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Monday, March 25, 2013

Kerry warns Iraq on Iran flights to Syria

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right meets with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, March 24, 2013. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday and will urge Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to make sure Iranian flights over Iraq do not carry arms and fighters to Syria, a U.S. official said. (AP Photo/Jason Reed, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right meets with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, second right, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, March 24, 2013. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday and will urge Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to make sure Iranian flights over Iraq do not carry arms and fighters to Syria, a U.S. official said. (AP Photo/Jason Reed, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, meets with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Kerry made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday and will urge al-Maliki to make sure Iranian flights over Iraq do not carry arms and fighters to Syria, a U.S. official said. (AP Photo/Jason Reed, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, meets with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, right, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Kerry made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday and will urge al-Maliki to make sure Iranian flights over Iraq do not carry arms and fighters to Syria, a U.S. official said. (AP Photo/Jason Reed, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, arrives to meet with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, not pictured, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Kerry made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday and will urge al-Maliki to make sure Iranian flights over Iraq do not carry arms and fighters to Syria, a U.S. official said. (AP Photo/Jason Reed, Pool)

BAGHDAD (AP) ? The U.S. has made clear to Iraq that it shouldn't allow Iran to use its airspace to ship weapons and fighters to Syria, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters Sunday during an unannounced trip to Baghdad.

Kerry's comments come as U.S. lawmakers are calling for President Barack Obama to do more to stop the bloodshed in Syria, including possible airstrikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad's aircraft fleet. U.S. officials say ongoing efforts to aid opposition groups in Syria have been undermined by Iran, which is using Iraqi airspace without objections by Iraq.

On Sunday, Kerry said Iraq's tacit approval of Iranian overflights left the American people "wondering how it is a partner."

"I made it very clear that for those of us who are engaged in an effort to see President Assad step down ... anything that supports President Assad is problematic," Kerry said following a private discussion with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, on Sunday called for a greater U.S. presence in the Syrian conflict to prevent chemical and conventional weapons from falling into the wrong hands. He said the U.S. should create a "safe zone" in northern Syria that would give the U.S. more leverage with opposition forces.

"This doesn't mean the 101st Airborne Division and ships" are deployed, Rogers told CBS' "Face the Nation." ''It means small groups with special capabilities reengaging the opposition so we can vet them, train them, equip them so they can be an effective fighting force."

Rogers' comments reflect an increasingly frustrated Congress that sees unrest in Syria as dangerous to U.S. interests. Last week, Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John McCain, R-Ariz., asked Obama in a letter to step up U.S. military efforts in the region, including destroying Assad's aircraft using precision airstrikes.

The overflights in Iraq have long been a source of contention between the U.S. and Iraq

U.S. officials say that in the absence of a complete ban on flights, the U.S. would at least like the planes to land and be inspected in Iraq to ensure that they are carrying humanitarian supplies. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton secured a pledge from Iraq to inspect the flights last year, but since then only two aircraft have been checked by Iraqi authorities, according to U.S. officials.

One senior U.S. official said the sheer number of overflights, which occur "close to daily," along with shipments trucked to Syria from Iran through Iraq, was inconsistent with claims they are only carrying humanitarian supplies. The official said it was in Iraq's interest to prevent the situation in Syria from deteriorating further, particularly as there are fears that al-Qaida-linked extremists may gain a foothold in the country as the Assad regime falters.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly, said there are clear links between al-Qaida linked extremists operating in Syria and militants who are also carrying out terrorist attacks in Iraqi territory with increasing regularity.

In addition to al-Maliki, Kerry saw Iraqi parliament speaker parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni, whose faction is at odds with Maliki's Shiia. Kerry also spoke by phone with Massoud Barzani, the head of the Kurdish Regional Government based in Irbil to encourage the Kurds not go ahead with unilateral actions - especially involving oil, like a pipeline deal with Turkey.

Kerry's arrival came just three days after the anniversary of the U.S.-led war that began on March 20, 2003, with an airstrike on Dora Farms in southern Baghdad in a failed attempt to kill Hussein.

The invasion and toppling of Hussein sparked years of bloodshed as Sunni and Shiite militants battled U.S. forces and each other, leaving nearly 4,500 U.S. soldiers and more than 100,000 Iraqis dead.

Violence has ebbed sharply since the peak of Sunni-Shiite fighting that pushed the country to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007. But insurgents are still able to stage high-profile attacks, and sectarian and ethnic rivalries remain threats to the country's long-term stability.

Earlier this week, an al-Qaida in Iraq front group claimed responsibility nearly 20 attacks that killed 65 people across the country on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Islamic State of Iraq said it unleashed the car bombs and other explosions to avenge the executions and "massacres" of convicted Sunni inmates held in Iraqi prisons. Its claim came on the 10th anniversary of the start of the war, although it made no reference to the significance of the date.

Kerry arrived in Baghdad from Amman, where he had been accompanying President Barack Obama on his tour of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan. His visit to Iraq is the first by a U.S. secretary of state since Clinton went in April 2009. During Obama's first term, the Iraq portfolio was largely delegated to Vice President Joe Biden.

Since Clinton's trip, the American diplomatic presence in Iraq has shrunk dramatically, most significantly since U.S. ended military operations in late 2011, according to officials. A year ago, there were 16,000 State Department employees and contractors in the country. As of Kerry's visit, that number had declined to 10,500 and it will drop to 5,100 by the end of 2013, officials said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-24-Mideast-Kerry/id-70709c58b88c4c76acb031e2c6cc22b3

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Sunday, March 24, 2013

Jenna Shea & The ATL Twins Twitter Beef Over "Spring Breakers" (@iamjennashea @theatltwins)

Mar 24, 2013 | 3:01 PM??? Written By: Pierce Watson

One-of-a-kind dudes "The ATL Twins" recently landed a breakout role in the movie "Spring Breakers." While they've gotten generally positive reviews, they have at least one hater.

Model and NBA escort Jenna Shea took to her twitter account to declare that "Spring Breakers" was the worst movie she's ever seen. Of course, the ATL Twins caught word of her diss and replied, "You're the worst whore...From us & Harmony Ho!"

The Twins continued dissing Shea, tweeting, "Fat b***hes buying followers thinkin they some hot sh*t! You ain't sh*t! You suck d*ck for $$$ ho! LaFlare would whoop your a** b***h!"

Check out the whole Twitter beef above.

Source: http://www.vladtv.com/blog/161761/jenna-shea-the-atl-twins-twitter-beef-over-spring-breakers/

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Cyprus talks to continue; no deal yet

People walk at the old city of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, March 23, 2013. Politicians in Cyprus were racing Saturday to complete an alternative plan raising funds necessary for the country to qualify for an international bailout, with a potential bankruptcy just three days away. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

People buy goods from a vegetable market, in central Nicosia, on Saturday, March 23, 2013. Politicians in Cyprus were racing Saturday to complete an alternative plan raising funds necessary for the country to qualify for and international bailout, with a potential bankruptcy just three days away. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A man plays with his guitar as a woman passes at Ledras street in Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, March 23, 2013. Politicians in Cyprus were racing Saturday to complete an alternative plan raising funds necessary for the country to qualify for an international bailout, with a potential bankruptcy just three days away. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

A elderly woman buys goods from a vegetable market, in central Nicosia, on Saturday, March 23, 2013. Politicians in Cyprus were racing Saturday to complete an alternative plan raising funds necessary for the country to qualify for and international bailout, with a potential bankruptcy just three days away. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A woman drinks a coffee and smokes in the old city of the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, March 23, 2013. Politicians on Cyprus were racing Saturday to complete an alternative plan raising funds necessary for the country to qualify for an international bailout, with a potential bankruptcy just three days away. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Cyprus officials and international representatives ended torturous negotiation in the early hours of Sunday with no agreement on a plan to raise money the island nation needs to qualify for a bailout package. Talks are set to resume later Sunday in Brussels, but time is running out: Failure would mean Cyprus could declare bankruptcy in just two days and possibly have to exit the eurozone.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Finance Minister Michalis Sarris will travel to the Belgian capital early Sunday. A viable plan must be cemented before finance ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro currency meet in Brussels in the evening.

"Negotiations are at a very delicate phase," government spokesman Christos Stylianides said in a statement. "The situation is very difficult and the margins very limited."

Cyprus has been told it must raise 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) in order to secure 10 billion euros in rescue loans from other European countries that use the single currency, as well as from the IMF.

The IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission ? known as the troika ? will determine whether the plan that the Cypriots devise will meet the requirements for any international bailout package. Then, the plan is to be presented to the eurozone finance ministers for final approval.

The European Central Bank has said it will stop providing emergency funding to Cyprus' banks after Monday if no new plan is in place. Without its support, the banks would collapse on Tuesday, pushing the country toward bankruptcy and a potential exit from the 17-nation bloc that uses the euro currency.

"We recognize the progress now being made by the Cypriot government toward a solution which can pave the way for an agreement on a financial assistance program for Cyprus," European monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said in Brussels. "Intensive work and contacts will continue in the coming hours."

In Brussels, Anastasiades will meet with IMF chief Christine Lagarde and other European officials before the crucial Eurogroup meeting.

The country's lawmakers soundly rejected an unpopular initial plan that would have seized up to 10 percent of people's bank accounts, and Cyprus is now seeking another way to raise the desperately needed money. But the idea of some sort of deposit grab returned to the fore after Cyprus' attempt to gain Russian financial aid failed.

Conflicting reports of progress emerged during the talks Saturday.

Late Saturday night, a finance ministry official said an accord was "very close," and would likely include a hefty tax of a fifth to a quarter of deposits over 100,000 euros at the country's troubled largest lender, Bank of Cyprus. But a banking official with knowledge of the talks said no deal was in the offing and wouldn't likely arrive before Sunday.

Both spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations were ongoing and they were not authorized to release details.

According to a second finance ministry official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to speak about the negotiations, new laws may not be needed if negotiators opt for a "voluntary contribution" from Bank of Cyprus savings accounts above 100,000 euros, which is the insurance limit.

Another option being considered is smaller tax on all bank deposits above 100,000 euros.

Cyprus took significant steps toward cementing a new plan Friday night, when its lawmakers approved nine bills, including three crucial ones that will restructure ailing banks, restrict financial transactions in emergencies and set up a "solidarity fund" that will act as the vehicle for raising funds from investments and contributions.

The bank restructuring will include the country's troubled second largest lender, Laiki, which suffered heavy losses after being exposed to toxic Greek debt.

Cypriot banks have been shut this past week while the plan was being worked out, and are not due to reopen until Tuesday. Cash has been available through ATMs, but many run out quickly, and those machines for the troubled Laiki Bank are only dispensing 260 euros a day.

Thousands of angry bank employees afraid of losing their jobs marched through the center of Nicosia to the Finance Ministry and Parliament, some with placards around their necks reading: "No to the bankruptcy of Cyprus."

"We are protesting for our jobs, and jobs of all in Cyprus," bank employee Zoei Koiachi said.

Worried about her job after 36 years at Laiki, Eleni Koutsourdou said lawmakers should have approved the initial plan for the 10 percent deposit grab for the sake of protecting the financial sector. "It's unfair. They pocketed everything and we end up paying for it," she said.

The restructuring of Laiki and the sale of the toxic-asset laden Greek branches of Cypriot banks is expected to cut the amount the country needs to raise to about 3 billion euros instead of 5.8 billion euros, officials have said. Bank of Cyprus, which was also exposed to Greek debt, might also be involved in the restructuring.

____

Elena Becatoros in Nicosia contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-23-Cyprus-Financial%20Crisis/id-3b4f46e4a36f4f87ba852563c1ed511f

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Musharraf returns to Pakistan amid death threats

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, salutes the crowd, upon his arrival to Karachi airport, Pakistan, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ended more than four years in self-exile Sunday with a flight to his homeland, seeking a possible political comeback in defiance of judicial probes and death threats from Taliban militants. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, center, surrounded by guards, upon his arrival to Karachi airport, Pakistan, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ended more than four years in self-exile Sunday with a flight to his homeland, seeking a possible political comeback in defiance of judicial probes and death threats from Taliban militants. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)

Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, center, nominated for Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, waves as he arrives to brief members of the media in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Pakistan's election commission has chosen a former high court chief justice Khoso nominated by the country's outgoing ruling party to serves as caretaker prime minister in the run up to a historic national election this spring. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Pakistani police officers stand guard outside the room of Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, not pictured, nominated for Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Pakistan's election commission has chosen a former high court chief justice Khoso nominated by the country's outgoing ruling party to serves as caretaker prime minister in the run up to a historic national election this spring. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, nominated for Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, talks to media in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Pakistan's election commission has chosen a former high court chief justice Khoso nominated by the country's outgoing ruling party to serves as caretaker prime minister in the run up to a historic national election this spring. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) ? Former President Pervez Musharraf returned to Pakistan on Sunday after more than four years in exile, seeking a possible political comeback in defiance of judicial probes and death threats from Taliban militants.

The journey from Dubai to the southern port city of Karachi was intended as the first step in his goal of rebuilding his image after years on the political margins. But the former military strongman was met by no more than a couple thousand people at the airport, who threw rose petals and waved flags emblazoned with his image ? a small turnout by the standards of Pakistani politics and a testament to how much his support in the country has fallen since he was pushed from power in 2008.

Musharraf struck a defiant tone when he spoke to his supporters outside a terminal at the airport, saying he had proved those people wrong who said he would never return after he failed to follow through on previous promises. He also said he was not cowed by a threat by the Pakistani Taliban to kill him.

"I'm not scared. I'm only afraid of God," Musharraf told his supporters. "For the sake of my country, wherever I need to go, I will go."

Since the former general stepped down in the face of mounting discontent, Pakistan's civilian leadership has struggled with a sinking economy, resilient Islamic extremist factions and tensions with Washington over drone strikes and the May 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Musharraf represents a polarizing force that could further complicate Pakistan's attempt to hold parliamentary elections in May and stage its first transition from one civilian government to another.

He is viewed as an enemy by many Islamic militants and others for his decision to side with America in the response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. On Saturday, the Pakistani Taliban vowed to mobilize death squads to send Musharraf "to hell" if he returns.

Also Saturday, militants launched a suicide car bomb attack against a military check post in the country's northwest tribal region, killing 17 soldiers, the army said.

Musharraf's supporters, including elements of the military and members of Pakistan's influential expatriate communities, consider him a strong leader whose voice ? even just in parliament ? could help stabilize the country.

Musharraf also faces legal charges, including some originating from the probe of the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who also spent time in self-imposed exile in Dubai before returning.

The flight from Dubai came after several failed promises to return in recent years. Musharraf announced in early March that he would lead his party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, in May elections.

Musharraf met briefly with reporters in Dubai before heading to the airport wearing a white shalwar kameez ? the traditional loose-fitting outfit in Pakistan ? and sandals from the country's Peshawar region near the Afghan border. He mingled with supporters aboard the plane on the way to Karachi, as some of them chanted slogans for his party.

Musharraf tweeted that he was "thrilled to be back home" soon after he landed in Karachi. But there were moments of tension among his supporters when security forces whisked him away in a convoy of about a dozen vehicles, raising concerns he was being detained for the legal charges against him. It turns out he was simply being shifted to a different terminal, and his supporters had to wait over two hours before he came out to address them.

The former president plans to spend a few days at a hotel in Karachi, where he and his team will hash out their plan for the upcoming election, said spokeswoman Saima Ali Dada. He will then travel to Islamabad. Meanwhile, his legal team will meet to decide the best way to respond to the charges against him.

"He is hoping for the best," said Dada.

Musharraf took power in a 1999 coup and was forced out of office in 2008 amid growing discontent over his rule and the threat of impeachment by the country's two most powerful political parties. He has since lived in Dubai and London.

His decision to return was given a boost last week when a Pakistani court granted him pre-emptive bail ? essentially preventing his immediate arrest ? in three cases in which he's implicated, including Bhutto's death. He now has 10 days to appear in court. He has dismissed the various charges as baseless.

His return comes as Pakistan seeks for the first time to hand power from one elected government to another.

On Sunday, the country's election commission appointed a former high court chief justice nominated by the country's outgoing ruling party to serve as caretaker prime minister in the run-up to the election. The commission chose Mir Hazar Khan Khoso out of four nominees, two submitted by the recently ruling Pakistan People's Party and two by the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N.

Khoso served as the chief justice to the high court in southwest Baluchistan province and also briefly served as the acting governor of the province.

The election comes as the country is struggling with rolling blackouts, rising inflation and widespread security problems.

On Saturday, the Pakistan Taliban released a video threatening to unleash suicide bombers and snipers against Musharraf if he comes back. One of the two people speaking in the video was Adnan Rashid, a former Pakistani air force officer convicted in an attack against Musharraf. The Taliban broke Rashid out of prison last year, along with nearly 400 other detainees.

"The mujahedeen of Islam have prepared a death squad to send Pervez Musharraf to hell," said Rashid, who spoke in the video in front of a group of about 20 militants holding rifles. "We warn you to surrender yourself to us. Otherwise we will hit you from where you will never reckon."

Musharraf had been expected to address supporters at a gathering Sunday in Karachi near the mausoleum of Pakistan's founding father Mohammed Ali Jinnah. But police decided to cancel his permit because of a "very serious threat," said Tahir Naveed, the deputy inspector general of Karachi police. He said Musharraf would be provided with an armored vehicle to protect him. Banners and billboards welcoming Musharraf back to Pakistan lined the street from the airport.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Musharraf came under intense pressure from the U.S. to back the Americans in the coming war in Afghanistan and cut off ties with the Taliban, which he did. For that, militants as well as many other Pakistanis saw him as carrying out the American agenda in Pakistan.

He's also vilified by militants for ordering the 2007 raid against a mosque in downtown Islamabad that had become a sanctuary for militants opposed to Pakistan's support of the war in Afghanistan. At least 102 people were killed in the weeklong operation, most of them supporters of the mosque.

Militants tried to kill Musharraf twice in December 2003 in Rawalpindi, where the Pakistani military is headquartered. First they placed a bomb intended to go off when his convoy passed by. When that didn't work, suicide attackers tried to ram his motorcade with explosives-laden vehicles. The president was unhurt but 16 others died.

In addition to the Bhutto case, Musharraf also faces charges resulting from investigations into the killing of Akbar Bugti, a Baluch nationalist leader who died in August 2006 after a standoff with the Pakistani military. In another case, he's accused of illegally removing a number of judges including the chief justice of the supreme court.

___

Santana reported from Karachi, Pakistan. Associated Press writer Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Zarar Khan in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-24-Pakistan/id-221396cc631a4d239c86d1e7c7dbcf25

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Saturday, March 23, 2013

How Parenting Became a Blood Sport | RealClearScience

AP Photo

When we think of the problem of over-parenting, we often mistakenly link it to wealthy people. The problem is much more pervasive than that, says the psychologist?Madeline Levine, author of Teach Your Children Well: Parenting for Authentic Success.

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Facebook: Now with weather!

Facebook and Weather Underground are teaming up to tell you the the forecast for public pages and events you're planning to attend.

By Leslie Meredith,?TechNewsDaily / March 21, 2013

Facebook, with a little help from Weather Underground, has begun unrolling its new weather feature. You'll soon know the forecast for any event you might attend, or for any public place you're planning to visit.

Michael Dalde / Reuters / File

Enlarge

Few things are worse than being caught without a hoodie or an umbrella if the weather at a get-together takes a turn for the worse. Facebook today (March 21) added a handy weather forecast to a number of spots across its massive platform.

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Facebook events will now include a weather?forecast if the event is 10 days away or less. Public pages, such as those for local parks and far-flung cities, will also include the weather. The new information will be included on both Web-based and mobile versions of Facebook.

Weather information is provided by Weather Underground. Each single-line entry will include a general forecast as well as the high and low temperatures for the day.

It's a small update for Facebook, but adding automatic weather updates to event pages could be a big help to users. Further, people can use the search bar to find weather for a particular location by typing in "Weather for New York City," for instance. This information is provided by?Bing .

Facebook has begun rolling out its weather feature, so watch for it the next time you plan or RSVP to an event.

Follow Leslie Meredith ?@lesliemeredith. Follow us?@TechNewsDaily,?Facebook?or?Google+.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/usFkfyposgw/Facebook-Now-with-weather

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Senate passes budget with $1 trillion tax hike

By David Lawder, Reuters

WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Saturday narrowly passed its first federal budget in four years, a move that will usher in a relative lull in Washington's fiscal wars until an anticipated summer showdown over raising the debt ceiling.

The budget plan was passed by a 50-49 vote in the Democratic-controlled chamber. Four Democratic senators facing tough re-election campaigns in 2014 joined all the Senate Republicans in opposing the measure, which seeks to raise nearly $1 trillion in new tax revenues by closing some tax breaks for the wealthy.

The Senate budget, which reflects Democratic priorities of boosting near-term job growth and preserving social safety net programs, will square off in coming months against a Republican-focused budget passed by the Republican-dominated House of Representatives.

Neither of the non-binding blueprints has a chance of passage in the opposing chamber, leaving Congress no closer to resolving deep differences over how to shrink U.S. deficits and grow the economy. But they give each party a platform from which to tout their respective fiscal visions.

The Democrats' plan from Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray aims to reduce deficits by $1.85 trillion over 10 years through an equal mix of tax increases and spending cuts.

The Republican plan from House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan seeks $4.6 trillion in savings over the same period without raising new taxes. It aims to reach a small surplus by 2023 through deep cuts to health care and social programs that aid the poor.

"The House budget changes our debt course, while the Senate budget does not," said Senator Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee.?

'Very different' values
Murray said after the vote that she would try to work with Ryan on a path toward compromise.

"While it is clear that the policies, values, and priorities of the Senate budget are very different than those articulated in the House budget, I know the American people are expecting us to work together to end the gridlock and find common ground, and I plan to continue doing exactly that."

Passage of a stop-gap government funding measure on Thursday lowered the temperature in the budget debate by eliminating the threat of a government shutdown next week.

"We're going to get a breather here. Congress will let things cool off a bit and there'll be other issues that come to the forefront in the spring," said Greg Valliere, chief political strategist at Potomac Research Group, a firm that advises institutional investors on Washington politics.

These issues include legislation on gun control, immigration reform and initial work on simplifying the tax code, which is particularly important to Republicans.

Joining Republicans in opposing the Democratic budget were Democratic senators from conservative-leaning states: Max Baucus of Montana, Mark Begich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.

Voting for a budget that raises tax revenues could increase their vulnerability in congressional elections next year and put Democrats' thin majority at risk.

In the lead-up to the Senate vote early on Saturday morning, the body considered more than 100 largely symbolic, non-binding amendments to the budget aimed at scoring political points and staking out positions.

Among notable amendments, the Senate signaled strong support for allowing states more authority to collect sales taxes on Internet purchases, for approval of the controversial Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline and for repealing a tax on medical devices imposed by President Barack Obama's health care reform law.

The Senate also voted 99-0 to end policies that subsidized large banks considered "too big to fail" but came out against imposing taxes on industrial carbon emissions.

The Senate had not passed a budget resolution since 2009 because of fiscal policy disputes with House Republicans that forced Congress to turn to numerous stop-gap spending measures to avoid government shutdowns.?

Related:

Budget battles: What you need to know

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/29e65683/l/0Lnbcpolitics0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C230C17426960A0Esenate0Epasses0Ebudget0Ewith0E10Etrillion0Etax0Ehike0Dlite/story01.htm

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veradis face

Monday, March 25, 2013

Kerry warns Iraq on Iran flights to Syria

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Jenna Shea & The ATL Twins Twitter Beef Over "Spring Breakers" (@iamjennashea @theatltwins)

Cyprus talks to continue; no deal yet

Musharraf returns to Pakistan amid death threats

Saturday, March 23, 2013

How Parenting Became a Blood Sport | RealClearScience

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Senate passes budget with $1 trillion tax hike