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Monday March 31, 2008
Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:09am EDT
By James Vicini WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday that it won't
overrule a decision that FBI agents violated the rights of a Democratic
congressman during a search of his office, a decision the Bush
administration says will hamper future public corruption investigations. The
justices declined to review a U.S. appeals court ruling that the FBI
was wrong to confiscate legislative files from the office of Rep.
William Jefferson of Louisiana, who faces bribery charges involving
$90,000 found in his freezer. It
marked the first time that federal law enforcement agents had ever
searched the office of a member of Congress and prompted a clash
between Congress and the administration over its constitutionality. The
appeals court ordered the FBI to give Jefferson back all privileged
legislative files and copies of files taken from his office during the
18-hour raid in May of 2006. The
appeals court said FBI agents should not have viewed documents in the
office without first giving Jefferson the opportunity to say the
material involved legislative business. Jefferson
was charged last year with racketeering, soliciting bribes for himself
and his family, fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice,
conspiracy and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He
was accused of soliciting millions of dollars in bribes from nearly a
dozen companies while using his office to broker business deals in
Africa. In a search of his home, FBI agents said they found $90,000 in
bribe money in his freezer. Jefferson, a member of Congress since 1991 whose district includes New Orleans, has pleaded not guilty. His
trial has been delayed while he appeals a judge's ruling that rejected
his argument to dismiss the indictment on the grounds it
unconstitutionally infringed on his privileges as a lawmaker. In
appealing to the Supreme Court, administration lawyers said the appeals
court's ruling would effectively prevent any searches of congressional
offices and threatened to impede searches of lawmakers' homes, vehicles
or briefcases. Jefferson's
lawyers said the appeals court correctly concluded the Constitution
bars compelled disclosure of legislative material to the executive
branch during a search. Allowing review of such material would impair
legislative activities, they said. The Supreme Court sided with Jefferson and rejected the administration's appeal without any comment. (Editing by Philip Barbara)
| | Posted by alfred at 3:35 PM - | |
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Published: March 31, 2008 Driven
by a painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices, the number
of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in
the coming year, the highest level since the aid program began in the
1960s.  Graphic The
number of recipients, who must have near-poverty incomes to qualify for
benefits averaging $100 a month per family member, has fluctuated over
the years along with economic conditions, eligibility rules, enlistment
drives and natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, which led to a spike in the South. But
recent rises in many states appear to be resulting mainly from the
economic slowdown, officials and experts say, as well as inflation in
prices of basic goods that leave more families feeling pinched. Citing
expected growth in unemployment, the Congressional Budget Office
this month projected a continued increase in the monthly number of
recipients in the next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1 — to 28 million, up
from 27.8 million in 2008, and 26.5 million in 2007. The
percentage of Americans receiving food stamps was higher after a
recession in the 1990s, but actual numbers are expected to be higher
this year. Federal benefit costs are projected to rise to $36 billion in the 2009 fiscal year from $34 billion this year. “People
sign up for food stamps when they lose their jobs, or their wages go
down because their hours are cut,” said Stacy Dean, director of food
stamp policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, who noted that 14 states saw their rolls reach record numbers by last December. One
example is Michigan, where one in eight residents now receives food
stamps. “Our caseload has more than doubled since 2000, and we’re at an
all-time record level,” said Maureen Sorbet, spokeswoman for the
Michigan Department of Human Services. The climb in food stamp
recipients there has been relentless, through economic upturns and
downturns, reflecting a steady loss of industrial jobs that has pushed
recipient levels to new highs in Ohio and Illinois as well. “We’ve
had poverty here for a good while,” Ms. Sorbet said. Contributing to
the rise, she added, Michigan, like many other states, has also worked
to make more low-end workers aware of their eligibility, and a switch
from coupons to electronic debit cards has reduced the stigma. Some
states have experienced more recent surges. From December 2006 to
December 2007, more than 40 states saw recipient numbers rise, and in
several — Arizona, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, North Dakota and Rhode
Island — the one-year growth was 10 percent or more. In Rhode
Island, the number of recipients climbed by 18 percent over the last
two years, to more than 84,000 as of February, or about 8.4 percent of
the population. This is the highest total in the last dozen years or
more, said Bob McDonough, the state’s administrator of family and adult
services, and reflects both a strong enlistment effort and an upward
creep in unemployment. In New York, a program to promote
enrollment increased food stamp rolls earlier in the decade, but the
current climb in applications appears in part to reflect economic
hardship, said Michael Hayes, spokesman for the Office of Temporary and
Disability Assistance. The additional 67,000 clients added from July
2007 to January of this year brought total recipients to 1.86 million,
about one in 10 New Yorkers. Nutrition and poverty experts
praise food stamps as a vital safety net that helped eliminate the
severe malnutrition seen in the country as recently as the 1960s. But
they also express concern about what they called the gradual erosion of
their value. Food stamps are an entitlement program, with
eligibility guidelines set by Congress and the federal government
paying for benefits while states pay most administrative costs. Eligibility
is determined by a complex formula, but basically recipients must have
few assets and incomes below 130 percent of the poverty line, or less
than $27,560 for a family of four. As a share of the national
population, food stamp use was highest in 1994, after several years of
poor economic growth, with an average of 27.5 million recipients per
month from a lower total of residents. The numbers plummeted in the
late 1990s as the economy grew and legal immigrants and certain others
were excluded. But access by legal immigrants has been partly
restored and, in the current decade, the federal and state governments
have used advertising and other measures to inform people of their
eligibility and have often simplified application procedures. Because
they spend a higher share of their incomes on basic needs like food and
fuel, low-income Americans have been hit hard by soaring gasoline and
heating costs and jumps in the prices of staples like milk, eggs and
bread. At the same time, average family incomes among the
bottom fifth of the population have been stagnant or have declined in
recent years at levels around $15,500, said Jared Bernstein, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington. The
benefit levels, which can amount to many hundreds of dollars for
families with several children, are adjusted each June according to the
price of a bare-bones “thrifty food plan,” as calculated by the
Department of Agriculture. Because food prices have risen by about 5
percent this year, benefit levels will rise similarly in June — months
after the increase in costs for consumers. Advocates worry more
about the small but steady decline in real benefits since 1996, when
the “standard deduction” for living costs, which is subtracted from
family income to determine eligibility and benefit levels, was frozen.
If that deduction had continued to rise with inflation, the average
mother with two children would be receiving an additional $37 a month,
according to the private Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Both
houses of Congress have passed bills that would index the deduction to
the cost of living, but the measures are part of broader agriculture
bills that appear unlikely to pass this year because of disagreements
with the White House over farm policy. Another important
federal nutrition program known as WIC, for women, infants and
children, is struggling with rising prices of milk and cheese, and
growing enrollment. The program, for households with incomes
no higher than 185 percent of the federal poverty level, provides
healthy food and nutrition counseling to 8.5 million pregnant women,
and children through the age of 4. WIC is not an entitlement like food
stamps, and for the fiscal year starting in October, Congress may have
to approve a large increase over its current budget of $6 billion if
states are to avoid waiting lists for needy mothers and babies.
| | Posted by alfred at 10:32 AM - | |
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a $4.8 billion cut in education services as California faces a $16 billion shortfall.
(By Rich Pedroncelli -- Associated Press)
 Enlarge Photo
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, March 31, 2008;
Page A01
NEW YORK -- In Illinois' Cook County, women in poor neighborhoods no longer have access to free mammograms from two mobile vans testing for breast cancer.
In Michigan, hikers will find about 20 campgrounds closed, and scientists are ending their studies of fish populations in the Great Lakes.
In New Jersey, state workers are being laid off, and at least one town is canceling its traditional Fourth of July fireworks.
And in California's San Fernando Valley,
Everardo Orozco, 53, who has AIDS, exhausted his medical benefits and
can no longer afford the drugs that are keeping him alive.
"I don't know which ones I can afford every month," Orozco said,
explaining how his supply is dwindling and his share of the payments
has skyrocketed from $400 to $3,200 per month. He now injects himself
with some medications once a day instead of twice -- not enough to keep
his T-cell count from dropping or to prevent his body from becoming
resistant to treatment. And he fears that there will be more cuts.
State budgets have been hit hard by a worsening national economy,
including rising costs for energy and health care. In addition, fallout
from the subprime mortgage crisis -- declining home sales, deflated
property values and mounting foreclosures -- has caused a slide in
states' anticipated tax receipts. Revenue from property taxes, sales
taxes and real estate transfer taxes is affected.
At least half of the nation's states are facing budget shortfalls,
some of them severe, and policymakers in most of the states affected
are proposing and passing often-painful measures to trim costs and
close the gaps. Spending on schools is being slashed, after-school
programs are being curtailed and teachers are being notified of
potential layoffs. Health-care assistance is being cut for the elderly,
the disabled and the poor. Some government offices, such as motor
vehicle department locations, will start closing on weekends, and some
state workers are receiving pink slips.
Some analysts worry that the impact is being felt disproportionately by the most needy.
"It's disappointing, the extent they tend to focus their cuts on the
most vulnerable," said Iris J. Lav, deputy director of the
Washington-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank that monitors state budget issues. "It does appear to disproportionately affect low-income people."
Unlike the federal government, which can run deficits, almost all
states are required by their own laws and constitutions to balance
their budgets. Many states are just now hammering out their budgets, so
some targeted programs could still be saved in last-minute
negotiations.
In most states, talk of raising taxes has become politically
perilous, particularly with residents already hurting from falling
housing values and a worsening economy.
Instead of raising taxes, most states with shortfalls are curtailing
services, and the effects are already being felt nationwide. Some of
the most dramatic cuts are being made in California, Maine and Rhode Island, according to budget experts, with New Jersey not far behind.
California is facing the worst budget crisis, with a $16 billion shortfall, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
(R) has proposed a $4.8 billion cut in education services. About 20,000
teachers, counselors, librarians, nurses and other support staff
members have received notice of potential layoffs, according to the
state's Education Department.
Los Angeles,
which has the state's largest school district and a $6 billion budget,
faces a $460 million cut for the next school year -- the dollar
equivalent of shutting down the entire district for two weeks.
In Thousand Oaks,
Calif., the Conejo Valley Unified School District, home to 30 schools
and 22,000 students, has already closed two elementary schools for next
year. Superintendent Mario Contini said layoffs could be next. "School
districts have been making cuts every year, and there isn't much left
to cut," he said. "We've already cut the flesh to the bone, and now
we're removing the skeletal parts. It's that severe."
Schwarzenegger has also proposed $650 million in cuts to the Healthy Families Program and Medi-Cal,
which together provide health-care services to more than 7 million
senior citizens, disabled people and children in the state. Adults
under the Medi-Cal program would lose their dental benefits, as well as
optometry and psychology services.
The California Department of Public Health is also facing an $11
million cut to AIDS services, with the bulk of that -- $7 million --
coming from a program that helps low-income Californians, such as
Orozco, obtain lifesaving antiretroviral medicine.
Orozco had been paying $400 per month for the 15 daily medications
he needs. But when his allotment under the program ran out, his share
jumped to $3,200, and he could no longer afford five of the drugs.
"We want to continue to live, you know," he said. "We need to
continue fighting what this is. I've been dealing with this since 1983.
Every day, it's a fight. It's not easy. Either they help us do
something to fight this, or we're going to die."
A recent 50-state survey by the Associated Press
showed that hundreds of thousands of poor children, the disabled and
the elderly stand to have their health coverage eliminated as a result
of budget cuts, and more than 10 million people would lose access to
dental care, specialists and name-brand prescription drugs.
Budget experts said they see a repeat of the pattern that happened
during the recession of 2001: States generally cut health services and
medical benefits first, because these costs are often rising more
rapidly than others, and the savings tend to be immediate.
Subsidies to higher education are also a favored target for budget
cuts -- mainly because policymakers often believe that universities can
find money from other sources, such as private donations or higher
tuition.
Budgets for parks and recreation, and for natural resources and science, also stand to take a hit.
In cash-strapped Michigan, dealing with the struggles of the
automobile industry, the Department of Natural Resources is closing 20
campgrounds, including the highly popular and rustic Pinney Bridge
State Forest Campground, considered one of the most beautiful in the
Lower Peninsula. The department also plans to end its studies of fish
populations in the Great Lakes, and 14 conservation officials are being
laid off.
Hunters in Michigan will also find their license fees increased.
In Illinois, Gov. Rod Blagojevich
(D) has proposed ending a popular controlled pheasant-hunting program
at state sites. Outraged hunters have said that among those affected
will be the young and the handicapped, who have access to special hunts
under the state program.
Surdin reported from Los Angeles. Staff writer Kari Lydersen in Chicago contributed to this report.
| | Posted by alfred at 9:39 AM - | |
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Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, March 31, 2008; 7:26 AM
BAGHDAD, March 31 -- Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his
followers Sunday to lay down their arms and end six days of clashes
against U.S. and Iraqi forces if the government agrees to release
detainees and give amnesty to Sadr's fighters, among other demands. But
after the statement, mortar attacks continued in Baghdad and Basra, and
violence persisted in many pockets of the country. A
new mortar attack on the heavily-guarded Green Zone wounded four
civilians on Monday, two of them severely, according to spokesman for
the Iraqi Ministry of Interior. Damage in a number of government
vehicles and buildings was also reported. A spokesman at the U.S.
Embassy confirmed the attack, but he said it wasn't immediately clear
if Americans were among the injured. An Iraqi military adviser
in Basra said the Mahdi Army seemed to have decreased its presence on
the street, but that government crackdown on the city was continuing,
with the military striking targets and making arrests. Ali
al-Dabbagh, a spokesman for the government, described Sadr's statement
as a "positive step," but he said Iraqi security forces would continue
to try to bring order to Basra, a southern oil center. A government
offensive there against militias triggered clashes across southern Iraq and in Baghdad last week. Iraqi forces "will finish the job," Dabbagh said.
Sadr's nine-point statement instructed his Mahdi Army militia to
cooperate with government efforts to achieve security, but stopped
short of ordering them to turn in weapons to Iraqi security forces, as
the government has demanded. Sadr also used the opening of the
statement as a rallying cry against occupation forces, describing them
as the "armies of darkness." In exchange for an end to
fighting, Sadr demanded that the government of Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki release hundreds of detained Sadr followers not proven guilty
of crimes. Over the past few months, Iraqi security forces have raided
the homes of hundreds of Sadr followers, arresting and detaining them.
Thousands more have fled. Sadr demanded that they be returned to their
homes. Mahdi Army commanders and fighters in Baghdad and
across southern Iraq appeared to have mixed reactions. Some laid down
their arms while others kept fighting. The text of Sadr's
statement was negotiated in the Iranian city of Qom between Sadr
representatives and a group of lawmakers aligned with Maliki's ruling
Shiite coalition. It came after Maliki, as well as Iraq's defense
minister, acknowledged they had underestimated militia resistance in
Basra. Although U.S. and British forces backed Iraqi troops in Basra
with air power and special forces, the fighting has reached a
stalemate, with militias still in control of large sections of the
city. Ali al-Adeeb, a prominent Shiite legislator in Maliki's
Dawa party, said lawmakers are worried that the conflict is causing
instability in the country that is not to "the benefit of all sides."
He said he reassured the Sadr representatives that the Basra operation
was not targeting political parties, as the Sadrists have alleged. The
escalating clashes threaten to collapse a cease-fire imposed by Sadr on
his militiamen last August, one reason for tenuous security gains
across Iraq in recent months. Contributing to the reduction in violence
were a buildup of 30,000 U.S. troops and the rise of a Sunni movement
that turned against the extremist insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq. In
2004, Sadr's militiamen fought fierce battles in the Shiite holy city
of Najaf, refusing to surrender or negotiate until Iraq's Grand
Ayatollah Ali Sistani stepped in and brokered a truce. Today, Sadr
appears more politically astute. If he succeeds in helping end the
clashes, it could improve his standing ahead of provincial elections
later this year. The military said Sunday that U.S. troops,
frequently backed by helicopters, killed at least 16 fighters who were
either firing at U.S. ground patrols or rigging roadside bombs, car
bombs or mortars. A U.S. soldier was killed in a roadside bomb attack
north of Baghdad, and a Marine was killed by a roadside bomb in Anbar
province, in western Iraq, the military reported. For the seventh day,
rocket and mortar fire pounded the Green Zone, the U.S. and Iraqi
government and military compound in the capital. Iraqi
security forces battled gunmen in Abu Dasheer, south of Baghdad, in
clashes that killed nine gunmen and two police officers and wounded 33.
Gunmen also attacked a joint checkpoint in Shulla in northwestern
Baghdad, killing three policemen. Roadside bombs in western Baghdad
killed three policemen. Iraqi police also fought gunmen in Kirkuk in the north; five insurgents and two policemen died. In
his statement, Sadr dissociated his political movement from anyone
carrying weapons targeting government forces or party offices. He
ordered followers to end public displays of weapons in Basra and other
Iraqi provinces. "The withdrawal according to Moqtada al-Sadr order
will be carried out within 24 hours and not immediately, so do not be
surprised if you will see armed men now in some streets," said Salah
al-Ubaidi, Sadr's chief spokesman in Najaf. Hazim al-Araji, a
close aide to Sadr, told journalists in Najaf that the government had
guaranteed that arrests and detentions of Sadr followers would stop.
But it remained to be seen whether fighters in Sadr's decentralized
militia would heed his orders. In the city of Kut, Jafar Abu
Sadiq, a senior Sadr leader, said the Mahdi Army had withdrawn half its
forces but remained poised for battle. "They are worried that if they
withdraw, the Iraqi forces might attack them and detain them. And by
the way, a few minutes ago 15 Mahdi Army men were arrested and two
others were killed by the Iraqi forces," Sadiq said. "We do not trust
them." In the city of Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad, Sadr
militiamen withdrew from the streets to their homes and farms. But they
were still concerned about the Badr Brigade, the armed wing of the
Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Sadr's chief Shiite rival. In
the adjacent cities of Najaf and Kufa, police returned to checkpoints
as fighters withdrew. And in several areas of Baghdad, Mahdi Army
fighters and commanders indicated that they would obey Sadr's orders. "But
of course, we want guarantees from the government that they will not
carry out a detention campaign," said Abu Mohammed al-Bahadili, a
fighter in Baghdad's Hay al-Amil neighborhood. He interpreted
the government's overtures to Sadr as a sign of weakness -- that it is
unable to defeat the Mahdi Army. "The fighting has proved they have
learned a lesson," Bahadili said. "The government is dead from our
point of view." In Basra, Ali Abdel-Amir, a 25-year-old leader
of a Mahdi Army unit, said he would immediately pull back men from
their positions. "I will obey this order and will order my fighters to
pull out," he said. But residents said they saw Mahdi Army militiamen
continuing to battle Iraqi security forces. Special
correspondents Saad Sarhan in Najaf, Aahad Ali in Basra and Naseer
Nouri, Zaid Sabah and K.I. Ibrahim in Baghdad contributed to this
report.
| | Posted by alfred at 8:08 AM - | |
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