoring events round-the-clock. Redoubt Volcano has been assessed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as one of the nation’s highest-threat volcanoes.
Redoubt last erupted explosively nearly 20 years ago, sending ash plumes 40,000 feet into the air and causing engine failure in a 747 jet, which eventually landed safely. Ash also interrupted commercial air traffic into and out of Anchorage, and mudflows from the volcano threatened an oil storage facility near Cook Inlet.
The latest information about Mount Redoubt can be found at: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php
Listen to a podcast interview with Dr. John Eichelberger, USGS Volcano Hazards Program Coordinator, at http://www.usgs.gov/corecast/, Episode 81. You can learn about the USGS Volcano Hazards Program at http://volcanoes.usgs.gov.
The AVO is a partnership of the USGS, University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. Information about all of the current volcanic eruptions in Alaska including activity statements, images, background materials and related hazards can be found at the AVO home page: http://www.avo.alaska.edu.
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Verdi masterpiece
It’s Howdy Doody Time– Or The End Of It
poor meagre (rich boy) adam putnam. as third-ranking chieftain of their demoralized and defeated house caucus, he became the gop’s designated scapegoat when they were swamped in the congressional elections in november. he was quickly pushed aside, in effect, becoming a backbencher with no influence or power and not many prospects for advancement. but putnam, whose colleagues refer to him as “that howdy doody-looking nimrod,” has always seen himself as an up-and-comer, not as a has-been, especially not a 34-year old has-been. since then, it’s been no secret that he’s been planning on switching his political ambitions away from the federal open and back to state diplomacy. so little doody has decided to run into agricultural commissioner of florida, leaving the 12th cd unspoken for. his people claim that the agricultural commission mission is “widely seen” as the door to the governorship– putnam wants it in 2014 when charlie crist would be termed-out– but looking down a lean over of late-model florida governors, we’re seeing another example of putnam making a lame stab on creating his own facts on the ground, facts unconnected to reality. charlie crist was the indoctrination commissioner and then the state attorney general in the vanguard becoming governor and at no time served as agricultural commissioner. jeb bush was just a public operative from a famous family who worked on the side of a stubby time as florida’s secretary of trafficking but under no circumstances served as agricultural commissioner. buddy mackay was a congressman and extremely powerful lt. governor before becoming governor and was not under any condition agricultural commissioner. lawton chiles was a maintain senator and a u.s. senator before becoming governor and was never agricultural commissioner. bob martinez was the mayor of tampa (and a democrat) before becoming governor (and a republican) and not in any degree served as agricultural commissioner. the closest thing to an agricultural commissioner– and this is what may have mixed little doody up– was extreme right wing democrat john wayne mixson who was a farmer and the chairman of florida’s house agriculture committee, though never agricultural commissioner, before being elected lt. governor (and also serving simultaneously as the state’s secretary of commerce) and then becoming governor for 3 days when bob graham became a u.s. senator. graham himself was a state senator before being elected governor and never served as the state agricultural commissioner. in in truth, despite what putnam claims, the job of florida agriculture commissioner is not known as a stepping stone to the governor’s mansion; it’s known as a federal graveyard, fair-minded the strategic pad for putnam.
last november putnam was startled when his underfunded autonomous opponent, doug tudor, did as well against him as the heavily funded democrats in the southern parts of florida did against less high be of profit to incumbents. in 2006 the half-baked florida democratic seconder didn’t even bother to run a candidate against putnam, who still failed to crack 70% of the opinion against unfunded independent candidates. for the 2008 cycle a grassroots campaign by tudor garnered 42.5% of the vote. he received no backup convention the royal or subject get-together. debbie wasserman schultz turned him down flatly (and rudely) when he asked for help from the dccc. now compare the numbers racked up to the numbers of the other candidates who didn’t succeed but who were financed by the dccc. according to the dccc they made independent expenditures in 3 congressional districts lost by democrats:joe garcia- $828,638 (resulting in resulting in 47%)raul martinez- $819,830 (resulting in 42%)tim mahoney- $431,098 (resulting in 40%)the dccc also helped these candidates plus christine jennings arouse a wonderful deal of money. jennings, for example, discharge $2,383,471, much of it raised from democratic pacs taking their route from inside the beltway power mongers, from the poodle unions wish afscme who do whatever rahm emanuel tells them to do, to the clueless demography groups like emily’s list (which endorses candidates primarily based on their plumbing) to bulky donations from right-wing congressional money launderers like the blue dog pac, steny hoyer, late-model classless coalition, debbie wasserman schultz, etc. jennings,
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Buzz of the week
Note: 200 Fans say Goodbye to Shea Stadium
update, 3:10 pm: like i said below, close to 200 desire-hard mets fans went to shea stadium today to say one final goodbye. in favour of pictures, click here and here. also, hat tip to chris and the guys from baseball fever for the purpose getting the ball rolling on this event, which you can read more on every side at newsday. original postal service 12:52 …
Many aided victims of tour-bus crash
sheila larsen held a dying woman’s ovation and stroked her hair. there was debris and blood and chaos around them on the country stretch of highway achat buy viagra online de cialis en ligne outside her family’s diner, rosie’s den, friday afternoon. but it wasn’t what she byword that haunts her most.
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Security tight as Iraqis head to polls
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Voting in Iraq began early Saturday in the war-ravaged country’s important provincial elections.
An Iraqi woman drops a ballot Saturday in Baghdad’s Sadr City district.
Images on Iraqi television showed voters casting ballots in many cities amid tight security. One of the many voting Saturday morning was Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Al-Maliki told reporters gathered at the polling station that the election was evidence that Iraqi people live under a high level of safety.
Iraqi, American, and U.N. officials consider the vote a major event in the new Iraq. Staffan de Mistura, the top U.N. official in Iraq, said in an interview with CNN the polls are "iconic" and could represent "a symbolic message."
"It is the opportunity for the Iraqis to show that democracy can go forward, and we can move forward from bullets to ballots," de Mistura said.
All 6,000 polling centers except for four opened on time. The four stations were delayed for logistical reasons, election officials said.
At a polling center in the Anbar province, voters were excited with some saying that this was the first time they had participated in an election.
Officials have increased heightened security measures throughout Iraq, especially around polling stations. Those measures also include vigorous searches. Only emergency, military and officially marked security vehicles will be permitted on roads.
Three mortars exploded near a polling station in central Tikrit, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Baghdad on Saturday, an official with the Interior Ministry told CNN. There were no reports of any casualties.
More than 14,400 candidates from more than 400 political entities have been registered and approved, and 15 million Iraqis have registered to vote. Each voter will emerge with one finger swiped with purple ink as proof of voting.
Watch as Iraqis head to polls »
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The first provincial elections held after the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime were staged in January 2005.
Many observers believe the provincial vote will be a gauge of the country’s direction politically and a guide to how the parliamentary elections will turn out later this year.
The results should spell out the status of the Sunni Arab "awakening" movement and the popularity of the Shiite factions, such as those backing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq.
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