Gypsy backs down on mas tax
Arts and Multiculturalism Minister Winston “Gypsy” Peters is backing down on a plan to implement a 3,000 per cent levy on imported Carnival costumes—at least, just for the 2012 edition of the national festival. Earlier this year, he had threatened to introduce the tariff, citing that the local mas manufacturing sector was being eroded, because of decisions by local bandleaders to outsource the assembling of costumes to companies based in China and India. But he revealed to Sunday Guardian that the amendments required to the Customs and Excise Act, by the Finance Minister, through Parliament, to make this punitive tax law would take longer than originally envisaged.
“We are working on it, but the fact is we may not be able to. They may get away again next Carnival,” said Peters. Asked what steps his ministry would adopt in the interim, Peters said: “Gentle persuasion…knowing that its their (bandleaders) action now, that is going to bring about this punitive tax. “We have the skills here, but we don’t have the opportunity to utilise it. If you don’t utilise something, of course, it will die. And that’s exactly what happened. We have moved away from our mas and we have joined Brazil.”
Cadiz supports tax
Trade and Industry Minister Stephen Cadiz has thrown his full support behind Peters’ 3,000 per cent duty on fully assembled and imported Carnival costumes, from Asia or elsewhere. “He’s right!” said Cadiz. “We allowed an entire industry, a creative industry to just leave the shores of this country and we have to build that back...and we need to build the capacity. Not everybody is a stitcher. Not everybody can cut. Not everybody can design. Not everybody can make a costume. We have to build the capacity,” Cadiz said.
Band leader responds
But Tribe band leader Dean Ackin, who has been most vocal on the issue, has insisted that the solution to this unpleasant development was a deliberate partnership between the Government and Carnival stakeholders. He lamented, however, that Peters has refused to meet with bandleaders like him to discuss the matter in its entirety. Peters made it clear he did not need to speak to any businessman but instead, officials at the representing National Carnival Bands Association (NCBA) of T&T. “Tribe believes that with meaningful consultation and discussion, we can put the controversial costume tariff behind us. Rushing to implement the proposed costume tariff may not be in the best interest of the many stakeholders who live for the glorious annual celebration of Trinbago mas.
“We believe that the best solution is for us to form a new partnership: Carnival authorities, the Government, the bands and other key stakeholders, working together to formulate a three-to-five-year plan with the aim of developing labour skills, introducing technology and machinery, and increasing and sustaining the productive capacity of the local mas industry,” said Ackin. While Ackin and other band leaders have been unable to secure an audience with the Arts and Multiculturalism Minister, Sunday Guardian learnt from a well-placed source that a division in the Ministry of Finance had been meeting with mas stakeholders towards drafting a master plan to develop the Carnival industry.
Ackin admitted that a similar agency within the Finance Ministry had contacted Tribe, but he did not want to divulge the nature of the discussion for fear of pre-empting the work of the unnamed department. He said: “Some bandleaders were able to get a meeting with one of the agencies that fall under the ministry of finance and they were able to understand our position and we were unable to understand Government’s position. “We are working to see if the costumes can be produced locally and competitively and to the standard that masqueraders and band leaders want. This department was looking to develop the Carnival industry just as Minister Peters and like us want to do.”
Usain Bolt relishing shot at four gold medals at London 2012
Usain Bolt says he wants to try to become a "legend" by winning four gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics.
The triple Olympic gold medallist from 2008 wants to run for the Jamaican 4x400m team, as well as competing in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.
"If I'm fit, I definitely want to go for the 4x400m," he told BBC Sport.
"That would put something extra on trying to be a legend by winning four gold medals, it would make my victory just a little more greater."
In an exclusive interview, the world's fastest man explained it was his team-mate and good friend, Jermaine Gonzales, who persuaded him to try and emulate fellow sprinters Carl Lewis and Jesse Owens by winning four medals at a single Olympics.
"Jermaine Gonzales asked me last year if I would run in the four by four and I said 'no, I'm not fit enough. If I go on your team, I'll probably be the weak link'," said Bolt.
"But, if I'm fit enough, I'm ready and I will definitely try."
Earlier in the week, Olympic legend Michael Johnson told BBC Sport that he doubted Bolt would be able to win gold in the 4x400m as well as retain his sprint titles.
But Bolt has also confirmed he intends to extend his career by a year to compete at the World Athletics Championships in 2017 after London won the bid to host the event.
The 25-year-old, who will be 31 in 2017, had previously said he would retire following the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
"If this Olympics goes as well as I want it to go then I will definitely stay on. It will be a good look to run at a last World Championships and then retire in London. We'll see," said Bolt.
Asked what events he would aim to compete in, he said: "I'll just pick one - probably the 200m. It depends on how my career goes. But I can't worry about that right now."
Penn State gets first victory since JoePa fired
The last time Penn State won a game without Joe Paterno as coach was December 1965.
That day, the Nittany Lions used a strong defensive effort to beat Maryland, behind the coach who mentored Paterno, Rip Engle.
On Saturday, No. 21 Penn State earned its first victory since Paterno was fired with a similarly stingy defense.
Stephfon Green ran for two touchdowns and the Nittany Lions held Ohio State scoreless in the second half of the 20-14 victory on Saturday.
"We talked about the last two teams to win here were `78 and `08," said interim coach Tom Bradley, who was promoted after Paterno was fired 10 days ago. "I said to them, `I want to know: How are you going to be remembered?"'
They'll be remembered as at least co-champs of the Big Ten's Leaders Division.
By clinching a share of the division title, Penn State (9-2, 6-1) set up showdown next week at Wisconsin, with the winner playing Michigan State in the conference's first championship game on Dec. 3.
Jay Paterno, the Nittany Lions' offensive coordinator and the son of the deposed legend, was already thinking ahead.
"As I've been trained to do my whole life, immediately (I) began to think about next week," he said of what was going through his head as he walked off the field at Ohio Stadium. "Essentially, we're in the Big Ten semifinal. I started to think about Wisconsin - and I'll have some nightmares tonight."
Joe Paterno was a longtime assistant under Engle before getting promoted in 1966. The last game Engle coached, Penn State beat Maryland 19-7 on Dec. 4, 1965. The last time Penn State won a game without Joe Paterno on staff was Nov. 12, 1949, a 28-7 victory at Temple.
In what was expected to be a defensive struggle, the teams did all of their scoring in the opening half before the defenses took over.
Braxton Miller ran for a touchdown and threw a 7-yard scoring pass to Jake Stoneburner for Ohio State (6-5, 3-4), but he had an intentional grounding and three incompletions on the Buckeyes' final possession.
The teams exchanged handshakes at midfield after the opening coin toss - although there was a smattering of boos from the Buckeyes faithful.
It was a gesture of mutual respect and sportsmanship in the wake of the scandal which has hit Penn State. A former defensive assistant coach was arrested two weeks earlier for allegedly molesting several young boys. Paterno was fired, the university president and AD lost their jobs and the NCAA is looking into the athletic program's actions.
Bradley said he spoke about how everyone was watching to see how the Nittany Lions would react and behave.
"I challenged the guys on the team to show a lot of character and resolve," he said. "Which they did."
Luke Fickell, Ohio State's interim head coach, was dogged by questions of his future. There have been numerous uncorroborated reports out there that the Buckeyes have already reached an agreement with former Florida coach Urban Meyer.
"I don't think this is the time nor the place," Fickell said. "We're talking about the game, and we're going to move on and talk about Michigan (next Saturday). ... Those are the things that I have no control over. So I'm not going to waste a whole lot of my energy on it."
Ohio State had one last shot to win the game, taking over after a Penn State punt with 36 seconds left. But Miller was being sacked by linebacker Nate Stupar when he was called for intentionally grounding. Miller then was incomplete on three desperation heaves as a small pocket of Penn State fans ran onto the field to celebrate.
The teams were scoreless in the third quarter, thanks to a goal-line stand by the Buckeyes. Ohio State gave up the ball at its own 11 when Jordan Hall's wildcat handoff to Dan Herron was muffed in the backfield and Jordan Hill fell on the loose ball for the Nittany Lions.
Helped by two Ohio State penalties, Penn State had a first-and-goal from the 2 but failed to dent the goal line on four running plays. Storm Klein and Michael Bennett stopped Silas Redd as he vaulted the line on fourth-and-goal from inside the 1, stopping him short and bringing the crowd to its feet.
Bradley could have kicked a chip-shot field goal to make it a two-score lead, but that flew in the face of his pregame advice.
"There was no doubt in my mind we were going for it," he said. "I told them before the game that I'm asking those guys to go to the wall. I'm going to the wall."
The Buckeyes also turned it over on a Carlos Hyde fumble, but the Nittany Lions didn't score on that turnover either.
McGloin completed 10 of 18 passes for 88 yards with one interception. Green rushed 16 times for 93 yards, with Redd adding 63 yards on eight attempts in the bruising battle.
Miller, a freshman, ran for 105 yards on 18 attempts, with Herron adding 76 on eight carries. Miller completed 7 of 17 passes for 83 yards. DeVier Posey, playing his first game after serving two NCAA suspensions totaling 10 games for accepting improper benefits, had four catches for 66 yards.
Penn State, which had scored 24 points total in its last two games, had 20 in a first half of unexpected offense from both teams against stout defenses.
The Nittany Lions, ranked No. 102 in the nation in scoring at 21 points a game, needed just five plays to find the end zone. Green split two tacklers at the line after taking a direct snap and he outraced the defense for a 40-yard score that quieted a crowd of 105,493 on hand for Ohio State's senior day. He later added a 4-yard scoring run.
Ohio State fell behind 10-0 for the third game in the row later in the quarter when McGloin drove the Nittany Lions 54 yards and Anthony Fera converted a career-best 43-yard field goal. He would later top that by closing the half with a 46-yarder.
The Buckeyes, also at times offensively challenged, counterpunched on Miller's 24-yard sprint around right end for a TD and his pass to Stoneburner for another score to cut the lead to 17-14.
They'd never get closer, however.
For a day, at least, Penn State's players were able to enjoy themselves. Still, their thoughts strayed back to the 84-year-old Paterno, who is battling a treatable form of lung cancer.
"A game is a game," McGloin said. "Whether we win or lose out there, it's not going to help him out at all. But it definitely made him feel good that we went out there and got a win."
AP
Windies A lose opener
Left-arm quick Krishmar Santokie’s three-wicket haul was not enough to prevent West Indies A from losing their opening Twenty20 of the two-match series against Bangladesh A on Friday night. The 26-year-old blew away the visitors’ top order in a devastating opening spell but West Indies’ 103 off their 20 overs was insufficient and they went under by a wicket at the Beausejour Cricket Ground. Santokie, who finished with three for 18, plucked out Mithun Ali (0), Shuvagata Hom (9) and Nasir Hossain (2) to send Bangladesh A tumbling to 30 for four in the seventh over and give Windies A the ascendancy. Leg-spinner Samuel Badree (2-11) then struck twice in the space of three balls in the eighth over to further reduce Bangladesh A to 34 for six.
However, Mominul Haque (25) and Farhad Reza (19) combined to patch up the innings in a crucial 45-run, seventh wicket stand, that put Bangladesh A back in the hunt. Mominul faced 29 balls and struck two fours while Farhad got his runs at better than run-a-ball, in striking one four and a six. Captain Dwayne Smith (2-16) introduced his medium pace to good effect, trapping Farhad lbw in the 15th over to break the troublesome partnership. Windies seemed back in it when seamer Carlos Brathwaite got Mominul in the next over but Bangladesh held their nerve well to sneak home with three balls left in the final over.
Earlier, Smith top scored with 35 from 33 balls at the top of the order to give Windies A a rousing start after they were sent in. The right-hander slammed two fours and a two sixes off 33 balls, while Jason Mohammed hit 25 and Brathwaite, 22. Once Smith was third out at 54 for three in the 11th over, the Windies declined slowly as off-spinner Nasir Hossain (3-14) and seamer Farhad Reza (3-27) found footholds. The second was played last night at the same venue. (CMC)
SCOREBOARD
WI A VS BANGLADESH A
WEST INDIES A
J Charles c Hossain b K Islam 8
D Smith lbw b Nasir Hossain 3
N Bonner c K Islam b Shohag Gazi 2
D Thomas c F Reza b Nasir Hossain 0
J Mohammed c S Shuvo b F Reza 25
C Barnwell c M Haque b N Hossain 5
C Brathwaite c S Hom b F Reza 22
G Mathurin run out 0
S Badree not out 1
K Santokie c N Hossain b F Reza 0
Extras (lb2, w3) 5
TOTAL (9 wkts, 20 overs) 103
Wkts at: 1-24, 2-43, 3-54, 4-54 , 5-64, 6-88, 7-93, 8-102 , 9-103.
Bowling: Farhad Reza 4-0-27-3, Sohrawardi Shuvo 4-0-19-2, Kamrul Islam 4-0-26-1, Shohag Gazi 4-1-15-1, Nasir Hossain 4-0-14-3.
BANGLADESH
M Ali c Brathwaite b Santokie 0
J Siddique c and b Mathurin 11
S Hom c Brathwaite b Santokie 9
N Hossain c wkp Thomas b Santokie 2
J Islam lbw b Badree 5
M Haque c S Badree b Brathwaite 25
R Hasan lbw b Badree 0
F Reza lbw b Smith 19
S Shuvo not out 8
S Gazi c and b Smith 7
K Islam not out 5
Extras (b4, lb3, w6) 13
TOTAL (9 wkts, 19.3 overs) 104
Wkts at: 1-0, 2-10, 3-21, 4-30, 5-34, 6-34, 7-79, 8-84, 9-97.
Bowling: Santokie 3.3-0-18-3, Badree 4-1-11-2, Mathurin 4-0-11-1, Pascal 2-0-21-0, Mohammed 1-0-13-0, Smith 3-0-16-2, Brathwaite 2-0-7-1.
Result: Bangladesh A won by one wicket.
Series: Bangladesh A lead two match series 1-0.
Toss: Bangladesh A.
Umpires: Nigel Duguid & Clancy Mack.
FIFA bans six more Caribbean officials
FIFA banned six more Caribbean officials yesterday for their part in an alleged bribery plot involving former presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam.
The exiled officials include Patrick John, the former prime minister of Dominica, who was barred from all football activity for two years and fined $3,300, FIFA said. Montserrat Football Association president Vincent Cassell was suspended for 60 days by the FIFA ethics committee.
Four other officials received bans of seven to 45 days.
Gordon Derrick of Antigua and Barbuda was reprimanded, clearing him to be a candidate in the upcoming Caribbean Football Union presidential election.
FIFA said it dropped charges against three more officials who resigned. Cases against two others were closed.
The officials were allegedly offered or received $40,000 cash payments during bin Hammam's campaign visit to Trinidad in May to support the Qatari candidate against FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
Bin Hammam withdrew his election bid after the scandal broke and was later banned for life by FIFA's ethics panel. He has pledged to challenge the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
FIFA has banned a total of 11 Caribbean leaders and two CFU staffers in the corruption scandal.
Four more officials have been reprimanded and five received warnings.
Six officials, including Jack Warner, the former FIFA vice-president and CFU leader, resigned all their positions in the sport. Warner retained his post as a Trinidad and Tobago government minister.
"Should they return to football official positions, their cases would be examined again by the ethics committee," FIFA said in a statement.
FIFA has not specified the exact charges faced by the officials sanctioned.
Under FIFA's code of ethics, officials are not allowed to accept cash gifts and must report suspected corruption.
In other suspensions, Raymond Guishard of Anguilla was banned for 45 days and fined $330. Noel Adonis of Guyana got a 30-day ban and was fined; Tandica Hughes of Montserrat was banned for 15 days but not fined; Everton Gonsalves of Antigua and Barbuda got a one-week ban and fine.
In yesterday's rulings, FIFA said it shelved cases against Oliver Camps, the Trinidad and Tobago president, Lionel Haven of The Bahamas and Patrick Mathurin of St Lucia after they resigned.
FIFA's ethics panel, which met over four days this week, cleared Philippe White of Dominica and Damien Hughes of Anguilla of wrongdoing.
(AP)
Lara, Yorke make T&T Hall of Fame
Former West Indies cricket captain Brian Lara and former Trinidad & Tobago footballers Dwight Yorke and Russell Latapy will be inducted into the First Citizens Sports Foundation Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad on November 23.
Lara and Yorke have already confirmed their attendance while Latapy, who is currently in Scotland, has expressed a strong interest in coming. This was announced during a press conference at the Queen's Park Oval in St Clair.
They are among a group of 13 local sporting legends selected to be honoured by the Foundation's 12-member panel, which is chaired by Dr Keith Clifford.
The other inductees will include Ann Browne-John (Cricket/Hockey), Hubert 'Taffy' Crichlow (Table Tennis/Basketball), Victor Gamaldo (Football), Bernard Julien (Cricket), Richard Nieves (Hockey/Football), Jeanette Georgetti-Pantin (Cycling Hockey) and the late quartet of Zeno Constance (Athletics), Aldwin Ferguson (Football/Hockey), Jack Noreiga (Cricket) and Pascall Roberts (Cricket).
The Hall of Fame was established in 1984 and has since initiated 181 athletes, administrators, coaches and referees including Olympic medallists Hasely Crawford and Ato Boldon, Test cricketers Ian Bishop and Learie Constantine and T&T's 1979 World Championship-winning netball team.
In order to qualify, an individual must have consistently represented the country with distinction in local and international sport over a period of time.
EU settles for 2% budget increase
The European Union has been forced to accept a 2% rise in its budget next year - much less than the increase it wanted of around 5%.
Several EU governments, including the UK, had argued the demands by the European Parliament and Commission were "unrealistic" in a time of austerity.
EU negotiators settled for 2% after 15 hours of talks endin
g in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The British government said the result was an "excellent" deal for the UK.
"We have stopped the European Commission and European Parliament's inflation-busting proposals and have delivered on the government's promise to freeze the EU budget in real terms," said Britain's Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban.
The Commission had asked for 4.9% while the parliament wanted 5.2%
"Throughout this process, we have argued that, with member states facing tough decisions on spending at home, we could not afford these unrealistic demands," he added.
He said the focus would now move on to negotiations on the EU's long-term budget, for the period 2014-2020, with the UK expecting similar restraint in the face of a Commission request for 5% more.
Black hole
However there are concerns that, while the 2012 budget has been limited, the EU's spending commitments have not been cut accordingly.
The 2% increase for 2012 will take the budget up to 129bn euros (£110bn).
But member state governments gave in to the European Parliament's demands to allow EU spending commitments to rise to 147bn euros.
EU Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski said this could lead to a hole in the accounts.
"There is now a serious risk that the European Commission will run out of funds in the course of next year, and will therefore not be able to honour all its financial obligations towards beneficiaries of EU funds," he said.
Rich and poor
Last year more than 80bn euros of the budget was allocated to farming subsidies and regional development spending.
With newer, poorer members of the EU receiving the most development spending, the argument over budget increases is often between them and the older, richer nations.
Last year Britain, France and Germany proposed that the EU budget be frozen until 2020, with any increases linked to inflation.
ECB's Draghi urges swift action on bailout fund
The new governor of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, has called for "urgent action" to implement the new eurozone bailout fund.
His comments come as the Italian parliament gave its approval to the new government led by economist Mario Monti.
The new Greek government also published its budget plans for 2012.
After a turbulent week, markets remained wary of developments with share indexes seeing mixed trading.
By early afternoon on Friday the Dow Jones index in New York was up 0.4% after worries about the eurozone prompted a sharp fall on Thursday.
However other US and European markets remained down or unchanged as investors waited to see how the latest political developments affected efforts to solve the eurozone crisis.
Bond markets - which set the cost of borrowing for governments - were also calmer, with the interest on Italian and Spanish government debt falling slightly.
Action call
Speaking in Frankfurt, Mr Draghi expressed impatience with the lack of progress by European leaders.
"Where is the implementation of these long-standing decisions? We should not be waiting any longer," he said at Friday's European Banking Conference.
In his speech, Mr Draghi suggested the ECB's main job remained to ensure long-term low inflation.
"Credibility implies that our monetary policy is successful in anchoring inflation expectations over the medium and longer term," he said.
He called for governments to play their role in tackling the debt crisis through "solid public finances and structural reforms", as well as reforms to the way the eurozone works.
Investors and the ECB are awaiting details of how the size of the eurozone bailout fund - the European Financial Stability Facility - will be boosted to 1tn euros (£855bn; $1.3tn).
Bond falls
In the meantime, traders have looked to the central bank to ensure the cost of borrowing to Italy and Spain does not rise too high.
If interest on the debt issued by Italy and Spain becomes too high then their debt repayments could become unsustainable, triggering an economic crisis.
Reported intervention by the ECB to buy Italian and Spanish government bonds on Friday helped keep bond yields from rising further.
By early afternoon Spanish 10-year bonds were yielding 6.35% while Italian 10-year bond yields were at 6.67%.
On Thursday, Spain's borrowing cost at an auction of 10-year bonds was almost 7%, which is a level seen as unsustainable.
Spain is currently preparing for a general election which is expected to herald a change in government.
In Italy, new Prime Minister Mario Monti has now won confidence votes in both houses of parliament for his new government including bankers, CEOs and university professors.
And in Greece, the government of former central banker Lucas Papademos has passed its first budget promising to reduce the deficit without further austerity measures.
ECB role
Earlier in the week, the head of the Bundesbank - Germany's central bank, which is officially subordinate to the European Central Bank - openly opposed the ECB coming to the rescue of troubled Italy and Spain.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reinforced that stance on Thursday: "If politicians think the ECB can solve the euro crisis, then they are mistaken".
Mr Draghi's speech appears to support her position.
Many analysts believe that to stem contagion in the eurozone the ECB should act as "lender of last resort" and commit to buy up unlimited amounts of Italian and Spanish debt, instead of the limited interventions it has been carrying out so far.
France, whose AAA credit rating has come under pressure, has called for the ECB to take stronger action.
Budget wars: Cut, cut and cut some more
On election night in 2010, Republicans were united by one mission: Cutting government spending now.
"I'm here to tell you tonight that our new majority is prepared to do things differently," then Minority Leader John Boehner told an election night crowd. "It starts with cutting spending instead of increasing it."
And cut they have.
Republicans pushed Congress to slash spending levels for the 2011 and 2012 fiscal years, and now have an opportunity to make further reductions: the super committee.
The 12-member committee has the chance to substantially alter long-term deficit projections if they are able to "go big" and agree on a debt reduction package that exceeds the committee's $1.2 trillion goal.
Even if the committee fails, Republicans will have succeeded in focusing much of the conversation in Washington on long-term debt problems.
Shortly after seizing a majority in the House, Republicans locked horns with Democrats over the fiscal 2011 budget, resulting in a protracted battle and short-term spending measure after short-term spending measure.
With the government teetering on the brink of a shutdown, Speaker Boehner and President Obama struck a deal in April that set 2011 federal spending $38.5 billion below 2010 levels.
"Republicans have been able to leverage 'must pass' pieces of legislation to push through budget cuts," said Craig Jennings, a federal budget expert at the progressive think tank OMB Watch.
Next up was the debt ceiling. In exchange for raising the amount of money the Treasury is allowed to borrow, Republicans demanded steep cuts in government spending that would be carried out over a 10-year period.
This time, a possible sovereign default hung over the negotiating table, and lawmakers were -- again at the last minute -- able to agree on a package of spending cuts.
The deal would initially reduce deficits by $917 billion over a decade primarily by imposing caps on discretionary spending. And the super committee would work to find another $1.2 trillion in savings.
National debt: The five-minute primer
One important wrinkle: The debt ceiling budget cuts are structured to start small in the first few years and then balloon toward the end of the decade. In 2012, the spending caps would result in only $21 billion in savings.
"The actual dollar amounts of the 2011 and 2012 budget cuts -- compared to a trillion dollar deficit -- are very, very small," Jennings said.
Indeed, even with all the budget cuts enacted by Congress since the 2010 midterm election, spending levels are slated to resume their upward climb in 2013, according the Congressional Budget Office.
Complicating matters, there is no guarantee that future Congresses will stick to the spending caps that became law when the debt ceiling was raised. Congress has in the past ignored spending limits imposed by previously approved laws.
With the 2012 campaign now at full speed, the super committee is likely to be the last major chance for significant cuts anytime soon.
The committee is looking for $1.2 trillion in savings over 10 years. But the group appears to be stumbling over the same issues that have confounded lawmakers all year: taxes and entitlements.
If the committee deadlocks, automatic cuts in defense and nondefense spending will kick in starting in 2013.
Those cuts would be evenly divided between the two categories and would exempt Social Security and programs for low-income people, such as Medicaid. It would also limit cuts to Medicare.
At least that's how it's supposed to happen. But Congress can also amend or repeal the law.
While Republicans have certainly succeeded in focusing the discussion in Washington around federal spending levels, bitter partisanship has taken its toll.
The debt ceiling deal allowed the U.S. to avoid default, but the pristine credit rating of the United States did not survive. Citing a dysfunctional political system, Standard & Poor's lowered its rating on U.S. debt for the first time in history.
And with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle seemingly unable to compromise, deficits won't be disappearing anytime soon.
"All the activity going on today does absolutely nothing to address the problems of 20 years from now, which are all rooted in the increasing cost of health care," Jennings said.
Oil price ends below US$98
Oil prices dropped below US$98 per barrel to the end a volatile week that mixed jitters about Europe’s debt with the prospect of tighter oil supplies and improving economic conditions in the US. The price of oil ended the week lower than it began, despite a surge of trading that temporarily pushed crude above US$100 at midweek for the first time since July. Yesterday benchmark crude fell US$1.41 to finish at US$97.41 per barrel in New York, in light trading ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday week.
In other energy trading, heating oil fell 5.07 cents to finish at $3.0325 per gallon, while gasoline futures fell 2.87 cents to end at $2.4784 per gallon. Natural gas dropped 9.4 cents to finish at $3.3160 per 1,000 cubic feet. The sharp price fluctuations in oil will ripple through energy markets, but analysts say the ups and downs this week probably won’t have much effect on retail gasoline prices. Pump prices fell nearly a penny yesterday to a national average of US$3.38 per gallon (89 cents a liter), according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. A gallon of regular has lost 44 cents since hitting its 2011 peak near US$4 per gallon in May.
AP