Obama invites top senators for debt talks
WASHINGTON – Stepping directly into stalled debt talks, President Barack Obama is inviting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican leader Mitch McConnell to separate meetings Monday, shifting the negotiations to the highest levels.
The White House meetings, announced Friday by press secretary Jay Carney, would seek to pick up where negotiations headed by Vice President Joe Biden left off. Republican negotiators abandoned those talks Thursday over Democrats' insistence on including tax increases in any deficit-reduction plan.
McConnell has been demanding that Obama become personally involved in the budget discussions.
Congressional Republicans want to reach a deal on about $2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years before agreeing to raise the nation's borrowing limit, currently capped at $14.3 trillion. The Treasury Department has said it has until Aug. 2 before its ability to pay U.S. debt runs out.
Obama has repeatedly called for a "balanced framework" for long-term deficit reduction, saying cuts in spending are necessary but that additional tax revenue should also be part of the equation. Democrats insist that additional revenues be found by closing tax breaks, alongside the trillions of dollars in spending cuts.
House Speaker John Boehner on Friday ruled out any tax increase as part of a final budget deal.
In a statement following the White House invitation, McConnell said Obama needs to decide between tax hikes or a bipartisan agreement. "He can't have both," McConnell said.
"Sadly, the Democrats' response has been a mystifying call for more stimulus spending and huge tax hikes on American job creators. That's not serious, and it is my hope that the president will take those off the table on Monday so that we can have a serious discussion about our country's economic future," McConnell said.
The decision by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., to quit deficit-reduction talks as a critical deadline approaches set the stage for Obama to step in.
It had long been assumed that the Biden group would clear the way for more decisive talks personally involving Obama and Boehner. As a result, Cantor's move was interpreted as trying to jump-start the talks rather than blow them up — a view shared by Cantor himself.
"The purpose here is to alter the dynamic," Cantor said.
In fact, Cantor's withdrawal came after Boehner had already made a trek to the White House — in a secret meeting Wednesday night that followed up on a golf outing with Obama over the weekend. For his part, Cantor didn't inform Boehner of his decision to leave the talks until Thursday, shortly before the news broke.
The White House sought to put a positive spin on developments.
"As all of us at the table said at the outset, the goal of these talks was to report our findings back to our respective leaders," Biden said in a statement. "The next phase is in the hands of those leaders, who need to determine the scope of an agreement that can tackle the problem and attract bipartisan support."
For his part, Cantor said the secretive Biden-led talks had "established a blueprint" for agreement on significant cuts in spending.
One of the byproducts of Cantor's departure was to provide an opportunity for partisans on all sides to make statements at odds with the positions they may have to take to achieve a deal. Democrats insist that at least some new revenues are needed — both to soften spending cuts and to line up the Democratic votes needed to pass the measure.
"It will take Democratic votes to pass any debt-ceiling agreement," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "As a result, certain things are going to have to be true. We cannot make cuts to Medicare benefits. We have to allow for revenues like wasteful subsidies for ethanol and oil companies. And we have to do something on jobs."
Cantor said that plenty of progress has been made in identifying trillions of dollars in potential spending cuts to accompany legislation to raise the $14.3 trillion cap on the government's ability to borrow money.
The Obama administration says passage of the legislation by Aug. 2 is necessary to meet the government's obligations to holders of U.S. Treasurys. The alternative is a market-shaking, first-ever default on U.S. obligations.
The tomb was discovered in 1999 inside a pyramid among the ruins of the Mayan city of Palenque in the hills of the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.
But until now archeologists had not been able to access the vault believed to hold the remains of a Mayan ruler who lived between AD 431 and 550, the National Institute of Anthropology and History said in a release on Thursday.
By dropping the small camera 16 feet deep through a small hole at the top of the pyramid, researchers were able to get the first view of the intact tomb.
"The characteristics of the funeral site show that the bones could belong to a sacred ruler from Palenque, probably one of the founders of a dynasty," said archeologist Martha Cuevas.
The tomb's walls are painted in a rich red with paintings of Mayan figures. The Mayans flourished between AD 250-900 and Palenque is one of the most important Mayan archeological sites.
(Reporting by Rachel Uranga, writing by Cyntia Barrera, editing by Anthony Boadle)
Earlier this month, Lapre, of Phoenix, was indicted by a federal grand jury, which charged that his business, Greatest Vitamin in the World, signed up 226,794 people and promised them money for selling vitamins and recruiting others to the business. In the end, prosecutors say, investors and customers spent nearly $51.8 million, but received just $6.4 million in commissions. Between 2004 and 2007, they say, Lapre himself took in at least $2.2 million from the business.
The self-proclaimed infomercial king was charged with 41 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, promotional money laundering and transactional money laundering. He has acknowledged that he "did not have the perfect company," but denied breaking the law.
Earlier, U.S. Marshals had circulated a wanted poster describing Lapre as suffering from anxiety and depression, and as possibly suicidal. You can watch a local news report on Lapre and his arrest in the clip above.
The White House meetings, announced Friday by press secretary Jay Carney, would seek to pick up where negotiations headed by Vice President Joe Biden left off. Republican negotiators abandoned those talks Thursday over Democrats' insistence on including tax increases in any deficit-reduction plan.
McConnell has been demanding that Obama become personally involved in the budget discussions.
Congressional Republicans want to reach a deal on about $2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years before agreeing to raise the nation's borrowing limit, currently capped at $14.3 trillion. The Treasury Department has said it has until Aug. 2 before its ability to pay U.S. debt runs out.
Obama has repeatedly called for a "balanced framework" for long-term deficit reduction, saying cuts in spending are necessary but that additional tax revenue should also be part of the equation. Democrats insist that additional revenues be found by closing tax breaks, alongside the trillions of dollars in spending cuts.
House Speaker John Boehner on Friday ruled out any tax increase as part of a final budget deal.
In a statement following the White House invitation, McConnell said Obama needs to decide between tax hikes or a bipartisan agreement. "He can't have both," McConnell said.
"Sadly, the Democrats' response has been a mystifying call for more stimulus spending and huge tax hikes on American job creators. That's not serious, and it is my hope that the president will take those off the table on Monday so that we can have a serious discussion about our country's economic future," McConnell said.
The decision by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., to quit deficit-reduction talks as a critical deadline approaches set the stage for Obama to step in.
It had long been assumed that the Biden group would clear the way for more decisive talks personally involving Obama and Boehner. As a result, Cantor's move was interpreted as trying to jump-start the talks rather than blow them up — a view shared by Cantor himself.
"The purpose here is to alter the dynamic," Cantor said.
In fact, Cantor's withdrawal came after Boehner had already made a trek to the White House — in a secret meeting Wednesday night that followed up on a golf outing with Obama over the weekend. For his part, Cantor didn't inform Boehner of his decision to leave the talks until Thursday, shortly before the news broke.
The White House sought to put a positive spin on developments.
"As all of us at the table said at the outset, the goal of these talks was to report our findings back to our respective leaders," Biden said in a statement. "The next phase is in the hands of those leaders, who need to determine the scope of an agreement that can tackle the problem and attract bipartisan support."
For his part, Cantor said the secretive Biden-led talks had "established a blueprint" for agreement on significant cuts in spending.
One of the byproducts of Cantor's departure was to provide an opportunity for partisans on all sides to make statements at odds with the positions they may have to take to achieve a deal. Democrats insist that at least some new revenues are needed — both to soften spending cuts and to line up the Democratic votes needed to pass the measure.
"It will take Democratic votes to pass any debt-ceiling agreement," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "As a result, certain things are going to have to be true. We cannot make cuts to Medicare benefits. We have to allow for revenues like wasteful subsidies for ethanol and oil companies. And we have to do something on jobs."
Cantor said that plenty of progress has been made in identifying trillions of dollars in potential spending cuts to accompany legislation to raise the $14.3 trillion cap on the government's ability to borrow money.
The Obama administration says passage of the legislation by Aug. 2 is necessary to meet the government's obligations to holders of U.S. Treasurys. The alternative is a market-shaking, first-ever default on U.S. obligations.
Tiny camera reveals inside of ancient Mayan tomb
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A tiny remote-controlled camera peered inside the tomb of a Mayan ruler that has been sealed for 1,500 years, revealing red frescoes, pottery and pieces of a funerary shroud made of jade and mother of pearl.
The tomb was discovered in 1999 inside a pyramid among the ruins of the Mayan city of Palenque in the hills of the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.
But until now archeologists had not been able to access the vault believed to hold the remains of a Mayan ruler who lived between AD 431 and 550, the National Institute of Anthropology and History said in a release on Thursday.
By dropping the small camera 16 feet deep through a small hole at the top of the pyramid, researchers were able to get the first view of the intact tomb.
"The characteristics of the funeral site show that the bones could belong to a sacred ruler from Palenque, probably one of the founders of a dynasty," said archeologist Martha Cuevas.
The tomb's walls are painted in a rich red with paintings of Mayan figures. The Mayans flourished between AD 250-900 and Palenque is one of the most important Mayan archeological sites.
(Reporting by Rachel Uranga, writing by Cyntia Barrera, editing by Anthony Boadle)
‘King of Infomercials’ arrested on fraud charges after skipping court
U.S. Marshals arrested Don Lapre last night in Tempe, Ariz., after he failed to appear in court on fraud charges linked to his vitamin business.
Earlier this month, Lapre, of Phoenix, was indicted by a federal grand jury, which charged that his business, Greatest Vitamin in the World, signed up 226,794 people and promised them money for selling vitamins and recruiting others to the business. In the end, prosecutors say, investors and customers spent nearly $51.8 million, but received just $6.4 million in commissions. Between 2004 and 2007, they say, Lapre himself took in at least $2.2 million from the business.
The self-proclaimed infomercial king was charged with 41 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, promotional money laundering and transactional money laundering. He has acknowledged that he "did not have the perfect company," but denied breaking the law.
Earlier, U.S. Marshals had circulated a wanted poster describing Lapre as suffering from anxiety and depression, and as possibly suicidal. You can watch a local news report on Lapre and his arrest in the clip above.
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