Democratic aide: Fiscal 'cliff' deal reached

President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks about the fiscal cliff, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington. The president said it appears that an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff is "in sight," but says it's not yet complete and work continues. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks about the fiscal cliff, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington. The president said it appears that an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff is "in sight," but says it's not yet complete and work continues. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama smiles and gestures as he speaks about the fiscal cliff, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington. The president said it appears that an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff is "in sight," but says it's not yet complete and work continues. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The moon rises behind the U.S. Capitol Dome in Washington as Congress works into the late evening, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012 to resolve the stalemate over the pending "fiscal cliff." (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A Democratic aide says the White House and congressional Republicans have reached an agreement to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.

The measure would extend Bush-era tax cuts for family incomes below $450,000 and briefly avert across-the-board spending cuts set to strike the Pentagon and domestic agencies this week.

Vice President Joe Biden was set to sell the agreement to Senate Democrats at a meeting at the Capitol on Monday night.

The aide required anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-12-31-Fiscal%20Cliff/id-5a0dc618161e4305afae2e3e0f035ccb

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In your town: What's going on in your community

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Wedding ceremony was 70 years in the making for Sanors

A Salem area couple celebrated a milestone wedding anniversary by renewing their vows at a ceremony 70 years in the making.

Donald and Ruth (Walpert) Sanor of Cider Mill Road on Nov. 11 renewed their vows for their 70th anniversary in front of 150 family members and guests at a marriage ceremony at Damascus Friends Church replete with wedding gown and "Wedding March." Father Robert Edwards of St. Paul's Catholic Church in Salem officiated the ceremony.

The wedding ceremony, held prior to a party planned by the couple's seven children, served as a dream come true for Ruth, who had harbored a wish for a big wedding since the marriage's humble inception 70 years ago.

Article Photos

Salem area residents Donald and Ruth Sanor, set to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary in January, renewed their vows in a marriage ceremony they missed out on in 1943. (Submitted photo)

Beginning

The Sanors, in dressy but simple attire, were married on Jan. 20, 1943, at a small ceremony at the St. Patrick's Catholic Church rectory in Leetonia in front of only two witnesses- Ruth's brother, Raymond Walpert, and sister, Helen Chaplow. A small gathering of family members celebrated with cake and ice cream following the ceremony.

The two had met approximately one year prior at a Washingtonville roller skating rink and had very little money for an extravagant celebration.

"It was shortly after the depression and everything was tight," Ruth said. "It was all we could afford...it was nice but it never seemed like a real wedding."

The marriage produced seven children, Donnette Huston, Ron (Nancy) Sanor, Tom (Jackie) Sanor and Larry (Dawn) Sanor, all of Salem, Luanne Sanor of Damascus, Patti (Mike) Cardone of Lakewood and Rita (Chuck) Blake of Cincinnati; 23 grandchildren; and 25 great-grandchildren.

Anniversary

As the Sanors' anniversary approached, their children began planning a simple celebration for family and friends. When told of the plans, Ruth revealed her dream of walking down the aisle in a wedding dress.

"No one knew until that moment that she had secretly longed for the 'beautiful wedding' that every bride dreams of and, of course, (that) after 70 years of marriage she knew it would remain a 'dream' forever," said Luanne Sanor. "She's a wonderful woman, wonderful mother, we just wanted to make her dream come true."

But it had long been bothering Ruth that she couldn't have the wedding she longed for in 1943. So when her daughters suggested the party, she immediately relayed her desire to them.

"It started as a little party, but I had been thinking about a large wedding with a gown and vows in a church," she said.

Having purchased her perfect wedding gown within a week of being told of the celebration, Ruth decided to keep the "wedding" a secret so she could surprise everyone at the party.

Adversity

The joyous occasion hit came to a halt a few weeks later when Huston became unexpectedly ill and was diagnosed with bacterial pneumococcal meningitis. She was life-flighted to Aultman Hospital in Canton in very critical condition and doctors gave very little hope of survival. The family started to prepare for the worst.

Within hours prayers were coming from all over the country, Luanne Sanor said, and little by little her condition started to improve. A few days later she was awake and talking, baffling the doctors who didn't think she would live. A week and a half later she was transferred to a rehabilitation center where she made tremendous progress daily.

"It was nothing short of a miracle," Luanne Sanor said.

Once Huston's condition began to improve, the family resumed preparations for the celebration not knowing if she would be able to attend the party for which she had helped plan.

Wedding day

On the day of the party, Don and Ruth hid away to wait for their "surprise" entrance, but were surprised themselves by the arrival of Huston, who had been given special permission by doctors to attend the party for a short time. The Sanors not only were about to have the wedding Ruth always wanted, but they were able to celebrate it with all their children in attendance.

As the "Wedding March" began, the bride and groom entered the room to the awe of family and friends, who greeted the happy couple with a standing ovation and cheerful applause.

"It was thrilling to make (her) dreams come true," Luanne Sanor said. "We all had tears in our eyes."

In the end, Ruth viewed the event as more than her children being thoughtful, loving and ambitious, though.

"So many families today break up and we're so close," she said. "That's what I'm most pleased with."

The couple

Don, 91, and Ruth, 89, have been lifelong Salem area residents. He is a retired dairy farmer and she was a housewife who raised the children and helped on the farm.

Don is a former Butler Township trustee, a 50-year member of the United Commercial Travelers and a Winona Ruritan. Ruth is a member of the Catholic Daughters of America. Both are 70-year members of the Willow Grove Grange and 50-year members of the Farm Bureau.

Source: http://www.salemnews.net/page/content.detail/id/561779.html

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IRL: Wacom Bamboo Splash, Triggertrap Mobile and the iPad 3

Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

We've got a mixed bag this week. Billy, who's reviewed a bunch of Wacom products on this site, talks about what it's like to live with the Bamboo Splash pen tablet. James, meanwhile, uses a mobile photography tool to ensure his reflection doesn't show up when he's shooting tablets and such. Rounding out the list, Darren takes a closer look at the iPad's display. He thinks it's alright.

Continue reading IRL: Wacom Bamboo Splash, Triggertrap Mobile and the iPad 3

Filed under: Misc, Apple

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/w7HNZvYZjSs/

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harshhaswani0: I think I need anger management. Advice?

Folks, I've been separated for nearly two months and I'm now working on self-improvement.

One area I identified that I need to work on is managing my anger.

My husband would bring out the monster in me. No, I would never throw things or hurt anyone in the process, but I'd drop a few F-bombs here and there and I'd certainly get LOUD.

Thing is, I generally don't have a temper. Most of my friends, even childhood friends, would be surprised if they were told that I have a temper. But I do.

People who know me too well and know how to push my buttons unleash that ugly side of me. My dad, my mom sometimes, and now my husband. I thought my temper problems were done with. That I was just an angry teen. That I'd overcome it. Apparently not.

Thing is, I'd been to individual counseling for an extended period of time before I got married. So I'm not sure that that's the route to go.

Does anyone recommend any self-help books or techniques to calm me down when I sense getting frustrated to the point of losing my cool?

Thanks in advance<3

Source: http://talkaboutmarriage.com/ladies-lounge/64155-i-think-i-need-anger-management-advice.html

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Critics: Myriad blocks cancer answers by impeding data sharing ...

Patents ? Utah company says it has aided, not hindered, research, care.

Tory Galloway thought her negative result on a widely-used test sold by Utah-based Myriad Genetics Inc. cleared her DNA as a cause for her fallopian tube cancer.

She happily advised her four sisters that the disease didn?t result from a family trait. The relief from the December 2010 test, though, was short lived. In October, after getting results from a broader scan at the University of Washington that included dozens of genes, she learned the truth: Her cancer was caused by a mutation that wasn?t included in the Myriad product.

"It makes me nuts to even think about it," said Galloway, a landscape designer in Indianola, Wash.

The broader test, created by University of Washington researchers, uses technology to identify as many cancer risks as possible. There?s one problem: Such a test can?t include the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that are the most common inherited causes for breast and ovarian cancer because Myriad owns the patents on them. This prevents other U.S. laboratories from using them in a commercial test.

In the mid-1990s, Myriad helped kick-start the gene-testing revolution by pinpointing the two BRCA genes. Now, the world?s biggest genetic testing company for breast cancer, with a market value of $2.2 billion, is under attack by researchers, genetic counselors, doctors, and their patients.

Besides stifling competitors from offering combination tests, including the BRCA genes, critics also said the company won?t share data from decades of testing that could aid research into how best to interpret screening. They said Myriad doesn?t adequately respond when other researchers find added BRCA mutations that address risks their current tests don?t cover.

"What is at stake is the way we want our health-care system to work," said Robert Cook-Deegan, a professor of public policy, biology, and medicine at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, who supports limits on gene patents. "The testing has been set up by Myriad to optimize this business model. It is not set up to optimize public health outcomes."

The dispute, which has grown in intensity as more and more cancer-causing mutations are found, has spilled out of the laboratories and clinics into the U.S. Supreme Court. A ruling next year in a case challenging Myriad?s hold on the BRCA patents could either support the company?s profit-driven motives or redefine a nascent industry in a way that affects millions of dollars in revenue.

Myriad officials reject the criticisms, saying they offer faster, more accurate testing for harmful mutations in breast cancer genes than any other laboratory in the world, and that its patents haven?t hindered research or patient care.

"Myriad has never done anything to harm patients," CEO Peter Meldrum said during an interview at his company?s headquarters in Salt Lake City. "We have the most accurate results, we give the fastest results." There has never been a reported case in which Myriad wrongly told that a woman she had a cancer-causing mutation, he said.

story continues below

Carol Mackoff, 70, a Chicago-based managing director for Rice Financial Products Co., says Myriad "saved my life."

Mackoff tested positive on a Myriad test for a BRCA1 mutation in 2002 after visiting an ovarian cancer prevention program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, she said in a telephone interview. Within weeks, she had her ovaries removed to prevent ovarian cancer, and later in 2009 had a prophylactic double mastectomy.

Without the Myriad test, "I would have had cancer," she said. "The fact that they developed these tests and gave me a tool to work with to allow me to prevent getting cancer, I owe them everything."

Faster, cheaper DNA testing is revolutionizing medical care. Nowhere has the impact been felt more strongly than in breast cancer. A woman who tests positive using Myriad?s tests carries as much as an 80 percent chance that she will get breast cancer in her lifetime. Testing helps women take charge of their medical future, providing options that can include preventative surgery and more extensive monitoring.

Widespread use of the tests has made Myriad an unabashed financial success. The company?s testing business, led by its flagship $3,340 BRCA product, carries an 87 percent gross profit margin that in fiscal 2012 generated $496 million in sales, according to Myriad.

That?s helped boost the company?s shares 30 percent this year.

Next Page >

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/55537762-79/myriad-cancer-test-brca.html.csp

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Senate approves $60.4 billion Superstorm Sandy aid bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Friday approved a $60.4 billion aid package to pay for reconstruction costs from Superstorm Sandy, which ravaged mid-Atlantic and northeastern states, after defeating Republican efforts to trim the bill's cost.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urged the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to quickly take up the bill, which includes $12 billion to repair and strengthen the region's transportation system against future storms.

"There is no time to waste," Reid said.

Both chambers have to agreed on a package by January 2, when the current term of Congress is expected to end, or restart the process of crafting legislation in 2013. The Senate approved the bill 62-32, with most Republicans voting no.

"We beat back all of the crippling amendments," said Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, which suffered the largest monetary damage in the storm.

"The century-old tradition of different parts of the country rallying to help those who are beleaguered because of difficult natural disasters continues," Schumer said.

The bill's chances in the next few days could depend on whether President Barack Obama and congressional leaders reach a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" of tax increases and spending cuts set to begin taking effect in the new year.

House Republican leaders have not yet decided whether to take up the Senate bill, a Republican aide said.

The bill also provides $17 billion in Community Development Block Grants to help rebuild homes, schools, hospitals and other buildings destroyed by the late October storm, help small businesses and improve the power infrastructure.

Senate Republicans complained the $60.4 billion reconstruction package requested by Obama is more than the annual budgets for the departments of Interior, Labor, Treasury and Transportation combined.

HOUSE ACTION UNCLEAR

Senator Dan Coats, an Indiana Republican, offered an alternative that would have provided $23.8 billion in funding to help victims of the storm through the end of March and give Congress time to determine additional needs.

"Let me just say, we simply are allowing three months for the Congress of the United States, the representatives of the taxpayers' dollars, to assess, document and justify additional expenditures that go beyond emergency needs," Coats said just before his amendment was defeated.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, a Republican from Kentucky, would still prefer to pass a stop-gap bill to meet immediate needs and wait to do another package after better estimates come in, a committee aide said.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated about $8.97 billion of the Senate bill would be spent in 2013, with another $12.66 billion spent in 2014 and $11.59 billion spent in 2015.

The Senate bill is considerably less than the $82 billion in aid requested by New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, the states that bore the brunt of damage from the storm.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, was in Washington this month, lobbying lawmakers for the larger amount.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund now has less than $5 billion available.

The damage to New York and New Jersey coastal areas was on a scale not seen since Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast and flooded New Orleans in 2005. Two weeks after that storm hit, Congress approved $62.3 billion in emergency appropriations.

Lawmakers passed numerous subsequent emergency funding requests over several years to cover damages from Katrina, which topped $100 billion. A number of Gulf State Republicans supported the Sandy relief bill.

Republicans were successful in requiring offsetting spending cuts for $3.4 billion in mitigation work to prevent future disasters. Some Democrats said this would set a precedent for future disaster aid bills.

(Reporting By Doug Palmer and David Lawder; editing by Todd Eastham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-approves-60-4-billion-superstorm-sandy-reconstruction-000707603.html

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Mandela close to medical care at home

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? The doctors treating former South African leader Nelson Mandela believe he should remain in Johannesburg for now to be close to medical facilities that can provide care to the 94-year-old, the government said Thursday.

Mandela left a hospital Wednesday evening after nearly three weeks of treatment there, and was brought to his home in the Johannesburg neighborhood of Houghton. The anti-apartheid icon, also known by his clan name, Madiba, has spent more time in recent years in the rural village of Qunu in Eastern Cape province, where he grew up.

Mandela's grandson, Mandla Mandela, said he hopes "it won't be too long before he's with us back in Qunu, where he belongs," but acknowledged that the doctors' assessment is critical to any decision to travel.

"It can be a strenuous trip," the grandson said in an interview with eNCA, a South African television news channel. "We will await the feedback from the doctors as to when he will be fit and ready to come back home."

Mandela was admitted Dec. 8 to a hospital in the South African capital of Pretoria, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Johannesburg. The ex-president was treated for a lung infection and also had a procedure to remove gallstones.

"Where Madiba goes, in which period, in which times, is a matter that is entirely dependent on his own wishes. Whatever he wishes, we will do," presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj told eNCA.

"But right now, the doctors have considered it necessary and good that he should be in Houghton so that he's close to all the facilities where we can give him high care," Maharaj said.

Maharaj noted that Mandela had been in good spirits while receiving President Jacob Zuma and other visitors while he was hospitalized.

"Madiba was doing well, but as you know, when you're recovering there are ups and downs, slight ups and downs, and the doctors are looking for a steady progress and that began to be registered over the last few days," the spokesman said.

Mandela is revered around the world as a symbol of sacrifice and reconciliation, his legacy forged in the fight against apartheid, the system of white minority rule that imprisoned him for 27 years. The Nobel laureate served one five-year term as president after South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994.

Maharaj said Mandela is able to see his family "more easily" now that he is at home, but he appealed to the public to respect the former president's privacy "to allow the best possible conditions for his full recovery."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mandela-close-medical-care-home-130234303.html

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World Snowboard Day kicks off December 30 | US Asian Post

World Snowboard Day is December 30.
?All rights reserved

(Relaxnews) ? On December 30, snowboarders around the globe will carve up the slopes to celebrate their sport on World Snowboard Day, now in its seventh edition.

Last year nearly 170 events in 37 countries took part, with an estimated 25,000 participants joining in the fun. This year, 47 events are scheduled so far in 22 countries, including concerts and parties, snowboarding lessons, environmental education sessions, and contests and demos.

Anne-Flore Marxer, Freeride World Champion, has signed on to be the official ambassador of the event.

World Snowboard Day, which grows in size every year, was created in 2006 by EuroSIMA, the World Snowboard Federation, and Outdoor Sports Valley.

Find out about events in your area:?http://www.world-snowboard-day.com

Watch a teaser:?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWbmnRjzJGk

Tags: Anne-Flore Marxer concerts Environmental Education sessions EuroSIMA Events Featured Freeride World Champion Outdoor Sports Valley Snowboarders Snowboarding Lessons Sport Sport & Fitness Well-being World Snowboard Day World Snowboard Federation

Source: http://www.usasianpost.com/usap/11743?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=world-snowboard-day-kicks-off-december-30

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Oil rises slightly ahead of US fiscal-cliff talks

The price of crude edged up toward $91 a barrel on Friday, ahead of another effort in Washington to strike a budget deal before the year-end deadline.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for February delivery was up 6 cents to $90.93 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract fell 11 cents to finish at $90.87 a barrel Thursday, following a reported drop in U.S. consumer confidence and growing pessimism that President Barack Obama and Republican lawmakers will reach a compromise on ways to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff ? hundreds of billions of dollars in government spending cuts and tax increases that take effect automatically in 2013 unless lawmakers act.

Hopes that a compromise might be reached were raised after congressional leaders were invited to the White House for talks later Friday, while the House of Representatives will meet Sunday and stay in session until Jan. 2, the day before the new Congress is sworn in.

"We now have to go again into the weekend with the 'fiscal cliff' risk, and if it is not solved then crude oil could start 2013 with a correction," said Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland.

On the other hand, a U.S. budget deal is expected to boost oil prices.

Oil prices were also helped by expectations of a drop of around 2 million barrels in U.S. crude supplies last week. The Energy Information Administration releases its weekly report later Friday.

In London, Brent crude, used to price various kinds of foreign oil, was down 16 cents to $110.64 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

In other energy futures trading:

? Wholesale gasoline was down 1.22 cents to $2.7771 a gallon.

? Heating oil fell 0.48 cent to $3.0441 a gallon.

? Natural gas lost 3.5 cents to $3.377 per 1,000 cubic feet.

___

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oil-rises-slightly-ahead-us-fiscal-cliff-talks-124644482--finance.html

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What&#39;s Best for Kids&#39; Eye Health? Experts Give Insight - Health News ...

By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 26 (HealthDay News) ? For generations, countless adults have urged kids to eat carrots to protect their eyesight.

?Anything that?s good for your body is good for your eyes, especially vegetables,? explained Dr. James McDonnell, a professor of ophthalmology and director of pediatric ophthalmology at the Loyola University Health System and the Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago.

But how does the average adult, without medical training, know whether the words of wisdom being doled out ? whether about crunching carrots or anything else ? are good advice? And what else do parents need to know to keep their kids? vision keen?

Here?s a sampling of advice from eye experts:

How often should children have their eyes screened for vision problems?

Generally, kids don?t need any additional eye exams. Schools and pediatricians screen for eye problems and should flag any eye issues that warrant a visit to an eye specialist.

?The process is set up to screen all children for the most common eye problems,? said Dr. Erin Stahl, an ophthalmologist at Children?s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Mo. But, she did recommend that ?parents should make sure that these screenings are being done yearly.?

But, if children complain of eye pain or say that they?re having trouble seeing, take them to an eye specialist, she said. The same is true if you notice that your child?s eyes don?t seem to be aligning properly.

Children don?t always wear their glasses. Can this be harmful?

McDonnell said the answer to this question can depend on the reason the glasses were prescribed. But, in general, if an eye doctor has prescribed glasses for a child, there?s probably a good reason that he or she needs to wear them.

?Most of the time, I put kids in glasses because without them their eyes cross,? McDonnell said. ?The glasses help their brains develop properly at the critical age that lets eyes work together. In other kids, I might prescribe glasses because one eye is out of focus. These kids need to wear their glasses so that their brain isn?t only receiving blurry input from that eye.?

If you?re having trouble getting a child to wear his or her glasses regularly, Stahl added, ask the doctor whether off-and-on wear will cause any problems.

Pre-teens sometimes want to wear contacts. Is it too soon?

Both McDonnell and Stahl said that the age at which contacts are appropriate depends largely on a child?s maturity level.

For the most part, Stahl said, she won?t prescribe contacts to anyone younger than 10. McDonnell said he usually doesn?t consider contacts until a child 12 to 15 years old. Any child has to be mature enough to put contacts in, take them out and keep them clean, he noted. But even then, he added, parents still need to check to be sure their children are following the proper contact care techniques.

That includes making sure they?re not sleeping with their contacts in ? something McDonnell said that children should never do. Eye experts agree that sleeping in contacts increases the chance of infection.

Are decorative contacts OK?

Decorative or cosmetic contacts are lenses that kids (and adults) sometimes wear, perhaps as part of a costume, to dramatically change their eye color or make their eyes look like those of a cat or a zombie. In the United States, it?s illegal to sell decorative lenses over-the-counter, meaning that they require a prescription, even if the youngster who wants them doesn?t need lenses for vision correction.

McDonnell said that if kids are familiar with contact wear and care, and they know how to keep them clean, he doesn?t see a problem with wearing decorative contacts for a special occasion. But if it takes an adult to help a child put decorative contacts in or take them out, that should be a sign that this is a bad idea. Stahl added that she?s seen severe eye injuries from cosmetic contacts.

Will too much computer time hurt a child?s eyes?

?Too much screen time will not damage a child?s eyes,? said Stahl. That said, ?too much screen time is not good for the overall development of the child,? she added.

At worst, said McDonnell, spending a lot of time in front of a screen might cause eye strain. ?It?s like doing push-ups for three hours,? he said. ?Give your eyes a break and look up from that near point and gaze around the room from time to time.?

What should be done to protect a child?s eyes from injuries?

McDonnell said that it?s hard to anticipate everything that could hurt a child?s eyes because even something as seemingly innocuous as a child?s fingernail can cause a serious injury. Still, he said, it?s important to try to prevent eye injuries.

?If something penetrates the eye, these can be devastating injuries,? he said. ?We do our best to repair the eye, but it?s part of the brain, which makes it exquisitely sensitive, even though it?s reasonably tough.?

For starters, Stahl said, ?keep your child away from fireworks, lawn mowers and trimmers, and sharp objects like sticks and hangers.? She and McDonnell both recommended that kids wear eye protection during certain sports, especially those that involve smaller balls, such as racquetball or squash. McDonnell also advised that children not be allowed to play with BB or pellet guns because of the risk for eye and other injuries.

More information

The Nemours Foundation?s KidsHealth website has more about children?s eye health.

For one mother?s experience getting contact lenses for her preteen, read this.

Source: http://news.health.com/2012/12/26/whats-best-for-kids-eye-health-experts-give-insight/

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Cliff looms: Kicking the Can, Washington-style

WASHINGTON (AP) ? When it comes to the nation's budget challenges, congressional leaders are fond of saying dismissively they don't want to kick the can down the road.

But now, a deadline hard ahead, even derided half-measures are uncertain as President Barack Obama and lawmakers struggle to avert across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts that comprise an economy-threatening fiscal cliff.

Congressional officials said Wednesday they knew of no significant strides toward a compromise over a long Christmas weekend, and no negotiations have been set.

The Senate is due in session Thursday, although the immediate agenda includes legislation setting the rules for government surveillance of suspected spies and terrorists abroad, including Americans, as well as a measure providing $60 billion for victims of Superstorm Sandy.

Obama decided to cut short his Hawaii vacation for an overnight flight expected to get him back to the White House in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday.

After weeks of negotiations, the president urged lawmakers late last week to scale back their ambitions and send him legislation preventing tax cuts on all but the highest-earning Americans and extending unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless. Longer, term, he said he still supports deficit cuts that were key to the earlier talks.

"Everybody's got to give a little bit in a sensible way," he said at the White House.

The House has no plans to convene, following last week's rebellion in which conservatives torpedoed Speaker John Boehner's legislation to prevent scheduled tax increases on most, while letting them take effect on million-dollar wage earners.

"How we get there, God only knows," the Ohio Republican said of efforts to protect the economy ? and taxpayers ? from the tax increases and spending cuts.

"Now is the time to show leadership, not kick the can down the road," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said a little over a week ago after Boehner announced he would shift his own focus from bipartisan talks to the approach that eventually was torpedoed by his own rank and file.

It's a phrase that political leaders use when they want to suggest others want to avoid tackling major problems, and one that Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia and even Obama as well as Reid have used.

"We have a spending problem. We have to address it, And we're not going to address it by kicking the can down the road," the speaker said at a news conference late last week when he was asked about setting a vote on a plan that Democrats find acceptable.

Cantor recently used the same approach in challenging Obama to agree to savings from Medicare and other benefit programs. "This has to be a part of this agreement or else we just continue to dig the hole deeper, asking folks to allow us to kick the can down the road further and that we don't want to do," he said on Nov. 28.

In fact, it's a phrase that has been in use for over a year as Obama and Republicans jockey for position on pocketbook issues.

In July, 2011, when he was struggling with Republicans over the threat of a first-ever government default, Obama said he had "heard reports that there may be some in Congress who want to do just enough to make sure that America avoids defaulting on our debt in the short term. But then wants to kick the can down the road when it comes to solving the larger problem, our deficit."

A few months later, an extension of a payroll tax cut was the issue, and Boehner was insisting on a year-long renewal rather than the temporary plan that passed the Senate with votes from lawmakers in both parties.

"How can you do tax policy for two months?" he asked on Dec. 18, 2011. "I believe that two months is just kicking the can down the road.

"The American people are tired of that."

At issue now is series of tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to kick in with the new year that economists caution could send the economy into a recession.

Obama wants to let higher rates apply to upper incomes, but when Boehner relented and tried to pass legislation setting the threshold at $1 million ? higher than Democrats want ? Republicans refused.

Less than two months ago, all sides expressed optimism about far more than dealing with the expiring tax cuts.

The plan then was also to forge a compromise that would also replace about $500 billion in spending cuts aimed at the Pentagon and a variety of domestic accounts with a series of targeted reductions.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cliff-looms-kicking-washington-style-190538562--politics.html

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No deal in sight as deadline for fiscal deal nears

President Barack Obama waves as he boards Air Force One to return to Washington, at Honolulu Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, after spending Christmas with his family in Hawaii, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

President Barack Obama waves as he boards Air Force One to return to Washington, at Honolulu Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, after spending Christmas with his family in Hawaii, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrive to visit with members of the military and their families in Anderson Hall at Marine Corp Base Hawaii, Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012, in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. The first family is in Hawaii for a family holiday vacation. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama waves from the window of his motorcade vehicle as he returns from golf and a walk on the beach with his family at Marine Corp Base Hawaii, in Kailua, Hawaii, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. The president and the first family are in Hawaii for a family holiday vacation. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

President Barack Obama waves to base peronnel before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington, at Honolulu Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, after spending Christmas with his family in Hawaii, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

President Barack Obama greets base visitors and personnel before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington, at Honolulu Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, after spending Christmas with his family in Hawaii, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A last-gasp effort Thursday to avoid automatic tax increases and spending cuts got off on the same convulsive, partisan tone that marked congressional attempts to resolve the impasse before lawmakers left Washington to go home for Christmas.

With a Dec. 31 deadline for an agreement to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" rapidly approaching, leaders in each party demanded the other side take the initiative. The new flare-up happened despite a round of calls that President Barack Obama made to congressional leaders by phone Wednesday night from Hawaii before he boarded Air Force One to head home from vacation.

The market was glum, with stocks falling for the fourth day in a row amid the stalled negotiations and a report that consumer confidence had plunged to its lowest level since August.

Obama's plane landed in late morning at a suburban Maryland Air Force base, not long after Majority Leader Harry Reid took to the Senate floor to chastise House Republicans who last week opposed Speaker John Boehner's efforts to pass a narrowly crafted bill. Boehner's "Plan B" would have raised tax rates only on the very wealthiest Americans. But the opposition within his own party caucus forced the Ohio Republican to cancel a vote on the bill.

Reid charged Thursday that the House was "being operated with a dictatorship of the speaker."

"John Boehner seems to care more about keeping his speakership than about keeping the nation on sound financial footing," the Nevada Democrat said on the Senate floor.

Upon his return from a brief vacation, Obama was facing what has become a familiar 11th-hour scenario ? one the GOP says is his fault ? and even a stopgap solution was in doubt.

Without congressional action, current tax rates will expire on Dec. 31, resulting in a $536 billion tax increase that would touch nearly all Americans. Moreover, the military and other federal departments would have to cut $110 billion in spending.

But while economists have warned about the economic impact of tax hikes and spending cuts of that magnitude, both sides are increasingly proceeding as if Congress could still act in January in time to retroactively counter the effect on most taxpayers and government agencies without causing economic harm.

The issue has been Obama's first test of muscle after his re-election in November. Obama ran on a theme of having the wealthy pay a greater share toward deficit reduction with a focus on raising upper tax rates for individuals earning $200,000 or more and couples making more than $250,000. In negotiations with Boehner toward a deficit reduction plan of more than $2 trillion over 10 years, he offered to increase that threshold to $400,000, but those negotiations collapsed.

House GOP leaders this week put the burden on Reid, urging him in a statement Wednesday to take up a House-passed bill that would extend current tax rates to all taxpayers, a bill Obama has vowed to veto.

Reacting to Reid's floor remarks Thursday, Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said: "Harry Reid should talk less and legislate more if he wants to avert the fiscal cliff. The House has already passed legislation to do so."

The White House said Obama, before leaving Hawaii, called Boehner, Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. The White House statement said the president got an update on the "fiscal negotiations," but offered no detail on who, exactly, was negotiating and whether those talks were getting anywhere.

McConnell's office said Obama's phone call was the first from a Democrat on the fiscal cliff since Thanksgiving.

Last Friday, Obama and Reid voiced support for a proposal that would extend current rates to taxpayers with earnings up to $200,000 and families with earnings up to $250,000. Taxpayers above those thresholds would see their top rates rise. The proposal would have included extended aid to unemployed workers and some surgical cuts to avoid steeper and broader spending cuts.

For the Senate to act would require a commitment from McConnell not to demand a 60-vote margin to consider the legislation on the Senate floor. McConnell's office says it's too early to make such an assessment because Democrats have not put forward a specific plan and have been unclear on whether extended benefits for the unemployed would be paid for with cuts in other programs or on how it would deal with an expiring estate tax, among other issues.

The questions hanging over Washington Thursday centered on whether Reid would offer a specific piece of legislation, whether McConnell would allow it to proceed to a vote on the Senate floor and, if the Senate bill passed, whether Boehner would then call House lawmakers back to Washington to vote on it. All those issues remained unresolved, and success before the end of the year appeared a long shot at best.

Reid said the GOP-controlled House easily could have passed a White House-approved plan with a majority of Democratic votes and a few dozen Republican votes. But House leaders generally avoid such tactics, because they might alienate the Republican caucus and jeopardize the speaker's job.

The House has passed a Republican plan to avert the fiscal cliff, and the Senate has passed a Democratic version. Their deficit-reduction projections differ by hundreds of billions of dollars over 10 years.

Adding to the mix of developments pushing toward a "fiscal cliff," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday informed Congress that the government was on track to hit its borrowing limit on Monday and said he would take "extraordinary measures as authorized by law" to postpone a government default.

Still, he added, uncertainty about the outcome of negotiations over taxes and spending made it difficult to determine how much time those measures would buy.

___

Follow Jim Kuhnhenn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jkuhnhenn

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-12-27-Fiscal%20Cliff/id-648ccf43434c4fceb88568318d8524e9

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Peyton Manning, Peterson make Pro Bowl

NEW YORK (AP) ? Sensational comebacks have Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson headed for the Pro Bowl.

Also selected Wednesday to the NFL's all-star game was Redskins rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III.

Manning missed all of the 2011 season with neck and back problems that required several operations. He then signed with Denver as a free agent and has led the Broncos on a 10-game winning streak to take the AFC West.

"I know there's great players out there in the NFL, but there's some great players on this team this year that deserve to go," said Manning, whose 12th Pro Bowl is a record for quarterbacks. He ranks fourth in league passing this year, has thrown 34 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Four other Broncos made the AFC roster: DE Elvis Dumervil, linebacker Von Miller, CB Champ Bailey and tackle Ryan Clady. Bailey's 12th appearance is a record for defensive backs.

Minnesota's Peterson tore up his left knee on Christmas Eve last year, underwent major surgery, then was back for the season opener. He's gone from uncertain to unstoppable, running away with the rushing title with a career-high 1,898 yards and lifting the Vikings toward an NFC wild card.

"Coming into the season after going through the rehab process, I just told myself that I wanted to lead my team to a championship and make sure that I contribute and do my part," Peterson said. "I've been doing it."

Griffin is one of three rookie QBs who had superb debut seasons, along with Andrew Luck of Indianapolis and Russell Wilson of Seattle. Luck and Wilson weren't voted to the Pro Bowl by players coaches and fans, although their teams are in the playoffs; Griffin can get to the postseason if Washington beats Dallas on Sunday.

"You can't play down those kind of things," Griffin said. "I've always said my whole football career that you don't play for awards. They just come. You don't say you're going to win the Heisman. You don't say you're going to win MVP. You go out and you prove it on the field, and if everyone feels that way then they'll give you that award."

San Francisco had the most players selected, nine, including six from its second-ranked defense. Houston was next with eight, six on offense.

Kansas City, despite its 2-13 record that is tied with Jacksonville for worst in the league, had five Pro Bowlers, including RB Jamaal Charles, who like Peterson is coming back from a torn ACL.

One other rookie, Minnesota kicker Blair Walsh, was chosen. Walsh has nine field goals of at least 50 yards, an NFL mark.

The AFC kicker is at the other end of the spectrum: Cleveland's Phil Dawson earned his first selection in his 14th NFL season.

Another record setter will be heading to Honolulu for the Jan. 27 Pro Bowl: Detroit WR Calvin Johnson.

Johnson broke Jerry Rice's single-season yards receiving record and has 1,892 yards with a game left.

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/peyton-manning-peterson-pro-bowl-001048748--nfl.html

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Online video streaming service restored by Netflix- AMZN | US ...

Netflix, Inc.(NASDAQ:NFLX), which is one of the biggest video- streaming service providers across the world, revealed that they have restored the access to their movies and television shows. The access was disrupted by the Web storage and computing system of Amazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN).

According to Joris Evers who is a spokesman on Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) behalf disclosed that many of their American customers were not able to get an access over the online content since yesterday around 3.30 p.m. till late on the eve of Christmas. He further added that the problem was caused due to issues with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services, which is a business being hosted on the internet and is entirely different from an online retail store. Presently subscription and on-demand services are the most important revenue generating source for the company, which used to offer DVD rentals through email. The reports of the third quarter clearly reflected that streaming services contributed about seventy percent of the sales. Reed Hastings, who is the chief executive officer is trying hard to make Los Gatos, California based Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) to be available around the world so that people will be able to get an instant access to the content through the internet.

In an email Evers communicated: ?We are happy that people opening gifts of Netflix, Inc.(NASDAQ:NFLX) subscriptions or Netflix, Inc.(NASDAQ:NFLX)-capable devices this Christmas morning can watch TV shows and movies and apologize for any inconvenience caused last night?. He ended by writing: ?We are investigating the cause and will do what we can to prevent re-occurrence?

Amazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN), who is one of the world?s biggest online retailers, deals in renting of data storage space and computer resources to other organizations and businesses globally. The issues that were interrupting the service of Amazon were resolved and they are looking forward to smoother operations for customers, as told by Tera Randall, a spokeswoman for Amazon. The streaming services in Europe remained unaffected with all this, Netflix, Inc.(NASDAQ:NFLX) stated.

The shares of Netflix, Inc.(NASDAQ:NFLX) is at $89.50.

The shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is at $255.83

Tagged NASDAQ:AMZN, NASDAQ:NFLX

About Brent Watts

Brent Watts before joining Market Buzz Media, Brent worked for Hubbard Broadcasting sister station KSTP in the Twin cities as part of the production team and now wants to focus his attention back into the newsroom. He graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism from University of St. Thomas and worked on St. Thomas?s T.V. station, Campus Scope, as a reporter and anchor. Brent gained valuable forecasting skills from The New England Shore Line to the Mountains of West Virginia. During his free time he loves watching and playing Ice Hockey.

View all posts by Brent Watts ?

Source: http://usmarketbuzz.com/online-video-streaming-service-restored-by-netflix-amzn-658

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Set Up and Get to Know Your New iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

You've just been given an iDevice: a magical entity that bestows the gift of more apps than you can fathom. We'll help you make sense of it all with some great apps, tips, and tricks for your shiny new Apple toy.

Before you dive in, here are a few things you should do with your new iDevice first:

• Update to the Lastest Version of iOS: There's a decent chance your new iDevice isn't running the latest version of iOS, even if it's just a very minor upgrade that's necessary. Before you sync for the first time, check for updates in iTunes or in your iDevice's Settings app, if your device is running iOS 6.0.1. If there's an update available, iTunes (or your phone) should tell you automatically but it's always good to double check. It's okay to update now that Google Maps is available.
• Get to Know iOS 6: Once you've updated, you ought to know what you're in for. We can teach you everything you need to know. Our guide features a rundown of new features, in-depth looks at how to use the most popular ones, and answers to common questions about the mobile operating system.
• Sign Up For Free Find My iPhone: You don't need to pay to use Apple's great Find My iPhone app. Just download it from the iTunes App Store and follow the signup instructions. You'll need to create a MobileMe account to get it to work but you will not have to pay for it. Once you're all set up, you'll be able to find your lost or stolen iPhone much more easily.
• Install Google Maps - When Apple released iOS 6, everyone complained about the problems with their new Maps app?and for good reason. Fortunately, Google came to the rescue and released Google Maps with turn-by-turn navigation. Do yourself a favor and install it, then learn how to integrate it with Siri.
• Organize Your Home Screen - When you start downloading a bunch of apps, your home screen is going to get cluttered very quickly. Stay ahead of the game and start organizing. As you download apps it'll be easier to keep track of where every app is and will be stored. Check out these reader tips for some ideas.

Download Some Killer Apps

One of the iPhones primary draws is the high quality of apps in the iTunes App Store. Here are some app suggestions to get you started.

• Lifehacker Pack for iPhone: Our List of the Best iPhone Apps: Looking to power up your iPhone with the best free and cheap apps out there? Our second edition of the Lifehacker Pack for iPhone rounds up our favorite must-have iPhone applications.
• The iPhone App Directory: Our App Directory is a new and growing directory of the best applications and tools for various platforms, and in this case the iPhone. If you're looking for the best app in any category, this is where you want to look. Visit the iPhone App Directory
• The Best "Evil" Apps for iPhone: Locked down for your "safety," your iPhone is designed to operate the way Apple intended. With recently relaxed app store policies and great strides within the jailbreaking community, however, you can add great functionality that Apple never wanted you to have.

Supercharge Your iPhone

There's a wide world of fun beyond apps. Check out these posts to learn all about the awesome things you can do to supercharge your iPhone's capabilities.

• How to Break Down the Barrier Between Your iPhone and Computer: Your iOS device is a killer pocketable computer; your desktop is more powerful with a bigger screen. They need to play better together. Here's how to break down the barrier between the two and shuttle text, files, media, and more seamlessly between your desktop and iPhone.
• How to Create a Visual Speed Dial Folder on Your iPhone: Visual speed dial is a nice idea, but when you have to launch a separate app to make a phone call it's a little annoying. Here are two ways to add visual speed dial to your home screen.
• Top 10 Handy iOS Tweaks That Don't Require Jailbreaking: Jailbreaking your iPhone has a ton of benefits that give you actual control over your device-but it isn't always possible. If you're tired of waiting for the next version of iOS to be jailbroken, check out these tweaks and customizations you can make whether you're jailbroken or not.
• Turn Your Smartphone Camera into a Pocketable Photographic Memory: Several apps exist to help you remember the many things you'd otherwise forget, but perhaps none are quite as useful and efficient as your camera. Typing takes time. napping a photo only takes a moment, and there are so many ways you can remind yourself better with nothing but a picture.
• How to Turn Your Phone Into a Mind-Reading Personal Assistant: Smartphones, despite their name, are actually pretty dumb. They only do what you tell them to, and constantly inputting information can get tedious. However, with a few apps, you can not only make your phone smarter, but turn it into a mind-reading personal assistant that lets you know of important information as you need it: like traffic for your commute, a reminder to pick up milk as you pass the grocery store, and even automatic text messages to your friends when you're driving to meet them. Here's how to do it.
• Make Your Smartphone's Ringtones and Alerts Actually Useful and Informative?: Don't settle for the same ringtone for every contact and every app. Make your tones actually useful so you know what kind of notification you're getting without the need to look at the screen.
• Do Yourself a Favor: Set Up These Custom Typing Shortcuts on Your iPhone Right Now: It seems Apple added text expansion to iOS 5 and decided not to mention it. This is a great, highly-desired feature that can save you tons of time typing frequent phrases and long words. Here's how to set it up and some phrases you'll want to add right away.
• How to Take Great Holiday Photos with Your iPhone: Holidays are the perfect time to capture magic moments with friends and family and take the time get creative with your photography. Here are some simple tips to get the best photos from your iPhone.
• Use Your iPad or Android Tablet as a Second Monitor for Your Computer: Want to eke out a little more value out of that tablet? Turn it into a second monitor for your PC or Mac and extend your screen real estate.
• How to Migrate All Your Data to iCloud from Google with Minimal Fuss: While most of us use Gmail for all our cloud computing needs, Apple's iCloud actually has some really nice things going for it-especially if you're a heavy Mac and iOS user. I've walked through why you might want to switch from Google's apps to iCloud, so whether you're migrating all your data over or just a few choice items, here's how to move from Google to iCloud without losing any of your existing email messages, contacts, calendars, and documents.
• How to Turn Your iPod touch into an iPhone: 4G Edition: The latest iPhone and iPod touch are nearly identical devices on the inside, ignoring the pesky reality that the latter isn't a phone. We can fix that. Here's how to turn your iPod touch into a viable (and cheaper) iPhone alternative out of the box.
• How to Google-ify Your iPhone: Got Android envy? Just wish Apple handled sync, the web, and openness a bit better? You can't have it all, but if you want to bring more Google paradigms to your iPhone, here's how to do it.
• How to Make Music in GarageBand with iOS: Want to lay down some tracks but all you've got is your iOS device and a Mac? With an OpenSound Control (OSC) app on your iPhone and server on your Mac you can record a virtual keyboard over Wi-Fi.

Fix Common Problems

• How to Stop Your Smartphone from Secretly Wasting Data in the Background: Unlimited data plans are an endangered species nowadays, so most of us have to watch our limits in order to avoid excess charges on our bill. That's easy enough when we know how much cellular data we're using on our smartphones, but becomes problematic when our smartphones eat up our precious megabytes in the background. This doesn't just happen on Android, but iPhone, too. Here's how to stop it.
• How to Improve Your iPhone's Battery Life: If you're looking to improve your iPhone's daily lifespan, we've got a few tips that can help you squeeze a little more juice out of your iDevice.
• Fill Out Your Address Book to Make Siri Work Better: Out of the box Siri can do a few common things, but it struggles when you try to get too complicated with it. GigaOM offers up a few clever address book customizations to make Siri work more naturally.
• How to Copy Music from Your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to Your Computer for Free: Apple, true to form, makes it simple to put media and files on your iDevice but the road really only goes one way. It can be pretty difficult to copy anything (or everything) back to your computer without a lot of trouble and sacrifice, but it's even harder to find a good, free solution to that problem amongst the many choices available. You could spend the better part of your holiday sifting through your options, or you could just read this guide instead.
• How to Sync Documents and Other Files to Your iPhone or iPad Without iTunes: If you use a word processor, comic book or PDF reader, video player, or other app that requires syncing files through iTunes, you know how slow and awful it can be. Here's a simple, fast alternative.
• How to Encode Video for All Your Mobile Devices: With H.264 solidly planted as the codec of choice for just about every mobile device, we've come to a point where you can encode a video once and play it back on pretty much anything.
• Printopia Enables iOS-to-Mac AirPrint Support Hack-Free, Adds Virtual Printers: You could use AirPrint Hacktivator (or do it manually) to add AirPrint support to your Mac, but if you don't want to modify your system files and would like virtual printers, you should check out Printopia.
• How to Open Compressed Files on Your iOS Device: iOS does pretty well with handling various file types, but when it comes to compressed files you run into problems. Fortunately, with the aid of a file browsing app you'll be able to view compressed files easily.

Images by ecco (Shutterstock), kirillov alexey (Shutterstock), and PixelBin.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/QVSoTk18wqI/set-up-and-get-to-know-your-new-iphone-ipad-or-ipod-touch

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"My Roleplay" Link not Working

As stated by the title, the "My Roleplay" link doesn't work when I try to access it. On Firefox, my browser sends me to a "Problem Loading Page" screen with the message: "The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because it uses an invalid or unsupported form of compression.". I've tried Google Chrome, with no success. Help please?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/o-d73TEg_-k/viewtopic.php

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Lawmakers play waiting game with 'fiscal cliff' deadline in sight

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With only a week left before a deadline for the United States to go over a "fiscal cliff," lawmakers played a waiting game on Monday in the hope that someone will produce a plan to avoid harsh budget cuts and higher taxes for most Americans from New Year's Day.

Though Republicans and Democrats have spent the better part of a year describing a plunge off the cliff as a looming catastrophe, the nation's capital showed no outward signs of worry, let alone impending calamity.

The White House has set up shop in Hawaii, where President Barack Obama is vacationing.

The Capitol was deserted and the Treasury Department - which would have to do a lot of last-minute number-crunching with or without a deal - was closed.

So were all other federal government offices, with Obama having followed a tradition of declaring the Monday before a Tuesday Christmas a holiday for government employees, notwithstanding the approaching fiscal cliff.

Expectations for some 11th-hour rescue focused largely on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, in part because he has performed the role of legislative wizard in previous stalemates.

But McConnell, who is up for re-election in 2014, was shunning the role this year, his spokesman saying that it was now up to the Democrats in the Senate to make the next move.

"We don't yet know what Senator Reid will bring to the floor. He is not negotiating with us and the president is out of town," said McConnell's spokesman, referring to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat. "So I just don't know what they're going to do over there," he said.

Two-day-old tweets on leadership websites told the story insofar as it was visible to the public.

House Speaker John Boehner's referred everyone to McConnell. McConnell's tweet passed the responsibility along to Obama, saying it was a "moment that calls for presidential leadership."

Reid's tweet said: "There will be very serious consequences for millions of families if Congress fails to act" on the cliff.

The next session of the Senate is set for Thursday, but the issues presented by across-the-board tax hikes and indiscriminate reductions in government spending, were not on the calendar.

The House has nothing on its schedule for the week, but members have been told they could be called back at 48 hours notice, making a Thursday return a theoretical possibility.

However, aides to the Republican leaders in Congress said there were no talks with Democrats on Monday and none scheduled after negotiations fell off track last week when Boehner failed to persuade House Republicans to accept tax increases on incomes of more than $1 million a year.

"Nothing new, Merry Christmas," an aide to Boehner responded when asked if there was any movement on the fiscal cliff.

But a senior Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said White House aides were talking with Senate Democratic staffers about the situation.

SCALED-BACK EXPECTATIONS

If there is some last-minute legislation, Republicans and Democrats agreed on Sunday news shows that it will not be any sort of "grand bargain" encompassing taxes and spending cuts, but most likely a short-term deal putting everything off for a few weeks or months, thereby risking a negative market reaction.

A limited agreement would still need bipartisan support, as Obama has said he would veto a bill that does not raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

On Monday, Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison urged fellow Republicans to be flexible.

"We're now at a point where we're not going to get what we think is right for our economy and our country because we don't control government. So we've got to work within the system we have," she told MSNBC.

Two bills in Congress could conceivably form the basis for a last-minute stopgap measure.

Last spring, Republicans in the House passed a measure that would extend Bush-era tax cuts for everyone, reflecting the party's deep reluctance to increase taxes.

The Democratic-controlled Senate passed a bill in August, extending lower tax rates for everyone except the wealthiest Americans - a group defined at that point as households with a net income of $250,000 or above. Obama has since increased that to $400,000 a year, in an effort to win Republican support.

Analysts say Democrats might be able to get the backing of enough Republicans in both the House and Senate, especially if they are willing to raise the number to $500,000.

Under that scenario, lawmakers might also put off spending cuts of $109 billion that would take effect from January and agree to Republican demands for cuts in entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, the government-run health insurance plans for seniors and the poor.

However, with only a few work days left in Congress after Christmas, there is a good chance that no deal can be worked out and tax rates would then go up, at least briefly, until an agreement is reached in Washington.

"We may go off the cliff on January 1, but we would correct that very quickly thereafter," Democratic Representative John Yarmuth told MSNBC.

The prospects of the United States going over the fiscal cliff dampened enthusiasm on Wall Street for a "Santa rally" in the holiday season, when stocks traditionally rise.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 51.76 points, or 0.39 percent, in Monday's shortened holiday session.

Failure to work out tax rates in the coming days would cause chaos at the Internal Revenue Service, said analyst Chris Krueger of Guggenheim Securities.

"Next weekend is going to be a total, total debacle," he said. The IRS is unlikely to have enough time to revise its tables for withholding taxes.

"The withholding tables are sort of like an aircraft carrier, you can't turn the thing on a dime." he said.

(Additonal reporting by Alina Selyukh, Patrick Temple-West and David Lawder and Mark Felsenthal in Honolulu; Editing by Alistair Bell, Fred Barbash, David Brunnstrom and Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lawmakers-play-waiting-game-fiscal-cliff-deadline-sight-041126510--business.html

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