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Thursday, January 3, 2013
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Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Not solved yet: GOP wants more cliff spending cuts
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Maneuvered into a political corner, House Republicans sorted glumly through unsavory fiscal cliff choices in a New Year's Day struggle that wore into the night, casting doubt on emergency legislation to prevent widespread tax increases and painful across-the-board spending cuts.
"I do not support the bill. We are looking, though, for the best path forward," said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., reflecting a widespread view among Republicans that the legislation should be changed to add billions in spending cuts.
Yet as Capitol lights burned late in an extraordinary second straight night of negotiations, a clamor for revisions became tempered by concerns that the Senate would refuse to consider any changes, sending the bill into limbo and saddling Republicans with the blame for a whopping middle class tax increase.
Adding to the GOP discomfort, one Senate Democratic leadership aide said Majority Leader Harry Reid "will absolutely not take up the bill" if the House changes it. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity, citing a requirement to keep internal deliberations private.
The legislation cleared the Senate hours earlier on a lopsided pre-dawn vote of 89-8. Administration officials met at the White House to monitor its progress.
Despite Cantor's remarks, Speaker John Boehner took no public position on the bill as he sought to negotiate a conclusion to the final crisis of a two-year term full of them.
It wasn't the first time that the tea party-infused House Republican majority has rebelled against the party establishment since the GOP took control of the chamber 24 months ago. But with the two-year term set to end Thursday at noon, it was likely the last. And as was true in earlier cases of a threatened default and government shutdown, the brinkmanship came on a matter of economic urgency, leaving the party open to a public backlash if tax increases do take effect on tens of millions.
After intensive deliberations ? a pair of rank-and-file meetings sandwiched around a leadership session, the GOP high command had not yet settled on a course of action by early evening.
Instead, they canvassed Republicans to see if they wanted simply to vote on the Senate measure, or whether they wanted first to try and add spending cuts totaling about $300 billion over a decade. The cuts had passed the House twice earlier in the year but are opposed by most if not all Senate Democrats.
"We've gone as far as we can go," said Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga. "I think people are ready to bring this to a conclusion, and know we have a whole year ahead of us" for additional fights over spending.
The economic as well as political stakes were considerable.
Economists have warned that without action by Congress, the tax increases and spending cuts that technically took effect with the turn of the new year at midnight could send the economy into recession.
Even with enactment of the legislation, taxes are on the rise for millions.
A 2 percentage point temporary cut in the payroll tax, originally enacted two years ago to stimulate the economy, expired with the end of 2012. Neither Obama nor Republicans have made a significant effort to extend it.
The Senate-passed bill was designed to prevent that while providing for tax increases at upper incomes, as Obama campaigned for in his successful bid for a second term.
It would also prevent an expiration of extended unemployment benefits for an estimated two million jobless, block a 27 percent cut in fees for doctors who treat Medicare patients, stop a $900 pay increase for lawmakers from taking effect in March and head off a threatened spike in milk prices.
At the same time, it would stop $24 billion in spending cuts set to take effect over the next two months, although only about half of that total would be offset with spending reductions elsewhere in the budget.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the measure would add nearly $4 trillion over a decade to federal deficits, a calculation that assumed taxes would otherwise have risen on taxpayers at all income levels. There was little or no evident concern among Republicans on that point, presumably because of their belief that tax cuts pay for themselves by expanding economic growth and do not cause deficits to rise.
The relative paucity of spending cuts was a sticking point with many House Republicans. Among other items, the extension of unemployment benefits costs $30 billion, and is not offset by savings elsewhere.
"I personally hate it," said Rep. John Campbell of California. "The speaker the day after the election said we would give on taxes and we have. But we wanted spending cuts. This bill has spending increases. Are you kidding me? So we get tax increases and spending increases? Come on."
Others said unhappiness over spending outweighed fears that the financial markets will plunge on Wednesday if the fiscal cliff hasn't been averted.
"There's a concern about the markets, but there's a bigger concern, which is getting this right, which is something we haven't been very good at over the past two years," said Rep. Steve LaTourette of Ohio.
House Democrats met privately with Biden for their review of the measure, and the party's leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, said afterward that Boehner should permit a vote.
"That is what we expect. That is what the American people deserve," she said.
For all the struggle involved in the legislation, even its passage would merely clear the way for another round of controversy almost as soon as the new Congress convenes.
With the Treasury expected to need an expansion in borrowing authority by early spring, and funding authority for most government programs set to expire in late March, Republicans have made it clear they intend to use those events as leverage with the administration to win savings from Medicare and other government benefit programs.
McConnell said as much moments before the 2 a.m. Tuesday vote in the Senate ? two hours after the advertised "cliff" deadline.
"We've taken care of the revenue side of this debate. Now it's time to get serious about reducing Washington's out-of-control spending," he said. "That's a debate the American people want. It's the debate we'll have next. And it's a debate Republicans are ready for."
The 89-8 vote in the Senate was unexpectedly lopsided.
Despite grumbling from liberals that Obama had given way too much in the bargaining, only three Democrats opposed the measure.
Among the Republican supporters were Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, an ardent opponent of tax increases, as well as Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, elected to his seat two years ago with tea party support.
It marked the first time in two decades that Republicans willingly supported higher taxes, in this case on incomes over $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples. Taxes also would rise on estates greater than $5 million in size, and on capital gains and dividend income made by the wealthy.
___
Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor, Larry Margasak and Julie Pace contributed to this story.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/not-solved-yet-gop-wants-more-cliff-spending-220508055--finance.html
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Reid says 2 sides still apart on 'fiscal cliff'
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the two sides are still apart as they race against a midnight deadline for resolving their differences over the "fiscal cliff."
The Nevada Democrat says negotiations are continuing. But he cautioned that bargainers are running out of time and still have differences over some issues, though he did not say what still divides them.
Reid's remarks came Monday morning after the two sides narrowed their differences during an evening of bargaining between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Joe Biden.
Without agreement by midnight, wide-ranging tax increases and budget-wide spending cuts ? the so-called fiscal cliff ? will begin taking effect. Though the impact of those changes would be felt gradually, economists have warned that they could cause recession if left intact.
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Sharapova withdraws at Brisbane; Serena advances
FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2012 file photo, Russia's Maria Sharapova eyes the ball during a Gillette Federer Tour exhibition tennis match with Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki in Sao Paulo, Brazil. No. 2-ranked Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Brisbane International before her opening match after feeling pain in her right collarbone during practice. The French Open champion on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 said she would head immediately to Melbourne to start preparing for the Australian Open, starting Jan. 14. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2012 file photo, Russia's Maria Sharapova eyes the ball during a Gillette Federer Tour exhibition tennis match with Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki in Sao Paulo, Brazil. No. 2-ranked Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Brisbane International before her opening match after feeling pain in her right collarbone during practice. The French Open champion on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 said she would head immediately to Melbourne to start preparing for the Australian Open, starting Jan. 14. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)
Serena Williams of the U.S. plays a shot in her match against Alize Cornet of France during the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, Tuesday, Jan 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic plays a shot during her 2nd round match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Sara Errani of Italy plays a shot during her first round match against Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia during the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, Tuesday, Jan 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia reacts after beating Sara Errani of Italy 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 during their match at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) ? Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Brisbane International on Tuesday because of an injured right collarbone that left her unable to serve. She said she didn't want to aggravate the injury with the Australian Open two weeks away.
Also out was 2011 champion Petra Kvitova, who lost 6-4, 7-5 to Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a season-opening tournament that has proved rough for many of the top players.
Serena Williams, however, had no such problems. She carried her relentless winning form into 2013, reaching the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at night over No. 44-ranked Alize Cornet.
Williams, a 15-time major winner who is ranked No. 3, has lost only one of her last 34 competitive singles matches in a run that includes titles at Wimbledon, the London Olympics and the U.S. Open.
She was hitting winners so fiercely that Cornet didn't bother chasing most of them. One of her serves, in the fourth game of the second, was 124 mph (200 kilometers). That was faster than any of her serves last year, and she has rarely served faster anywhere.
"I just really went for it. I've hit 200 before but they never go in so I was really excited that it went in," Williams said. "I tried to be more aggressive."
Sharapova, ranked No. 2 and the French Open champion, didn't want to risk worsening a collarbone problem that flared late last month and also forced her from an exhibition in South Korea. She started hitting overheads and serves only on Monday and said it was wiser to head to Melbourne to get ready for the year's first Grand Slam tournament, which begins Jan. 14.
"I still have quite a bit of time to prepare for Australia. I'm on the right track, been training really well, so I just don't want to jeopardize what I've gained in the offseason so far," she said. "Just have to make a smart move here."
Kvitova, who won the Brisbane title five months before claiming her first Grand Slam crown at Wimbledon in 2011, didn't find any rhythm against Pavlyuchenkova. She will head to Sydney for more matches before the Australian Open.
Combined with Daniela Hantuchova's 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 win over No. 5 Sara Errani and the first-round exits of No. 7 Sam Stosur and No. 8 Caroline Wozniacki, the season-opening event featuring eight of the top 10 ranked women had already lost five of its top eight seeds before the end of the second round.
"This tournament was a really tough draw, everybody's playing," Kvitova said. "After the offseason, it's hard to be on the court against some opponents."
Williams will next meet the winner of Wednesday's match between fellow American Sloane Stephens and Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson.
She said she had a touch of insomnia after arriving in Australia, and was awake listening to the New Year's Eve fireworks on Monday but not able to join the celebrations.
Now she's hoping for a night quarterfinal.
"I don't know what time zone I'm in. I don't know if I'm in Florida or if I'm in Mauritius or if I'm in Brazil. I just don't know anymore," she said, but "I'm good when I'm awake."
If she continues her dominating run right through the Australian Open, the 31-year-old Williams has a good chance of becoming the oldest player to be ranked No. 1. Chris Evert holds that record ? she was 30 years, 11 months when she last held the top ranking in 1985. She attributes her resurgence since her first-round exit at the last French Open to a feeling of invigoration.
"I just feel alive," she said. "I feel really alive."
On the men's side, local qualifier John Millman, ranked No. 199, advanced to a second-round match with Olympic and U.S. Open champion Andy Murray by beating Japan's Tatsuma Ito 6-4, 6-1.
Seventh-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria downed Denis Kudla of the U.S. 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, while eighth-seeded Martin Klizan of Slovakia lost 6-1, 6-2 to Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.
Spain's Tommy Robredo advanced 6-4, 7-6 (4) over American Ryan Harrison, and Alejandro Falla of Colombia set up a second-round match with third-seeded Gilles Simon with a 6-1, 7-6 (8) win over Jesse Levine.
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Tuesday, January 1, 2013
'Silly season' arrives as transfer window opens
Associated Press Sports
updated 10:51 a.m. ET Jan. 1, 2013
(Eds: With AP Photos.)
LONDON (AP) - Expect plenty of speculation about Cristiano Ronaldo, David Villa, Wesley Sneijder, Frank Lampard and Theo Walcott, among others, to be flying around for the next month.
Yes, the "silly season" has arrived.
European soccer's January transfer window opens for business on Tuesday, giving clubs a month to strengthen their squads for the second half of the season.
Top teams operating strategic transfer plans, such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United, rarely make major deals during this period. Likely targets are usually tied up by Champions League restrictions and managers can be put off by inflated prices and a preference to add new players in the offseason.
However, an inspired January signing - whether a loan or permanent move - can make the difference between winning a title, qualifying for the Champions League or Europa League or surviving relegation, meaning plenty of deals will go through over the next 31 days.
The cash-rich English Premier League is usually the place where the big acquisitions are made, especially on deadline day. And considering the lucrative television deals lying in wait from next season as well as the impoverished state of many leagues across the continent following Europe's financial crisis, this should be the case this season, too.
"Many of the traditional European leagues are facing economic problems so we would suggest the trend of overseas players coming to the Premier League to ply their trade will continue and outweigh transfers between English clubs," said James Skelland, a player representative for James Grant Sport Management.
"We would anticipate that there will be more loan moves," Skelland added, "which tend to suit all parties better, and some permanent moves made by clubs who are looking to stave off relegation or push for European places."
English clubs memorably spent 225 million pounds (then $362 million) in the January 2011 window, defying the recession. In the nine winter windows since 2004, nearly a billion pounds have been splashed out.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who has dubbed the transfer window the "silly season," has virtually ruled out making any signings in January, with his team top of the Premier League. However, his rival coaches are poised to make moves.
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini indicated Monday that he would "probably" go into the market while Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger has money to spend - especially if he fails to keep hold of Walcott, who appears to be holding out for a big wage increase with his contract expiring in June.
"If we find a player who will give us something special, we will do it - but that in January isn't easy," said Wenger, who has been linked with Villa of Barcelona.
Wenger, like Ferguson, is not a fan of the January transfer window, although he couldn't resist the temptation to dip into it in 2009 when he beat the deadline to sign Russia winger Andrey Arshavin for 15 million pounds.
Chelsea, the European champion, should be one of the most active of the big English clubs. The 34-year-old Lampard is out of contract in the summer and could be sold, along with forward Daniel Sturridge reportedly going to Liverpool, and the club has been linked with moves for Newcastle forward Demba Ba and Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao.
Either player would join a squad containing Fernando Torres, the most famous January transfer signing after switching from Liverpool to Chelsea for 50 million pounds (then $81 million) in 2011.
Ba, the joint-second top scorer in the Premier League, has a release clause of 7 million pounds in his contract and Newcastle manager Alan Pardew said Friday it is "even (money) whether he'll stay or go."
In Italy, the future of Sneijder has been a topic of much debate. Although Inter manager Andrea Stramaccioni says there's still room for him, the unsettled Dutch playmaker is expected to leave. England is a likely destination.
Over at AC Milan, which is seventh in Serie A and struggling financially, one of the team's two Brazilian strikers - Alexandre Pato or Robinho - is likely to leave and the club has been linked with Didier Drogba as a replacement.
Starved of action on the pitch because of the winter break, the sports pages in Spain have been dominated by the upcoming transfer window and the potential departures of three of La Liga's top forwards.
Ronaldo has been linked with a move away from Real Madrid ever since he said he was "sad" in September. Talk of a move back to Man United refuses to go away, despite Ferguson recently claiming the Portugal forward was "unbuyable."
Villa, Spain's record goal-scorer, is more likely to leave La Liga. British media are reporting that Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are interested in the 31-year-old forward, who spent eight months sidelined with a broken leg and has found it hard to win a place in Barcelona's starting lineup since his return.
Falcao, meanwhile, said Saturday he doesn't expect to leave Atletico until at least the summer.
"I'm proud that so many great clubs have manifested an interest in me, but they will have to wait until the end of the season, then we will see what might happen," he said. "Leaving Atletico in the winter transfer window is absolutely not on."
Money talks, however, and agents' phones are sure to be red hot throughout January, when clubs' fortunes can be revived and coaches' reputations destroyed.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsTransfer spec? Start with Sneijder
CFT: January is here, and that means the transfer speculation and scuttlebutt that was on low simmer through the last weeks of 2012 will now be on full boil for the first month of 2013.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/50336781/ns/sports-soccer/
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