Franklin makes it 3 for 3 at swimming worlds

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? Missy Franklin climbed to the top of the podium to collect a prize she really wanted.

That bid for eight gold medals?

It can wait.

Franklin held off hard-charging Federica Pelligrini to win the 200-meter freestyle on Wednesday night, the 18-year-old American claiming her third victory of the world championships and justifying the decision to cut back her program in Barcelona.

"We're coming down the mountain now," Franklin said.

She had been scheduled to swim two races in the evening session: the semifinals of the 50 backstroke, followed about 20 minutes later by the final of the 200 free.

But Franklin and her coach, Todd Schmitz, decided it was best to drop the non-Olympic event so she could focus on a race that's been the focus of so much work since she just missed a medal at the London Olympics.

Franklin finished fourth last summer ? a hundredth of a second off the podium.

This time, she was the one touching ahead of everyone else.

"We decided that maybe the risk kind of outdid the rewards," Franklin said. "I'm really happy with the decision to scratch and just do this."

Initially, with the 50 back added to the seven events she competed in at London, Franklin had a chance to match Michael Phelps as the only swimmers to win that many events at a major championship.

Phelps, of course, won eight golds at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

After a tough double on Tuesday and the 13th-best time in the morning preliminaries, Schmitz persuaded Franklin to scratch the 50 back, an event she swims mainly for fun though she did take bronze at the 2011 worlds in Shanghai.

"That will leave me with seven events," Franklin said.

Only seven, someone asked kiddingly.

"Just the seven," she replied, with a big laugh.

Schmitz said a lot of factors went into his decision, including the short break between races and the long walk from the warm-up pool ? set up under a tent outside the Palau Sant Jordi ? to the competition pool inside the arena.

"I really just felt the best decision for my athlete was to take her out of it," Schmitz said. "I've been her coach for 11 years. She knows when I make a decision, I try to have all the information I possibly can ... So I told her, 'I don't think this will benefit us.' And she said, 'OK.'"

France's Camille Muffat went out hard, leading after the first lap and 0.75 under the world-record pace. But Franklin edged ahead at the midway point and held off Pelligrini, the Italian world-record holder, to win in 1 minute, 54.81 seconds, a personal best.

Pelligrini claimed silver, 0.33 behind the winner, while Muffat settled for the bronze.

At the midway point of the swimming championships, Franklin still has four events to go. She'll be a big favorite in the 200 back, and there's a good shot at more gold on the two remaining relays. The 100 free presents her biggest challenge, though it would be foolish to put anything past Franklin.

She was fifth in that event at the Olympics, but has spent the past year working diligently to improve her freestyle stroke.

That was obvious Wednesday night.

"This is what we prepared for, this kind of event through eight days," Franklin said. "You kind of use each swim to motivate you for the next swim."

It was also a good night for South Africa, which claimed two gold medals.

Chad le Clos, best known for his upset win over Phelps at the Olympics, showed he's still the man to beat in the 200 butterfly. He went back and forth with Poland's Pawel Korzeniowski before turning it on the final lap to win in 1:54.32.

After conceding it was a bit nerve-racking to be looked at as the favorite, Le Clos hopped up on a lane rope, splashed water and pumped his fist. Korzeniowski held on for the silver in 1:55.01, while China's Wu Peng took the bronze at 1:55.09.

"I definitely think that this year I had more pressure. I remember feeling really relaxed last year," Le Clos said. "Just before they announced my name I started feeling the butterflies, shaking a little bit. I just wanted to get out here and control the race."

With Phelps retired, at least for now, the Americans were shut out of the medals. Tom Luchsinger was fifth and Tyler Clary seventh.

If Franklin and fellow American Katie Ledecky are the biggest stars on the women's side so far, China's Sun Yang is looking like he'll be remembered as the top male swimmer.

Sun claimed his second gold of the meet, turning on the speed over the final three laps to win the 800 freestyle going away. His winning time in the non-Olympic race was 7:41.36, adding to his dominating victory in the 400 free. Sun was even more animated than Le Clos, straddling the rope, pounding his chest and pointing toward a group of fans waving the Chinese flag.

"I am very proud of myself," Sun said through a translator. "Everyone has their way to express their feelings, and that's my way."

Michael McBroom of the U.S. took the silver, 2.24 seconds behind Sun. Canada's Ryan Cochrane rallied for the bronze, edging out American Connor Jaeger by 0.56 seconds.

Americans went 1-2 in the semifinals of the 100 freestyle, with Olympic champion Nathan Adrian putting up the top time (47.95), followed by Jimmy Feigen (48.07). Australia's James Magnussen, who went fastest in the morning prelims, tied for fourth in the evening at 48.20 ? good enough to earn a lane in swimming's signature event.

Ryan Lochte bounced back from a disappointing fourth-place showing in his first individual event, moving into the final of the 200 individual medley as the fastest qualifier (1:57.07). He was followed by Japan's Kosuke Hagino and Hungary's Laszlo Cseh.

"I felt like myself again," Lochte said. "The first couple of days, I was worried about winning, worried about the times I went. It wasn't me. It wasn't Ryan Lochte. I woke up this morning without a care. I'm just going out there and having fun."

___

Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/franklin-makes-3-3-swimming-worlds-165510654.html

Mexico vs USA Harmony Korine Summly Human Rights Campaign bioshock infinite smokey robinson smokey robinson

Beth Israel to pay $5.3M settlement to resolve Medicare fraud allegations

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has agreed to pay $5.3 million to the federal government to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicare for inpatient stays that should have been treated as outpatient or observation cases.

But Beth Israel says that what the U.S. Attorney?s office calls fraud, the hospital calls quality care.

A statement from Beth Israel reads in part, ?Indeed, during the inquiry, BIDMC vigorously defended claims for an inpatient level of service delivered to patients whom physicians had concluded should be admitted to the hospital because of their condition Under the settlement, BIDMC admits no liability whatsoever.?

The improper claims, for one-day stay inpatient admissions for patients with congestive heart failure, chest pain, and certain digestive and nutritional disorders were submitted from June 1, 2004, through March 31, 2008, according to U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz? office. These claims should have been billed as observation services, federal investigators said. In addition, the settlement resolves allegations that BIDMC submitted claims to Medicare for less-than-one day stays that should have been billed as outpatient or observation services. Medicare reimburses hospitals at significantly higher amounts for inpatient admissions versus outpatient or observation services.

?When hospitals unnecessarily admit Medicare patients for short inpatient stays when the appropriate treatment would be outpatient or observation care, they improperly boost hospital profits at significant expense to taxpayers and patients,? Susan J. Waddell, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General, said in a statement. ?We are committed to uprooting such schemes to eliminate waste in federal health care programs.?

Health Care/Life Sciences

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bizj_boston/~3/Jp5YJZrpY_Y/beth-israel-to-pay-53-million.html

honda classic news channel 5 nashville weather jason varitek andrew breitbart dead sheriff joe arpaio limbaugh

Former football coach testifies at Sandusky court hearing

By Reuters
Monday, July 29, 2013 15:28 EDT

?

By Dave Warner

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) ? The former football coach whose account of Jerry Sandusky molesting a boy in a Penn State shower is at the heart of a cover-up case against former school officials testified at their court hearing on Monday.

Mike McQueary told of a series of talks he had with late Penn State coach Joe Paterno in February 2001, including the morning after he spotted Sandusky sexually abusing a child in the locker room showers.

?I had seen Jerry Sandusky engaged in a very bad sexual act, a molestation act, with a minor,? McQueary testified he told Paterno. He also testified that he told other university officials about the incident ? including two of the three officials appearing at Monday?s hearing. None reported it to police.

Sandusky, 69, a former assistant football coach, was convicted in June 2012 of 45 counts of sexual abuse involving 10 boys. He is serving a sentence of 30 years to 60 years in a state prison.

McQueary lost his job as a receivers coach after charges were filed against Sandusky in November 2011. His testimony opened a preliminary hearing in the criminal case against the college?s former president, Graham Spanier, 65; its former athletic director, Tim Curley, 59; and its former senior vice president Gary Schultz, 63.

The three university officials are accused of a ?conspiracy of silence? for failing to report the shower incident to authorities, which permitted Sandusky to continue preying on boys, most of whom he met through a charity he founded for at-risk youth.

McQueary, who testified he also told Curley and Schultz of the shower incident, said Paterno told him in the months following the shower incident ?Old Main screwed up,? using a nickname for the administrative center of Penn State.

Sandusky was arrested in November 2011 and charged with molesting boys. A year later, in November 2012, a grand jury charged Spanier, Curley and Schultz with endangering the welfare of children, criminal conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Spanier also was charged with perjury.

Curley and Schultz were previously charged in November 2011 with perjury and failure to report suspected abuse.

Spanier was fired from Penn State; Curley was placed on administrative leave and Schultz had already retired from the school.

Harrisburg District Judge William Wenner will decide if there is enough evidence to bring the case to trial after the preliminary hearing.

Within weeks of Sandusky?s arrest, Penn State Trustees fired Spanier, at the time the nation?s highest-paid public university president. Trustees also fired Paterno, Sandusky?s boss. Months later, Paterno, a legendary figure in college football died of lung cancer at the age of 85.

Civil lawsuits filed by the victims, now grown men, against the university are close to being settled, with the school putting aside $60 million to cover the claims, according to a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs. The attorney said there were as many as 32 claims from alleged victims.

McQueary also has filed a whistleblower and defamation lawsuit against Penn State, accusing the school of not renewing his contract because he cooperated with authorities investigating Sandusky and the Penn State officials.

And, Spanier?s lawyers have served legal notice that they intend to file defamation charges against Louis Freeh, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Freeh was the author of a study, commissioned by the university, spelling out a narrative of the scandal that many in the state rejected, including the Paterno family.

The Freeh report prompted the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the governing body for college sports, to issue sanctions against Penn State. The NCAA imposed a $60 million fine and voided the 14 seasons of football victories Sandusky coached.

(Additional reporting by Teresa McMinn; Editing by Barbara Goldberg, Philip Barbara and Leslie Gevirtz)

?

?

?

?

?

Source: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/07/29/former-football-coach-testifies-at-sandusky-court-hearing/

odds of winning mega millions mary mary sag aftra merger dj am bully bohemian rhapsody bohemian rhapsody

U.S. differences on abortion widen along regional lines: survey

By Carey Gillam

(Reuters) - U.S. attitudes on abortion are split along regional lines, and opposition to legal abortion has grown in some parts of the South while Americans in the Northeast and on the West Coast still strongly favor abortion rights, according to a new study.

While a little more than half of all Americans continue to favor abortion rights and two in five oppose them, the divide is reflected in legal and legislative battles over the issue this month in the two regions with the most opposition to legal abortion: the South Central and Midwestern states.

The South Central region - Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky - is "the only one in which opposition to legal abortion has significantly increased since the mid-1990s," the Pew Research Center reported.

The opinion gap between South Central states and New England, the region of highest support for legal abortion, is about 35 percentage points, up from only 18 points in the mid-1990s when slightly fewer New Englanders favored abortion rights and significantly fewer South Central residents opposed them.

"The gap between New England and South Central states has widened considerably over the past two decades," the Pew report said.

In the middle is the Midwest, evenly split for and against legal abortion but second-highest to South Central in opposition among all the regions.

This month, Texas joined 12 other states that have banned abortions at no later than 20 weeks of pregnancy, and legal battles over tougher limits on abortion have also been fought in North Carolina, Alabama, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Missouri, among others.

The battle in Texas drew national attention after state senator Wendy Davis, a Democrat, staged a one-woman filibuster to try to block the new restrictions, ultimately signed into law by Governor and former Republican presidential contender Rick Perry.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, a Republican, signed new requirements for clinics into law, saying they would further women's safety but would not unconstitutionally restrict access to abortion.

Judges in North Dakota and Alabama have recently delayed restrictions that were among the most stringent of a host of anti-abortion laws passed this year by Republicans across the country.

The national survey, conducted July 17-21 among 1,480 adults and released on Monday, found that roughly 54 percent of all Americans said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. About 40 percent said it should be illegal in all or most cases.

That ratio of opinion has remained consistent for most of the past two decades, according to Pew, but the regional differences appear to be widening.

"There have long been substantial regional difference in views on abortion, reflecting religious, social and demographic differences in different parts of the country," said Michael Dimock, the director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. "But the gap is wider now than in the past."

The South Central region is the only one in which a majority of residents - 52 percent - now say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. The next highest opposition was seen in the Midwest, evenly split at 47 percent. The Midwest comprises Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and the Dakotas.

In the other 37 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, 58 percent said abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

In New England, 75 percent of residents say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Sixty-five percent in the Pacific Coast region - which includes California, Alaska and Hawaii - favor legal abortion in all or most cases, along with 61 percent in the Mid-Atlantic region, which includes New York and Pennsylvania, and 59 percent in the eight-state Mountain West region, running from Arizona and New Mexico up through Colorado, Utah and Nevada to Montana.

(Reporting by Carey Gillam; Editing by Gary Hill)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-differences-abortion-widen-along-regional-lines-survey-194527856.html

brad paisley zac brown band aubrey born to run pranks pregnancy test april fools day 2012

Treasury chief calls for debt limit unity - Mon, 29 Jul 2013 PST

July 29, 2013 in Nation/World

Lew says showdown would hurt?economy

Richard Simon McClatchy-Tribune

WASHINGTON ? With Congress and President Barack Obama possibly heading to another showdown over raising the nation?s debt ceiling, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Sunday pleaded for lawmakers to ?take away any cloud of uncertainty about the ability of the United States to pay its?bills.?

?It?s not OK to default,? he said on ABC?s ?This?Week.?

?I would certainly hope that Congress isn?t looking to create confrontations and false crises because we did see, in 2011, how bad that is for the American economy,? he?said.

He was referring to the partisan standoff, resolved at the??

You have viewed 20 free articles or blogs allowed within a 30-day period. FREE registration is now required for uninterrupted access.

Registration Required

• log in to your Spokesman.com account for unlimited viewing and commenting access.
• Don't have a Spokesman.com account? Create a Spokesman.com profile and register for FREE access.

• S-R Media, The Spokesman-Review and Spokesman.com are happy to assist you. Contact Customer Service by email or call 800-338-8801

WASHINGTON ? With Congress and President Barack Obama possibly heading to another showdown over raising the nation?s debt ceiling, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Sunday pleaded for lawmakers to ?take away any cloud of uncertainty about the ability of the United States to pay its?bills.?

?It?s not OK to default,? he said on ABC?s ?This?Week.?

?I would certainly hope that Congress isn?t looking to create confrontations and false crises because we did see, in 2011, how bad that is for the American economy,? he?said.

He was referring to the partisan standoff, resolved at the last minute, that led Standard & Poor?s to downgrade the nation?s credit rating for the first time, from AAA to?AA+.

A number of congressional Republicans want to impose conditions for raising the government?s $16.7 trillion debt?limit.

?If we?re going to raise the debt limit, then we?ve got to do something about what?s causing us to spend more money than what we bring in,? House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said on CNBC last month. ?So guess what? We?re going to have a debate, and we?re going to have a?negotiation.?

But Lew signaled that the administration isn?t willing to?negotiate.

Source: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/jul/29/treasury-chief-calls-for-debt-limit-unity/

womens final four josh hutcherson google april fools office space shell houston open mega millions winners anthony davis

Chinese Carbon Bikes

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/904012-Chinese-Carbon-Bikes?goto=newpost

Election Results Map Early voting results Dick Morris Daily Show provisional ballot rush limbaugh rush limbaugh

1 body found, 1 person missing in NY boat crash

PIERMONT, N.Y. (AP) ? Brian Bond was disoriented from head trauma and in darkness when he awoke from unconsciousness soon after the speedboat he was in with his fiancee and four friends smashed into a construction barge on New York's Hudson River, hurling the bride-to-be and Bond's best man into the water.

Bond used his cellphone to call 911 late Friday night, and first responders relied on heat-seeking technology to locate the boat just south of the Tappan Zee Bridge, authorities said.

On Saturday, a woman's body matching the description of 30-year-old Lindsey Stewart was pulled from the water. Authorities haven't yet released a positive identification.

Stewart and Bond, friends since childhood, were to be married in two weeks, on Aug. 10.

Bond's best man, Mark Lennon, 30, remains missing and is presumed dead, authorities said. Emergency crews planned to continue their search for him Sunday.

Jojo John, who was operating the boat, was charged Saturday with vehicular manslaughter and three counts of vehicular assault from a hospital bed where he was recovering from his injuries in the crash, said Chief William Barbera of the Rockland County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities said they suspect the 35-year-old Nyack man was intoxicated at the time of the crash; they were awaiting the results of blood tests. Attempts to reach John's family were not immediately successful and it was not clear if he had an attorney.

Barbera declined to identify the other two people aboard the boat and had no information on their condition. The two and Bond also remained hospitalized Saturday night.

The group had left the village of Piermont for a short trip aboard the 21-foot Stingray across the river to Tarrytown, about 30 miles north of New York City, authorities said.

Stewart and Lennon were thrown from the boat when it struck a barge carrying materials for the construction of a replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge, authorities said. Barbera said the barge was equipped with lights, but it was still difficult to see on the water late at night.

Stewart, of Piermont, worked for an insurance company. She and Bond were to be married at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Pearl River, with a reception at a vineyard in Hillburn, her stepfather Walter Kosik said.

The couple had known one another for years and used to go to church together, he said.

"They have been friends the whole time, and they fell in love about 3 ? years ago," Kosik said.

Stewart's former English teacher at Pearl River High School, who remained in contact with her through Facebook, called the accident "heartbreaking."

"She was one of my students and a bright, sweet girl loved by everyone," said Doreen Arney. "I knew that she was getting married, and to Brian. To happen to two such special kids ? it just shouldn't happen."

The New York State Thruway Authority, which is overseeing the bridge project, said it was reviewing safety procedures. It said the lighting on the barges appeared to be functioning normally.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families during this difficult time," the authority said in a statement.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/1-body-found-1-person-missing-ny-boat-063103287.html

Mama Movie flyers epo PlayStation Network chip kelly NRA Golden Globes 2013

UCF coach George O'Leary isn't ready to walk away from football

EATONTON, Ga.? The winding road leads visitors through a security gate, past a stable and horses grazing in an open field, into a neighborhood carved among the tall trees that line Lake Oconee.

Here, about 90 minutes outside Atlanta, George O'Leary's home has become a rare escape from football.

Amid the cozy rooms and long hallways in the house, at first glance there are few signs of O'Leary's professional life devoted to coaching. The top two floors of the lake house, instead, are filled with tributes to his family.

Upstairs walls are plastered with drawings made by his grandchildren; shelves in the pantry display his wife's collection of tins, jars and salt and pepper shakers; an American flag once draped over his father's casket and now folded in a tight triangle sits atop a fireplace mantel.

Football is relegated to the basement. O'Leary leads the way downstairs and pushes open a door. Knick-knacks and mementos from four decades of coaching lay scattered amid stowed-away furniture and cardboard boxes. A poster memorializing his years at Georgia Tech, a tattered NFL football from a game O'Leary could no longer recall, framed photographs from his first few years at UCF.

He sifts through items on top of a desk, moving aside papers and a baseball cap before turning around with his national coach of the year award. He smiles and shrugs.

"We'll do something with all of this at some point," he says.

For now, the snapshots from his life spent coaching are left in limbo, hidden away in this cluttered room in the basement. The lake house is a more comforting refuge this way. The coach, who will turn 67 on Aug. 17, is not yet ready for reflection.

A few minutes pass, and O'Leary walks back out and shuts the door behind him.

As he moves closer to stepping away from coaching, O'Leary is often judged at UCF more by the message board complaints: his age, the meat-and-potatoes offense he runs, his prickly press conference demeanor, a perceived lack of energy.

O'Leary might prefer it that way, the rest of his story saved for some other day, and to be shared with the right people. And even then, maybe just a glimpse until he can step out and close the door again.

'On the inside, he's mush'

Eatonton is a town small enough that directions are relayed by landmarks: a right at the Crowe Marine store, a left after the bridge.

The Reynolds brothers, Harold and Jamie, opt to grab lunch at a Mexican joint that shares space with a gas station a few miles from the sprawling Reynolds Plantation property that bears their name. The chips and salsa go quickly and merengue music plays over the speakers as the brothers play off each other, chuckling their way through stories about "Coach."

O'Leary calls Harold, a longtime Georgia Tech booster, his best friend. They met during his first stint at the school and the relationship has carried on now through O'Leary's decade at UCF. Harold recalled when he first began to see O'Leary's grumpy public fa?ade melt into a sneaky sense of humor.

Reynolds approached O'Leary concerned that the coach's penchant for demanding the team bus driver leave as much as 20 minutes before scheduled departure times might lead to leaving star quarterback Joe Hamilton behind. "Harold," O'Leary replied, wryly, "I've got a window in my office." Reynolds left with a chuckle and an assurance that even O'Leary wasn't stubborn enough to leave without the Heisman finalist.

The slightest crack of a smile creeps up the right side of O'Leary's face just before a joke, a familiar look to those who know the veteran coach. It usually means a barb is coming, directed toward anyone unlucky enough to be closest to him.

It's a contrast from O'Leary's terse answers and no-nonsense demeanor in press conferences after football games. Even that, friends say, is sometimes just his dry sense of humor.

"He presents a very gruff exterior, but on the inside he's mush," said Peter O'Leary, George's older brother. "He's a real soft, mellow type of guy, believe it or not."

O'Leary certainly would not be typecast as mellow, yet stories come in waves about O'Leary the "softie."

Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/os-ucf-george-oleary-0728-20130727,0,2063548.story?track=rss

Jennifer Aniston naomi watts Oscar Nominations 2013 Beasts of the Southern Wild 2013 Oscars academy awards Sally Field

Merseyside and Indian police to investigate University of Liverpool student?s death

27 Jul 2013 09:05

Coroner calls for UK and India probes after Georgianna Thomsson?s body found in student room

Police are investigating after a student from India was found hanged in her Liverpool student digs.

Aspiring astronaut Georgianna Thomsson?s body was discovered in her room at Melville Grove, close to the University of Liverpool?s main campus.

Detectives on Merseyside and in her home city of Chennai were today working to piece together more information surrounding the circumstances of her death.

Georgianna, 18, an aerospace engineering student at the university, had not been seen for several days before her body was found on July 12.

Yesterday, Liverpool coroner Andre Rebello said Georgianna had started missing lectures in February.

He added: ?She was last seen on July 3 by a domestic supervisor.

?Her room was checked daily and although she was never seen after this date all Georgianna's possessions were still in the room as if she was still living there.

?On July 12,? the domestic supervisor returned to the room to see if she had left and on entering Georgianna was found hanging.?

Mr Rebello said the death was not believed to have been criminally suspicious, but that investigations were ongoing.

He added: ?There were various notes left within the accommodation. Some of those notes seemed to indicate intentional self-harm. However, there were other notes which led me to direct there be investigations not just here, but also in Chennai."

Merseyside Police confirmed officers were working to respond to the coroner?s directions.

Earlier this week, Georgianna?s dad, Seshiyan, said he had refused to accept the return of his daughter?s body for her funeral to take place until further investigations were carried out.

Mr Thomsson, a policeman in Chennai, which was formerly known as Madras,? told the Indian press he was? not convinced his daughter?s death was the result of suicide, and demanded more information.

A university spokeswoman said: ?We are extremely saddened by Georgianna?s death. Our thoughts are with her family and friends and we are doing our utmost to support them at this very difficult time.?

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/merseyside-indian-police-investigate-university-5373304

bonobos charles manson actuary elon musk fox mole manson bubba watson

Obama: Washington has 'taken eye off' the economy

GALESBURG, Ill. (AP) ? Seeking to build momentum for looming fiscal fights, President Barack Obama on Wednesday cast himself as the champion for middle-class Americans struggling to make ends meet. He chided Washington for having "taken its eye off the ball" and declared that the economy would be the "highest priority" of his second term.

Obama, in an hour-long address that was at times deeply partisan, also accused Republican lawmakers of succumbing to "an endless parade of distractions and political posturing and phony scandals." He said gridlock had only gotten worse since his re-election.

"I am here to say this needs to stop," Obama said in a speech at Knox College. "This moment does not require short-term thinking. It does not require having the same old stale debates."

Obama, as he often does when criticizing Washington, glossed over his own status as the inhabitant of the city's most powerful office.

GOP leaders quickly panned the president's remarks as a series of repackaged ideas and empty promises.

"It's a hollow shell, it's an Easter egg with no candy in it," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said.

Indeed, the president's remarks were void of new policy proposals or fresh solutions for breaking Washington stalemates. And there were no new approaches presented for resolving potential showdowns with Republicans this fall over raising the nation's borrowing limit and curtailing across-the-board federal budget cuts known as "the sequester."

For the president's advisers, a central goal of the speech was simply to refocus Obama's agenda squarely on the economy ahead of the fall deadlines. The first six months of his second term largely have been consumed by priorities like gun control and immigration, as well as an array of foreign policy crises and domestic controversies, including the National Security Agency's domestic spying programs and IRS scrutiny of political groups.

While official Washington's attention was elsewhere, the economy was slowly but steadily improving. The housing market is recovering, the stock market is soaring, and unemployment, while still high at 7.6 percent, is falling.

But the White House fears that standoffs this fall over the debt ceiling and the sequester could upend that progress. The president has declared that he will not negotiate over the debt ceiling and expects Republicans to lift the borrowing limit without concessions. He's also pushing to end the federal budget cuts before they extend into the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

The president panned the sequester as a "meat cleaver" that has "cost jobs, hurt our military and gutted investments in American education."

Obama will seek to keep up his renewed economic focus in the coming weeks with a series of speeches on manufacturing, education, housing, retirement security and health care. Advisers say some of those speeches will contain more specific policy proposals, both for congressional legislation and executive action.

The president said he welcomed ideas from lawmakers of both parties, but wouldn't stand for reflexive opposition to his own initiatives.

"I'm laying out my ideas to give the middle class a better shot," he said. "Now it's time for you to lay out your ideas."

For Obama, the day trip to Knox College marked a return to the site of his first major economic address. He spoke at the school's graduation ceremony in 2005 as a newly elected U.S. senator.

His remarks back then were strikingly similar to the themes he outlined Wednesday in Illinois and later in Missouri, including the government's role in ensuring all Americans have opportunities to get ahead and the need for the U.S. to be better prepared to compete internationally. Barring action now, Obama said, "We will be waving the white flag while other countries forge ahead in the global economy."

The economy in the surrounding Galesburg community reflects much of the underlying economic concerns facing many Americans. A Maytag plant in the town shut its doors in 2004, leaving hundreds of people unemployed. Today, the factory still sits vacant. Galesburg's unemployment rate is just under 8 percent, and nearly a quarter of its population lives in poverty.

"Those old days aren't coming back," Obama conceded. He said the proposals he will outline in speeches later this summer will be aimed at adapting the U.S. economy to an increasingly competitive and interconnected world.

On education, the president promised "an aggressive strategy to shake up the system, tackle rising costs, and improve value for middle-class students and their families."

During the second stop Wednesday, Obama highlighted a program at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg that gives students education and skills at a faster pace while lowering the costs. Students earn a bachelor's degree in two years.

"You are a laboratory for this innovation. ... I want the entire country to notice it," Obama said. "I've asked my team to shake the trees all across the country for some of the best ideas out there for keeping college costs down."

The president also said he would use the speeches he'll give in the coming weeks to renew his calls for increasing the minimum wage and giving all 4-year-olds access to pre-school programs. The first of those speeches will come Tuesday, when Obama visits an Amazon distribution center in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Obama also pledged to take steps to encourage home ownership, make it easier for people to save for retirement and to continue to put in place the elements of his health care law in the face of efforts by Republicans in Congress to repeal, delay or eliminate funding for its various parts.

___

Pace reported from Washington.

___

Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap and Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-washington-taken-eye-off-economy-213406962.html

bridesmaids winning lottery numbers megamillions winner kansas jayhawks mega millions results susan powell lotto numbers