Obama, Boehner talk and exchange new offers on "fiscal cliff"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Negotiations to avert the "fiscal cliff" ahead of a year-end deadline intensified as President Barack Obama and U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner spoke by phone on Tuesday after exchanging new proposals.

It was latest sign of possible progress in efforts to avoid the automatic steep tax hikes and spending cuts set for January 1 unless Congress intervenes.

White House and congressional aides confirmed that Obama gave Boehner a revised offer in talks on Monday, and the Republican responded with a counterproposal on Tuesday.

In his proposal, Obama slightly reduced his demand for the amount of new tax revenue he was seeking to $1.4 trillion from $1.6 trillion over 10 years, congressional aides said. Boehner was no happier with that number, an aide said.

After getting the new offer, Boehner took to the House floor on Tuesday to demand that Obama give more details on the spending cuts the White House would accept in any final deal.

"We're still waiting for the White House to identify what spending cuts the president is willing to make as part of the balanced approach that he promised the American people," Boehner said.

The White House fired back that the administration had submitted extensive proposals to reduce spending but Republicans had not offered specifics on increasing revenues.

"There is a deal out there that's possible," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. It could include reduced spending, more revenues and tax reform as long as Republicans accepted higher tax rates on the wealthiest Americans, he said.

"We do believe the parameters of a compromise are pretty clear," Carney said.

In an interview with ABC News, Obama said he expected a deal before the end of the year.

"I'm pretty confident that Republicans would not hold middle-class taxes hostage to trying to protect tax cuts for high-income individuals," Obama said in the interview. "I don't think they'll do that."

Obama and Boehner have each proposed cutting deficits by more than $4 trillion over the next 10 years, but they differ on how to get there. Economists have warned that failure to strike a deal could send the economy back into a recession.

Obama and Democrats demand that tax rates rise for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans. Republicans want existing lower rates continued for all brackets and prefer to raise more revenue by eliminating tax loopholes and reducing deductions.

Republicans also want deeper spending cuts than those sought by Obama and fellow Democrats, particularly on social entitlement programs like the government-funded Medicare and Medicaid healthcare plans.

"I'm an optimist. I'm hopeful we can reach an agreement," Boehner said during his speech on the House floor.

But Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said it would be difficult to reach an agreement before Christmas.

"Until we hear something from Republicans, there's nothing to draft," Reid told reporters, referring to writing legislation based on a deal. "It's going to be extremely difficult to get it done before Christmas."

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said the counteroffer from Boehner would achieve tax and entitlement reforms that would solve the looming debt crisis, but he offered no more details.

Stocks rose on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 reaching its highest close since Election Day. Markets endured a sharp selloff after the November 6 re-election of Obama, as investors focused on the fiscal cliff concerns.

"I guess in our own dysfunctional way, there is progress," said Frank Davis, director of sales and trading at LEK Securities in New York. "Since conversations are occurring, it clarifies at least they are taking some action. My personal gut is they'll jostle this into the holiday week and try to do a last-minute push."

FRAMEWORK FOR A DEAL

While senior figures from both parties caution they are far from a deal, a softening of partisan rhetoric in recent days and the increased frequency of talks has created speculation that negotiations are going well.

If there is a fiscal cliff deal, congressional leaders will have to decide the most efficient way to move the legislation forward. Aides said those decisions had not been made as negotiators are still focused on the elements of a possible deal.

The most frequently discussed scenario involves Democrats getting the higher rates on the top earners in exchange for significant concessions on reducing costs in entitlement programs. The two parties could then work together next year on comprehensive tax reform aimed at creating more revenues, in part by eliminating some tax breaks.

Adding pressure on Republicans to give some ground on taxes, a group of high-profile chief executives called for a deal that could include raising tax rates on the wealthiest Americans.

The group had previously backed extending tax cuts for all Americans as a stopgap solution.

"We recognize that part of that solution has to be tax increases," said David Cote, the chief executive of Honeywell who has been active in Washington on fiscal issues. About 160 CEOs signed the letter under the umbrella of the Business Roundtable, a non-partisan group of U.S. chief executives.

Complicating the talks is the looming need for an increase in U.S. borrowing authority that Obama wants before Congress wraps up for the year. Without the authority, the government will hit its $16.4 trillion borrowing limit by year's end and run out of steps to stave off default by mid-February.

Obama has asked for the power to raise U.S. borrowing authority without legislation from Congress in hopes of avoiding another confrontation with Republicans like the 2011 showdown that led to an embarrassing downgrade of the U.S. credit rating.

Also in the mix is a payroll tax "holiday" set to expire, which, if not extended, will quickly reduce the take-home pay of a large segment of the U.S. workforce.

The holiday, now in its second year, has been providing workers with an average of about $1,000 a year in extra cash. Significant divisions remain on the payroll tax question in part because it funds the Social Security retirement program.

(Additional reporting by Rachelle Younglai, Kim Dixon, Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Alistair Bell and Eric Beech)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-boehner-talk-exchange-offers-fiscal-cliff-002254624--business.html

jeremy lin espn sassafras mardi gras 2012 the secret world of arrietty cee lo allen iverson jr smith

GOP governors want to talk health care with Obama - | News for ...

By By KELLI KENNEDY
Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Eleven Republican governors, including Florida's Rick Scott, Louisiana's Bobby Jindal and Arizona's Jan Brewer want to meet with President Barack Obama to discuss the federal health overhaul, including ways to make expanding the Medicaid rolls and setting up online health exchanges more affordable for states with tight budgets.

The letter requesting the meeting comes after the Obama administration said Monday that states can do a partial Medicaid expansion but that they wouldn't get the three years of 100 percent federal funding provided under the law. Scott had previously requested to meet with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to discuss his concerns that the law could burden state taxpayers.

Scott has been a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act, but softened his position after the election, saying he's open to working with federal health officials to find a solution. But he's repeatedly expressed concerns about the potential costs to Florida taxpayers. Now he's one of several Republican governors who recently sent a letter asking for more flexibility in the laws so that states can tailor the programs to their individual needs.

Signing the letter along with Scott were governors from Iowa, Utah, Maine, Virginia, Ohio, South Dakota, Wyoming, Arizona, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The governors made several suggestions that included asking that states be allowed to determine their own Medicaid eligibility levels and still receive all the federal funds. They also raised the possibility of imposing "reasonable and enforceable-cost sharing requirements" and worried that the process for determining newly eligible Medicaid beneficiaries could become an "overly difficult audit procedure at the end of the year" potentially jeopardizing billions of dollars in payments to the states.

The governors also said they want to be able to leverage their private health insurance markets to reduce dependency on entitlement programs.

"The President and his team have met with state leaders for more than two and a half years," said Erin Shields Britt, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services. "The President has welcomed an open dialogue with the nation's governors, one on one and as a group and Secretary Sebelius has offered to meet with Governor Scott."

For now Florida has defaulted into letting the federal government run the health exchange because lawmakers chose not to run their own exchange, an online marketplace where residents and small businesses can shop for health care coverage. They could change their mind later and pursue a partnership with the feds, but that would take approval by the Legislature and governor.

But they still must decide whether they will expand Medicaid rolls. Officials estimate close to 900,000 residents could be covered under expanded Medicaid rolls by fiscal year 2020-2021, costing the state $330 million.

A Senate committee charged with overseeing the implementation of the health law had its first meeting just last week and seemed far from making any decisions.

Sen. Joe Negron reminded the committee that the state will spend about $21 billion on Medicaid this year. Medicaid covers nearly 3 million people - about half are children. Lawmakers say it must be overhauled because it's eating up about 30 percent of the state budget.

If Florida lawmakers decide to fully expand their Medicaid rolls, the Obama administration is offering to absorb the cost for the first three years and pick up 90 percent of the tab after that.

Florida has one of the highest rates of uninsured rates and some of the most stringent eligibility requirements in the country for Medicaid. A family of three with income of $11,000 a year makes too much and single residents are not covered.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.kswt.com/story/20331108/gop-governors-want-to-talk-health-care-with-obama

stephon marbury the lion king suzanne collins cherry blossom festival nc state erika van pelt pat robertson

Revealing How To Be A Home Business Coach ... - Self Improvement

Becoming a ?Home Business Coach takes skills. Oliver Wendell Holmes when said, ?The most significant misfortune is just not the waste of purely natural resources, but the waste products of human sources.? He pointed out that the Normal particular person goes to his grave with his music even now in him.

?

When you have a chunk of direct and gold every single lying in a garbage dump, then equally hold the identical benefit. The main difference in price may be brought out provided that the gold is brought out and utilized for its meant intent.

?

A human staying who?s got not nonetheless brought out his accurate possible is comparable to gold within the garbage. Each one of you is exceptional in its development. God developed you completely unique from a neighbor. Take into account this, no person can seem specifically such as you, nobody may have the precise very same features as you and no person can have exactly the same infants as you. Therefore you possess one thing exceptional, which no one else in the world does. You?ve got skills and wants deep inside you that no person else does. This specific present is God-given and it waits being expressed and disclosed for the whole environment.

?

But you should enable it. And that is the most significant trouble. You don?t know the way.

?

You may be wherever you are today, or your effectiveness is exactly what it can be right now because of every one of the information you?ve gathered while in the a long time foremost about it. You could be struggling financially, sulking in a negative partnership, underneath undertaking at do the job or bombing in your home organization as a result of the influences you will have had before. Say you will be driving from London to Paris and you simply get misplaced halfway through. And you simply come about to pull right into a gas station and ask for directions for the attendant. He guides you as for every his finest judgment only for you to see right after two far more hrs which you are even farther away for that location.

?

Now, did you intend to be in that location? Needless to say, not! It can be just that you just occurred to listen on the incorrect directions. In the same way, where you might be these days is due to what instructions were being offered to you personally in the past. But if you can get the right directions right now, you?re going to get to the proper spot tomorrow. Jim Rohn puts it across nicely, ?If an individual is going down the incorrect highway, he doesn?t will need determination to pace him up. What he requires is training to turn him all around.? That sums it up.

?

Les Brown the moment claimed anything pretty exceptional.

?

He explained, ?The two most critical times of your respective lifestyle are, 1st; the day you had been born, and 2nd, the day you already know the main reason why you have been born.? Just about every human features a creative force within him that wants to stake its existence on earth, but it really is about the individual to discover what it can be. It really is like God wanting down at us and smiling, ?Its for me to grasp and for yourself to discover out?. But after you find out what it really is you have been born for; what it is actually you possess inside you; you may be like a cheetah unleashed into the wild. You?ll collect pace like you?ve hardly ever recognised. You won?t stop right until you have got fulfilled you function. Now that?s what greatness is focused on.

?

The obstacle that faces many us is we never know how to faucet into this large source inside us. We?re not aware that just letting our guard down, and inviting an individual that can help you while in the practice can draw out our goal. And these people that help you in revealing oneself to you are termed as success coaches or mentors.

?

There?s two strategies to obtain along with an oak tree; possibly you could climb it or you can sit on an acorn. Coaching and mentoring is for the former. ?No matter what endeavor you happen to be associated with; whether its common small business, a occupation or even a home business, a coach will help you dig within just your self to find out your function and after that systematically split the focus on down into bite-sized chunks for devouring within a step-by-step method. That?s what a mentor does. The expressing goes, ?Professionals have coaches, Amateurs don?t.? Why does one assume is that? Do you consider Tiger Woods will not know golfing? How about Michael Jordan; won?t he learn how to perform basketball? Then why do they will need coaches?

?

For the reason that an ?mlm coach retains them about the proper track every one of the time, especially when temptations and lethargy creeps in. ? As being a home business owner and mentor myself, I?m sure what it seems like to several of my fellow business owners who?re having difficulties to search out the appropriate course. You recognize the place you should go, however , you will not know exactly how you can get there.

?

All you?ll need is always that extra assist to hold both hands and lift you up. And that is exactly what a mentor does. So decide now to have by yourself a coach and find that ?umph? while in the triumph which you so are entitled to. ?Try to remember, ?Professionals have coaches, Amateurs don?t? ?God bless ?John Bino ParentsINCorporated.com ?Empowering men and women to become more worthwhile to society?

?

Tags: business coach, home business coach, mlm coach, success coaching

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 11th, 2012 at 3:33 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Source: http://selfimprovement.emilie.org/uncategorized/revealing-how-to-be-a-home-business-coach-and-mentoring/

Leryn Franco The Campaign Kinesio tape randy travis Allyson Felix Kourtney Kardashian Baby Girl Ashton Eaton

Google Play brings Books and Movies to Russia, keeps reaching more audiences

A little over a month after announcing the imminent arrival of more Google Play content to a few areas around the globe, the Mountain View-based company has let it be known that a couple of its media services are now also available in Russia. While today's announcement only includes the ability to rent / buy movies and books (purchases only) from the Play store, something tells us Russian users invested in Google's extensive ecosystem will still be happy to hear they, too, can get a piece of the pie. Additionally, and not surprisingly, the search giant is quick to point out that there's a ton of Russian-language video and reading content, including films such as Shadow Boxing and bestseller books from authors like Tatyana Tolstaya.

Filed under: Internet, Software

Comments

Source: Google (Russia)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/IQWbKc9RONU/

hand sanitizer obama on jimmy fallon google drive apple stock pilar sanders andrew young real life barbie

HBO Human-Like Chimp Nim Died of 'Broken Heart'

Nim, a baby chimpanzee, was taken screaming from his sedated mother days after his birth in 1973 at the Institute for Primate Studies in Oklahoma, then given to a large New York City family to be raised among humans.

Nim Chimpsky, named with some irony for the MIT linguist Noam Chomsky, was part of a great experiment: to see whether he could learn sign language and communicate.

The initially adorable animal played with his human siblings, slept in a bed and even nursed from his adoptive "mother's" teat. But as he matured, Nim became unmanageable, destroying furniture, biting those who loved him and behaving just as nature intended, like a wild animal.

Nim wreaked havoc, biting his teachers, and lands in a New York City medical lab. In the end, he was abandoned at a sanctuary among chimpanzee brethren he had never known.

His story is told in an HBO documentary, "Project Nim," which will air Dec. 20.

Based on the book "Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human" by Elizabeth Hess, the film paints a poignant picture of an animal capable of human emotion: love, jealousy and even the capacity for forgiveness.

The film, directed by James Marsh ["Man on a Wire"], won the Sundance Film festival in 2011, and was the darling of animal rights activists in limited theatrical release last year.

'Chimpanzee' Reveals Oscar's Incredible Adventures Watch Video

But Marsh said he was less interested in advocacy than telling a unique story about an animal and how the treatment by his human caretakers reflects man's potential for good and evil.

"Essentially, we are capable of cooperation and kindness and all kinds of positive emotions in the world, but we also have this hubris," Marsh, 48, said from his offices in London. "It's a kind of 'Franken-story' in a way, about kindness and material instincts and scientific ambitions."

Chimps play a large role in human research. They were first in space, helped develop hepatitis vaccines and were crucial to early studies of HIV-AIDS.

Support for chimp research has been on the decline since Nim's death in 2000, and the National Institutes of Health has now found most invasive experimentation to be unnecessary, according to a recent report in Scientific American.

NIH stopped funding at several research centers in September and has relocated scores of chimps to sanctuaries, according to the Washington Post.

Nearly 1,000 other research chimps are still languishing in government custody, according to advocacy groups such as the Great Ape Protection Project.

"The big sin, in my view, is [the scientists] didn't think beyond what they were doing and what in the end ... would happen to Nim when he gets to be 5-years-old," Marsh said. "Even children know chimps get big and strong."

At the film's start, Columbia psychology professor Herb Terrace brings Nim to live with one of his former students, Stephanie LaFarge, and her brood of seven children in New York City.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/project-nim-hbo-film-chimp-raised-humans/story?id=17920481

long beach state beasley trailblazers michael beasley jermaine jones hbo luck unc asheville

Understanding Home Insurance And Why You Should Get It ...

Home insurance, sometimes called homeowner insurance or building insurance, is a way of protecting your home and the contents there in against any unforeseen calamity such as flood, fire, break-in etc. Home insurance is often split into two cover types which are buildings insurance and contents insurance.

As the name suggests, buildings insurance covers any damage to the structure of the building which include roof, walls and floors. It also generally covers fixtures and fittings, such as a bathroom suite, and fitted kitchens.

Unlike buildings insurance, contents insurance doesn?t cover the structural aspect of the house. The insurance only covers damage to, or loss of, any personal possessions in the property which may include home entertainment, furniture etc.

The two type of insurances can be bought separately, although most insurance providers also bundle both together. Buying a combined policy from the same insurer can often be cheaper than buying the two separately.

Why Having A Home Insurance?

To some people, home insurance is an unnecessary expense, and the fact that it is not required by law, they wouldn?t bother spending their hard-earned money on it. But what people like this might have forgotten are the benefits of having a home insurance which I personally think is essential.

It is also important to know that even though having home insurance is not legally required, some of the mortgage lenders out there will require you to have home insurance. Whether you decide to use your house as a home or as a source of income, it is essential you have the correct home insurance in place.

1. Natural Disasters

If you have home insurance, not only will a good policy save you money in the event that something happens to your home or belongings, an insurance company can also help you with other issues that will be beneficial to your home; like making your home more resistant to natural disasters.

Having a home insurance with a good policy could be the only way to get yourself back to a normal life after natural disasters such as earthquake, flood, storms and others. Depending on your policy, most home insurance company offer protection against some of these natural disasters.

2. Unexpected And Unpreventable Situations

Home insurance can help you in situations that may not be preventable, no matter the state of your property; whether your property is relatively new or not. Because you are responsible for anyone within your property, if any of the guests trips on a loose tile and breaks his ankle, you are potentially liable for your guest?s injury. The right home insurance policy should protect you against legal action and pay for the injured guest?s medical bills.

3. Unnatural Disasters

Home insurance often generally covers you for damage to your home caused by unnatural activities such as burglary or attempted burglary, man-made disasters like riots, explosions and vandalism. But note that coverage and policy will differ between home insurance providers. Therefore, it is important to check your policy documents before signing up.

4. Mortgage Requirement

Home insurance is often taken out with a mortgage to cover the cost of rebuilding your home should the worst happen. Mortgage lenders can ask to see proof of buildings insurance as part of their mortgage offer so if you are a first time buyer about to buy a house or a buyer about to move properties, you should get a home insurance quote right away.

.

Source: http://www.adeyemiadisa.com/featured/understanding-home-insurance-and-why-you-should-get-it/

kenyon martin kenyon martin big miracle slab city super bowl snacks appleton super bowl recipes

McAfee wants to return to U.S., 'normal life'

BACALAR, Mexico (AP) ? Software company founder John McAfee said Sunday he wants to return to the United States and "settle down to whatever normal life" he can.

In a live-stream Internet broadcast from the Guatemalan detention center where he is fighting a government order that he be returned to Belize, the 67-year-old said "I simply would like to live comfortably day by day, fish, swim, enjoy my declining years."

Police in neighboring Belize want to question McAfee in the fatal shooting of a U.S. expatriate who lived near his home on a Belizean island in November.

The creator of the McAfee antivirus program again denied involvement in the killing during the Sunday Internet video hook-up, during which he answered what he said were reporters' questions.

His comments were sometimes contradictory. McAfee is an acknowledged practical joker who has dabbled in yoga, ultra-light aircraft and the production of herbal medications.

The British-born McAfee first said that returning to the United States "is my only hope now." But he later added, "I would be happy to go to England, I have dual citizenship."

He was emphatic that "I cannot ever return to Belize ... There is no hope for my life if I am ever returned to Belize."

"If I am returned," he said, "bad things will clearly happen to me."

He descibed the health problems that had him briefly hospitalized earlier this week after Guatemalan authorities detained him for entering the country illegally. He apparently snuck in across a rural, unguarded spot along the border.

"I did not eat for two days, I drank very little liquids, and for the first time in many years I've been smoking almost non-stop," he said. "I stood up, passed out hit my head on the wall, came to," though he now said he was feeling better.

McAfee praised the role his 20-year-old Belizean girlfriend, Samantha Vanegas, played in his escape from Belize, where he claims he is being persecuted by corrupt politicians. Authorities in Belize deny that they are persecuting him and have questioned his mental state.

"Sam saved the day many times" during their escape, he said, and suggested he would take her with him to the United States if he is allowed to go there.

He confirmed that journalists from Vice magazine who accompanied him on his escape after weeks of hiding in Belize had unwittingly posted photos with embedded data that revealed his exact location.

"It was an error anyone could make," he said, noting they were under a lot of pressure at the time.

McAfee has led an eccentric life since he sold his stake in the software company named after him in the early 1990s and moved to Belize about three years ago to lower his taxes.

He told The New York Times in 2009 that he had lost all but $4 million of his $100 million fortune in the U.S. financial crisis. However, a story on the Gizmodo website quoted him as describing that claim as "not very accurate at all."

McAfee's Guatemalan attorney, Telesforo Guerra, says that he has filed three separate legal appeals in the hope that his client can stay in Guatemala, where his political asylum request was rejected.

Guerra said he filed an appeal for a judge to make sure McAfee's physical integrity is protected, an appeal against the asylum denial and a petition with immigration officials to allow his client to stay in this Central American country indefinitely.

The appeals could take several days to resolve, Guerra said. He added that he could still use several other legal resources but wouldn't give any other details.

Fredy Viana, a spokesman for the Immigration Department, said that before the agency looks into the request to allow McAfee to stay in Guatemala, a judge must first deal with the appeal asking that authorities make sure McAfee's physical integrity is protected.

"We won't look into (allowing him to stay) until the other appeal is resolved," Viana said. "The law gives me 30 days to resolve the issue."

McAfee went on the run last month after Belizean officials tried to question him about the killing of Gregory Viant Faull, who was shot to death in early November.

McAfee acknowledges that his dogs were bothersome and that Faull had complained about them, but denies killing Faull. Faull's home was a couple of houses down from McAfee's compound in Ambergris Caye, off Belize's Caribbean coast.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mcafee-wants-return-us-normal-life-025033119.html

nerlens noel don t trust the b in apartment 23 world financial center shabazz muhammad angela corey zimmerman charged bonobos