House passes symbolic measure against debt hike (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The GOP-controlled House on Wednesday kicked off another session with a protest vote against raising the government's borrowing cap by $1.2 trillion, but the maneuver amounted to political theater under a process stacked on purpose in President Barack Obama's favor.

The nearly party-line 239-176 vote puts the House on record against Obama's use of unprecedented authority ? awarded to him through a mechanism devised by the Senate's top Republican ? to unilaterally raise the so-called debt limit unless Congress can muster the votes to block him.

The Senate is sure to kill the measure next week, and Obama's veto power serves as a final guarantee that the increase will go through as intended and that the nation won't face another debt crisis like last summer.

The political dance choreographed under last summer's Budget Control Act was designed to permit lawmakers, mostly Republicans, to vote against debt increases but not actually block them ? and provoke a first-ever, market-rattling default on U.S. government obligations.

The debate offered tea party-backed GOP freshmen an almost three-hour opportunity before C-Span cameras to cast blame on the White House and Democratically controlled Senate for the nation's fiscal ills. The national debt has skyrocketed during Obama's first term ? from $10.6 trillion on Inauguration Day to $15.2 trillion today. Much of the blame lies with the deep recession Obama inherited, which made revenues plummet, but almost $1 trillion of the increase can be attributed to Obama's 2009 deficit-financed economic stimulus bill.

"Instead of giving the President more power to spend money we do not have, Congress should work together to find ways to cut spending and put America back on a path to fiscal responsibility," said Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C.

"Today's vote will clearly show the American people who in this chamber want to further grow the size of government, let it intrude further into the private sector, and give more power Washington bureaucrats to meddle in the everyday lives of American citizens," said Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Ill. "And in contrast, it will show those of us who believe that a smaller government increases our constituents' liberty."

Democrat Jared Polis of Colorado said that under last year's nonbinding House GOP budget plan, the national debt would have risen by more than $5 trillion over the coming decade anyway. And he pointed out that the new borrowing authority is needed to pay for a $1 trillion-plus omnibus spending bill that many Republicans supported just last month.

"We're here playing a counter-productive and absurd game," Polis said.

"Let's be honest with the American people," said Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland. "We've all incurred a debt. We all spent the money. We drove on the roads. We were defended abroad. We invested in health care research. We all incurred these debts."

Even one GOP veteran said Wednesday's debate was a futile exercise, given how the August debt pact intentionally stacked the cards in Obama's favor.

"We have, in effect, given the president of the United States the ability to raise the debt ceiling without us ... having any control whatsoever," said veteran Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind. "We gave the president carte blanche and it's dead wrong."

Conservative groups weren't joining in the GOP pep rally. The Club for Growth, which raises campaign cash for free-market conservative candidates, issued a half-dozen "Debt Hypocrisy Alerts" blasting lawmakers like Jim Renacci, R-Ohio, Tom Rooney, R-Fla., and Tom Reed, R-N.Y., for touting their support for Wednesday's measure after voting to increase the debt limit last summer.

Democrats went through the motions as well, arguing against a measure that they know isn't going anywhere.

"They're playing with fire and that's reckless. They know that others will put out the fire. And we'll vote, many of us, to do that today, and if we don't succeed, the Senate will do so," said Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich. "This, I think, is worse than a charade because it really assumes that the agenda of this congress should essentially be a kind of a plaything."

The House passed a similar resolution in September after Obama used his authority to raise the debt cap by $500 billion.

Last year's debt agreement permits a total debt limit increase of $2.1 trillion in exchange for an equivalent amount in spending cuts, which would be spread out over the coming decade. The first $900 billion comes from caps on the day-to-day operations of federal agencies.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120118/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_debt

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Murdoch to pay Jude Law and others hacking damages (AP)

LONDON ? Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper company on Thursday agreed to pay damages to 36 high-profile victims of tabloid phone-hacking, including actor Jude Law, soccer player Ashley Cole and former British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

In the 15 settlements whose financial terms were made public, amounts generally ran into the tens of thousands of pounds (dollars) ? although Law received 130,000 pounds (about $200,000) to settle claims against the now-shuttered News of the World tabloid and its sister paper, The Sun.

News Group Newspapers admitted that 16 articles about Law published in the News of the World between 2003 and 2006 had been obtained by phone hacking, and that the actor had also been placed under "repeated and sustained physical surveillance." The company also admitted that articles in The Sun tabloid misused Law's private information ? although it didn't go so far as to admit hacking.

In a statement, Law said Murdoch's tabloids had been "prepared to do anything to sell their newspapers and to make money, irrespective of the impact it had on people's lives."

"I changed my phones, I had my house swept for bugs but still the information kept being published," Law said. "I started to become distrustful of people close to me."

"For me this case was never about money. It was about standing up for myself and finding out what had happened. I owed it to my friends and family as well as myself to do this."

Law was one of 60 people who have sued News Group Newspapers, claiming their mobile phone voicemails were hacked. Other cases whose settlement was announced at London's High Court on Thursday include claims by former government ministers Chris Bryant and Tessa Jowell, rugby player Gavin Henson and Sara Payne, the mother of a murdered girl.

Law's ex-wife and actress Sadie Frost received 50,000 pounds (about $77,000) in damages plus legal costs for phone hacking and deceit by the News of the World. Bryant received 30,000 pounds (about $46,000) in damages plus costs, while Prescott ? a prominent member of the Labour Party ? accepted 40,000 pounds (about $62,000).

After each statement, News Group lawyer Michael Silverleaf stood to express the news company's "sincere apologies" for the damage and distress its illegal activity had caused.

The claimants described feeling mistrust, fear and paranoia as phone messages went missing, journalists knew their movements in advance or private information appeared in the media.

Frost said the paper's activity caused her and Law to suspect one another. Henson said he accused the family of his then-wife, singer Charlotte Church, of leaking stories to the press.

Other claimants included Guy Pelly, a friend of Prince William, who was awarded 40,000 pounds (about $62,000), and Tom Rowland, a journalist who wrote for one of Murdoch's own newspapers, the Sunday Times. He received 25,000 pounds ($39,000) after News Group admitted hacking his phone.

In some cases the company admitted hacking into emails, as well as telephone voice mails. Christopher Shipman, son of serial killer Harold Shipman, had emails containing sensitive legal and medical information intercepted by the News of the Word. He was awarded "substantial" undisclosed damages.

The slew of settlements is one consequence of the revelations of phone-hacking and other illegal tactics at the News of the World, where journalists routinely intercepted voicemails of those in the public eye in a relentless search for scoops.

The wide-ranging scandal prompted Murdoch to close the 168-year-old paper in July, and several of his senior lieutenants have since lost their jobs.

British politicians and police have also been ensnared in the scandal, which exposed the cozy relationship between senior officers, top lawmakers, and newspaper executives at Murdoch's media empire. A government-commissioned inquiry set up in the wake of the scandal is currently investigating the ethics of Britain's media ? and the nature of its links to police and politicians.

The settlements announced Thursday amount to more than half of the phone-hacking lawsuits facing Murdoch's company, but the number of victims is estimated in the hundreds. Mark Lewis, a lawyer for many of the phone hacking victims, said in an email that the fight against Murdoch wasn't over.

"While congratulations are due to those (lawyers) and clients who have settled their cases, it is important that we don't get carried away into thinking that the war is over," Lewis said. "Fewer than 1 percent of the people who were hacked have settled their cases. There are many more cases in the pipeline. ... This is too early to celebrate, we're not even at the end of the beginning."

Many victims had earlier settled with the company, including actress Sienna Miller and the parents of murdered teenager Milly Dowler, who were awarded 2 million pounds (about $3.1 million) in compensation.

Ten further cases are due to go to court next month, though lawyers said more settlements are likely.

___

Associated Press Writer Raphael Satter contributed to this report.

Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_en_ot/eu_britain_phone_hacking

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