Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
russell simmons joseph kony joseph kony 9 9 9 delmon young sprint chris tucker
Monday, 21 November 2011
House says no to mandating balanced federal budget
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, co-chair of the supercommittee, tells reporters outside his office that the deficit reduction panel would work over the weekend as the deadline for its work nears, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, co-chair of the supercommittee, tells reporters outside his office that the deficit reduction panel would work over the weekend as the deadline for its work nears, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Rep. Nan Hayworth, R-N.Y., center, accompanied by, from left, Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind., Rep. Austin Scott, R-G., and Rep. Rick Berg, R-N.D., shows a photo of her children, Will and Jack, during a House Republican freshmen news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011, to discuss a Balanced Budget Amendment. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)
Members of the House Republican freshman class, led by class President Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., center, gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011, to discuss a Balanced Budget Amendment. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Rejecting the idea Congress can't control its spending impulses, the House turned back a Republican proposal Friday to amend the Constitution to dam the rising flood of federal red ink. Democrats ? and a few GOP lawmakers ? said damage from the balanced-budget mandate would outweigh any benefits.
The first House vote in 16 years on making federal deficits unconstitutional came as the separate bipartisan "supercommittee" appeared to be sputtering in its attempt to find at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions to head off major automatic cuts. The lead Republican on that panel said members were "painfully, painfully aware" of its Wednesday deadline for action and would work through the weekend.
The House voted 261-165 in favor of the measure to require annual balanced budgets, but that was 23 short of the two-thirds majority needed to advance a constitutional amendment.
Democrats overwhelmingly opposed the proposal, arguing that such a requirement would force Congress to make devastating cuts to social programs.
Most Republicans favored the measure, but there were prominent exceptions.
Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the party's point man on budgetary matters, agreed with GOP colleagues that "spending is the problem." But he added that "this version of the balanced budget amendment makes it more likely taxes will be raised, government will grow and economic freedom will be diminished."
Likewise, Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, R-Calif., said lawmakers should be able to find common ground without changing the Constitution, and he expressed concern that lawsuits filed if Congress failed to balance the budget could result in courts making decisions on cutting spending or raising taxes.
In all, 235 Republicans and 25 Democrats voted for the amendment, four Republicans and 161 Democrats opposed it. The other two Republicans voting no were Justin Amash of Michigan and Louie Gohmert of Texas.
Later in the day, the top Republican on the deficit-reduction supercommittee indicated no deal was near but efforts would continue through the last weekend before Wednesday's deadline.
"We are painfully, painfully aware of the deadline that is staring us in the face," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas. "When we have something more to report, we will report."
With the national debt now topping $15 trillion and the deficit for the just-ended fiscal year passing $1 trillion, supporters of the constitutional amendment declared it the only way to stop out-of-control spending. The government now must borrow 36 cents for every dollar it spends.
"It is our last line of defense against Congress' unending desire to overspend and overtax," Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said as the House debated the measure.
But Democratic leaders worked aggressively to defeat it, saying that such a requirement could force Congress to cut billions from social programs during times of economic downturn and that disputes over what to cut could result in Congress ceding its power of the purse to the courts.
Even had it passed, the measure would have faced an uphill fight in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
The House passed a similar measure in 1995, with the help of 72 Democrats. That year, the measure fell one vote short of passing the Senate.
Constitutional amendments must get two-thirds majorities in both houses and be ratified by three-fourths of the states to take effect. The last constitutional amendment ratified, in 1992, concerned lawmaker pay increases.
The second-ranking Democrat, Steny Hoyer of Maryland, voted for the amendment in 1995 but said the situation has vastly changed since then. "Republicans have been fiscally reckless," he asserted, saying the George W. Bush administration would not cut spending elsewhere to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, major tax cuts and a Medicare prescription drug benefit.
"A constitutional amendment is not a path to a balanced budget," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas. "It is only an excuse for members of this body failing to cast votes to achieve one."
The measure on the floor Friday, sponsored by Rep. Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., mirrored the 1995 resolution in stating that federal spending could not exceed revenues in any one year. It would have required a three-fifths majority to raise the debt ceiling or waive the balanced budget requirement in any year. But Congress would be able to let the budget go into deficit with a simple majority if there was a serious military conflict.
The Republicans' hope was that the Goodlatte version would attract more Democratic supporters, and the "Blue Dogs," a group of fiscally conservative Democrats, said they were on board. But there are now only 25 Blue Dogs, half the number of several years ago when there were more moderate Democrats, mainly from rural areas, in the House.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat who is not a Blue Dog member, said he was supporting the amendment because "there's an infinite capacity in this Congress to kick the can down the road. ... We are going to have to force people to make tough decisions."
But other Democrats pointed to a letter from some 275 labor and other mostly liberal groups saying that forcing spending cuts or higher taxes to balance the budget when the economy was slow "would risk tipping a faltering economy into recession or worsening an ongoing downturn, costing large numbers of jobs."
Democrats also cited a report by the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimating that, if there is not an increase in revenues, the amendment could force Congress to cut all programs by an average of 17.3 percent by 2018.
The amendment would not have gone into effect until 2017, or two years after it was ratified, and supporters said that would give Congress time to avoid dramatic spending cuts.
Forty-nine states have some sort of balanced budget requirement, although opponents note that states do not have national security and defense costs. States also can still borrow for their capital-spending budgets for long-term infrastructure projects.
The federal government has balanced its budget only six times in the past half-century, four times during Bill Clinton's presidency.
Associated Pressohio issue 2 mississippi personhood mississippi personhood issue 2 ohio issue 2 ohio election results 2011 election results 2011
Sunday, 20 November 2011
FDA revokes approval of Avastin for breast cancer
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The blockbuster drug Avastin should no longer be used in advanced breast cancer patients because there's no proof that it extends their lives or even provides enough temporary benefit to outweigh its dangerous side effects, the government declared Friday.
The ruling by the Food and Drug Administration was long expected, but it was certain to disappoint women who say they've run out of other options as their breast cancer spread through their bodies. Impassioned patients had lobbied furiously to preserve Avastin as a last shot.
But repeated studies found the drug had only a small effect on tumor growth. The research didn't show evidence that patients lived any longer or had a better quality of life than if they had taken standard chemotherapy. The FDA concluded that the drug presented an array of risks, including severe high blood pressure, massive bleeding, heart attack or heart failure, along with perforations in the stomach and intestines.
"I did not come to this decision lightly," said the FDA commissioner, Dr. Margaret Hamburg. But, she said, "Sometimes despite the hopes of investigators, patients, industry and even the FDA itself, the results of rigorous testing can be disappointing."
Avastin is the world's best-selling cancer drug, and also is used to treat certain forms of colon, lung, kidney and brain cancers. So even though FDA formally revoked its approval of the drug to treat breast cancer, doctors still could prescribe it ? but insurers may not pay for it. Including infusion fees, a year's treatment with Avastin can cost $100,000.
Some insurers already had quit covering the drug's use in breast cancer after FDA's advisers twice ? once last year and once this summer ? urged revoking the approval.
But Medicare said Friday that it will keep paying for now. In a statement, the agency said it "will monitor the issue and evaluate coverage options as a result of action by the FDA but has no immediate plans to change coverage policies."
Hamburg said any woman wishing to remain on Avastin should have an in-depth discussion with her doctor about the risks and what the research into the drug showed.
Avastin manufacturer Genentech, part of Swiss drugmaker Roche Group, had argued that the drug should remain available while it conducted more research to see if certain subsets of breast cancer patients might benefit, perhaps people whose tumors contain certain genetic characteristics. After all, some doctors had argued that they do see a few patients who seem to do better with Avastin than without it.
Hamburg said she considered that argument, but that scientifically there are no clues yet to identify such women. She urged Genentech to do that research, saying FDA "absolutely" would reconsider if the company could find the right evidence."
"We're eager to work with the company, and we hope that the science will advance and that we will be able to offer patients with metastatic breast cancer better, safer, more effective treatments for this devastating disease," Hamburg said.
Genentech pledged to begin such research.
"We are disappointed with the outcome. We remain committed to the many women with this incurable disease and will continue to provide help through our patient support programs to those who may be facing obstacles to receiving their treatment in the United States," said company chief medical officer Dr. Hal Barron.
One patient advocacy group called the decision a mistake.
"Any one life is significant. In this case we're talking about several thousand lives a year," said Frank Burroughs of the Abigail Alliance, which advocates for access to experimental medicine.
In 2008, the FDA allowed Avastin to be marketed as a treatment for breast cancer that has spread, or metastasized, to other parts of the body and is generally considered incurable. The approval came under a special program that allows patients access to promising treatments while their makers finish the studies needed for final proof that they really work as promised. That approval is revoked if the research doesn't pan out, something that happens only very rarely.
___
Associated Press Writer Marley Seaman in New York contributed to this report.
Associated Pressdia de los muertos david arquette lionfish lionfish denver weather conjoined twins justin bieber paternity
Sony Ericsson?s Vscreens Moves Your Mobile Content To The Big Screen
Getting content from your Android device onto a bigger screen has never been terribly hard, but Sony Ericsson's Vscreens service makes it an absolute cakewalk. There's no fiddling with DLNA settings or fumbling with cables here -- just QR codes. Once you've downloaded the Vscreens app from the Android Market (which works on any Android device running 2.1 later, not just SE handsets), point your browser at vscreens.com and scan that QR code.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/QYKvvcJUvyo/
war in iraq war in iraq gunner kiel gunner kiel baby lisa baby lisa paranormal activity
In another life ... I am a fiction writer
November 20, 2011 |??1
I?ve always thought of myself as a writer who likes science ?more than a scientist with a passing interest in writing. One of the reasons for this is that as well as writing science and microbiology related articles, I also dabble in fiction.
Recently, I managed to not only finish one of my fiction stories, but actually have it accepted for E-publication. It?s a world away from my science writing (which is why it?s published under my Other Name) but I thought there might be some of my readers here with a passing interest in stories about university drama, or who were curious about what other writing I produced.
So it you have a sudden desire to read about two guys at university falling awkwardly and uncertainly in love, or have $2 and want to take a look at what I do when I?m not writing about science, go and purchase it! This is the only post I?ll be mentioning it in so next week we?ll be back with your regularly scheduled bacteria.
About the Author: A biochemist with a love of microbiology, the Lab Rat enjoys exploring, reading about and writing about bacteria. She is currently in the process of applying for a PhD in order to do study the manipulation of bacteria through synthetic biology. Follow on Twitter @labratting.More??
The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=060334519859c448cc7a8cc0fddcb0b2
turkey the walking dead the walking dead turkey map walter isaacson walter isaacson zodiac killer
The Vice President, Shri Mohd. Hamid Ansari addressing at the inauguration of ?The embodied Image Krishna Reddy ? A Retrospective?, in New Delhi on November 19, 2011. The Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Culture, Kum. Selja is a
The Vice President, Shri Mohd. Hamid Ansari addressing at the inauguration of ?The embodied Image Krishna Reddy ? A Retrospective?, in New Delhi on November 19, 2011. The Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Culture, Kum. Selja is also seen.
Photo no.CNR - 40678
Source: http://pib.nic.in/release/phsmall.asp?phid=37713
albert haynesworth kroy biermann nene leakes duggars danny woodhead forgetting sarah marshall jets
Saturday, 19 November 2011
US takes control at Presidents Cup (AP)
MELBOURNE, Australia ? Two perfect teams, and a point for Tiger Woods. That's all the Americans needed to take an 11-6 lead Saturday morning in the Presidents Cup.
Phil Mickelson rolled in a 50-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole as he and Jim Furyk went to 3-0 at Royal Melbourne in the fifth and final foursomes match. In the leadoff match, Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson stayed undefeated for the weekend.
Woods, playing again with Dustin Johnson, finished off their 3-and-2 win with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to beat Adam Scott and K.J. Choi. It was small payback from losing to that International team ? along with Woods' ex-caddie Steve Williams, who now carries the bag for Scott ? in Thursday's match.
Five fourballs matches were schedule for the afternoon.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) ? Tiger Woods won his first point, Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson remained perfect and the Americans stayed in control Saturday at the Presidents Cup.
Playing again with Dustin Johnson in the morning foursomes match, Woods finished off their 3-and-2 win with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to beat Adam Scott and K.J. Choi. It was small payback from losing to that International team ? along with ex-caddie Steve Williams, now working for Scott ? in the Thursday match.
Watson and Simpson moved to 3-0, all in the leadoff position. They had their toughest match yet in disposing Melbourne natives Geoff Ogilvy and Robert Allenby on the 16th hole.
grace potter grace potter ryan mathews the band perry faith hill cma awards 2011 cma awards 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)