World Briefly

By The Associated Press | Clanton Advertiser

Published Thursday, January 8, 2009

Obama's proposed tax cuts in stimulus plan draw criticism from fellow Democrats in Senate

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama's proposed tax cuts ran into opposition Thursday from senators in his own party who said they wouldn't do much to stimulate the economy or create jobs.

Senators from both parties agreed that Congress should do something to stimulate the economy. But Democratic senators emerging from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee criticized business and individual tax cuts in Obama's stimulus plan.

They were especially critical of a proposed $3,000 tax credit for companies that hire or retrain workers.

"If I'm a business person, it's unlikely if you give me a several-thousand-dollar credit that I'm going to hire people if I can't sell the products they're producing," said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., a member of the committee.

"That to me is just misdirected," Conrad said.

Sen John Kerry, D-Mass., said, "I'd rather spend the money on the infrastructure, on direct investment, on energy conversion, on other kinds of things that much more directly, much more rapidly and much more certainly create a real job."

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AP Interview: Cheney: No one saw financial crisis coming, so Bush has no need to apologize

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Dick Cheney says that his boss, President George W. Bush, has no need to apologize to the American people for not doing more to head off the financial calamity, saying no one saw the crisis coming.

During an interview Thursday with The Associated Press in his West Wing office, Cheney defended the administration's performance on an economy that is growing weaker daily and which recently collapsed in spectacular fashion. Cheney said that "nobody anywhere was smart enough to figure it out."

He said Bush doesn't need to apologize because he has taken "bold, aggressive action."

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UN suspends aid shipments in Gaza strip after their trucks comes under Israeli fire

JERUSALEM (AP) — The U.N. and the Red Cross curtailed aid shipments in the Gaza Strip on Thursday after accusing Israeli forces of firing on their drivers, killing one. The threat of a wider conflict arose when militants in Lebanon fired two rockets into northern Israel.

One rocket crashed into a retirement home, but there were no serious injuries. Israel responded with mortar shells.

During a three-hour pause in the fighting to allow in food and fuel and let medics collect the dead, nearly three dozen bodies were found beneath the rubble of bombed out buildings in Gaza City.

Many of the dead were in the same neighborhood where the international Red Cross said rescuers discovered young children too weak to stand who had stayed by their dead mothers. The aid group accused Israel of an "unacceptable" delay in allowing workers to reach the area.

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Obama warns of lingering recession, double-digit unemployment without approval of stimulus

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama urged dubious lawmakers Thursday to work with him "day and night, on weekends if necessary" to approve the largest taxpayer-funded stimulus ever, warning in almost apocalyptic terms that a dire economic future was certain without it.

Obama's speech, an extraordinary move for a president-in-waiting that reflected the grim urgency of the times and perhaps the crack in congressional support, came amid a flurry of new activity in the negotiations on Capitol Hill over the massive proposal's details. Not long after Obama spoke, some senators from his own party publicly criticized his plan to include tax cuts.

Emerging from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee, several Democrats expressed deep skepticism that the kind of business and individual tax cuts Obama has been discussing would do much to create jobs or increase consumer spending.

Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota said a proposed $3,000 tax credit for companies that hire or retrain workers wouldn't spur job creation if those companies' products still weren't selling. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said a tax cut giving workers only about $10 to $20 more per week wouldn't change purchase patterns.

Meanwhile, Obama's economic advisers were on Capitol Hill briefing Democratic lawmakers on details of the president-elect's plan. And the Senate Democratic caucus planned a late afternoon meeting, followed by a news conference by Majority Leader Harry Reid and other caucus leaders.

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New Madoff quandary: Some 'victims' do math and realize they profited from alleged scam

NEW YORK (AP) — The many Bernard Madoff investors who withdrew money from their accounts over the years are now wrestling with an ethical and legal quandary.

What they thought were profits was likely money stolen from other clients in what prosecutors are calling the largest Ponzi scheme in history. Now, they are confronting the possibility they may have to pay some of it back.

The issue came to the forefront this week as about 8,000 former Madoff clients began to receive letters inviting them to apply for up to $500,000 in aid from the Securities Investor Protection Corp.

Lawyers for investors have been warning clients to do some tough math before they apply for any funds set aside for the victims, and figure out whether they were a winner or loser in the scheme.

Hundreds and maybe thousands of investors in Madoff's funds have been withdrawing money from their accounts for many years. In many cases, those investors have withdrawn far more than their principal investment.

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Burris tells impeachment committee he didn't cut deal with Blagojevich for Senate appointment

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — U.S. Senate appointee Roland Burris said Thursday he's never been involved in an improper deal in his two decades in government and didn't strike any agreement to become embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich's pick for the U.S. Senate.

"I can before this committee state that there was nothing .... legal, personal, or political exchanged for my appointment to this seat," Burris testified under oath to Illinois House committee studying whether to impeach the governor.

But the former Illinois attorney general declined to answer questions bout whether he would have gone to federal authorities if he'd been offered such a deal. He also declined to say whether Blagojevich should resign or be impeached, saying he has no control over those issues.

Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 on federal charges that include allegations he schemed to sell President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat.

The second-term governor has denied any wrongdoing, but Senate Democrats had warned that a taint of corruption would strip credibility from anyone Blagojevich named to fill the vacancy. The governor ignored them and appointed Burris on Dec. 30, creating a furor.

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NY court papers: Body of mobster John Gotti's vanished neighbor was dissolved in acid

NEW YORK (AP) — It is perhaps the most intriguing unsolved mystery from the gaudy gangland career of John Gotti: Whatever happened to the neighbor who accidentally ran over and killed the mobster's 12-year-old son — and then vanished?

According to papers filed this week in Brooklyn federal court, John Favara was shot to death on orders of the outraged Gambino crime family chief and his body was dissolved in a barrel of acid. Authorities said a cooperating witness identified Charles Carneglia, a 62-year-old former mobster, as the perpetrator in the 1980 incident.

The court documents said Carneglia told another informant that acid was "the best method to use to avoid detection."

Those details, in a 44-page evidence motion by federal prosecutors for a racketeering trial, offered a new twist on the fate of Favara, a 51-year-old furniture warehouse worker who lived near the Gottis in the Howard Beach section of Queens.

Favara was arriving home from work on March 18, 1980, when Gotti's son Frank, riding a minibike, darted in front of his car. The driver told police he was momentarily blinded by the sun and did not see the boy.

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Tom Cruise calls the death of Travolta son 'horrific' during an appearance on 'The View'

NEW YORK (AP) — "Horrific" is how Tom Cruise described the sudden death of the son of his friend, John Travolta. Cruise struggled to maintain his composure as he spoke on "The View" about last week's death of 16-year-old Jett Travolta. "John just adored him, both of his children," Cruise said haltingly. "... It's something that I don't have the words for."

The 46-year-old actor called Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston, "doting parents, just wonderful people." The couple have an 8-year-old daughter, Ella Bleu.

Jett died at the family vacation home in Grand Bahama. He had a history of seizures and was found unconscious in a bathroom. Results of an autopsy performed Monday were not released, but a Bahamas undertaker said the teen's death certificate listed "seizure" as the cause of death.

In response to a question from "The View" host Barbara Walters, Cruise defended Scientology, which he and the Travoltas follow, against rumors that have swirled since Jett Travolta died.

The church doesn't discourage conventional medical care, Cruise declared — "actually, the exact opposite."

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Man accused of causing flats by tossing roofing nails into driveways of people he didn't like

STONY POINT, N.Y. (AP) — Police in upstate New York say a man has been sprinkling roofing nails on the driveways of people he didn't like to cause flat tires for two years. Stony Point police Lt. Peter Quinn said Michael Delisio was arrested Tuesday after an officer staking out one victim's home saw nails being thrown from Delisio's car.

Quinn says the 60-year-old man from West Haverstraw has been charged with harassment, criminal tampering and mischief.

He says victims in Stony Point and Haverstraw have complained more than 40 times since 2006 and that he's never seen vandalism performed with "this type of consistency."

It was not clear if Delisio has a lawyer. Messages left at the court of his arraignment and at his home were not immediately returned.

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Person familiar with negotiations: Smoltz agrees to $5.5 million deal with Boston Red Sox

ATLANTA (AP) — After more than two decades with the Atlanta Braves, John Smoltz is ready to finish his stellar career wearing a different uniform.

In a stunning end to one of baseball's longest runs, Smoltz reached a preliminary agreement Thursday on a $5.5 million, one-year contract with the Boston Red Sox after failing to work out a deal to return for his 22nd season with the Braves.

A person familiar with the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Red Sox had yet to make an official announcement, said Smoltz can earn an additional $5 million in bonuses, some based on days on the active roster.

The deal is a subject to a physical, which is scheduled for Monday.

Smoltz issued a statement through his agent and said he had little choice except to talk with other teams after hearing what the Braves planned to offer.

"I was going to withhold comment until the announcement of my signing with a new team, but I now feel the need to clear up any misconceptions and inaccuracies about the contract negotiations between myself and the Atlanta Braves," he said. "There were large discrepancies between the offer from the Braves and offers from other teams."

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