Senate renews Violence Against Women Act

  LAURIE KELLMANWASHINGTON -- The Senate overcame election-year gender politics Thursday to pass a bill renewing the government's main domestic violence program.

The 68-31 vote marked the first time since the Violence Against Women Act first passed in 1994 that its renewal has drawn opposition in the Senate, reflecting the increasing polarization of the chamber and hair-trigger political sensitivities over women's issues in this presidential and congressional election year.

"In 2012, we should be beyond questioning the need for the Violence Against Women Act," Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement. He urged the House to act quickly so President Barack Obama can sign the renewal into law.

But the path there could be equally tricky. Majority Republicans are writing their own version, which is likely to resemble a GOP alternative widely rejected by the Senate.

Twice renewed without opposition in the Senate, the bill of programs to prevent domestic violence and sexual abuse ran headlong into the partisan warfare that has shut or slowed legislative business since the 2010 elections. Not helping smooth the way: the broader political fight for pivotal female voters and the Democrats' election-year narrative that accuses Republicans of waging a "war on women."

The bill would reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act for five years with funding of $659.3 million a year, down $136.5 million annually from the last act, which has expired. The money pays for such programs as legal assistance for victims, enforcement of protection orders, transitional housing and youth prevention programs.

Democrats sought to expand the law by adding protections certain to draw conservative opposition. One would explicitly name gays, lesbians and transgender people to the group of those protected under the law. Another would raise the cap on visas granted to abused legal and illegal immigrants from 10,000 to 15,000. A third would expand the authority of Native American officials to handle cases of abuse of Indian women by non-Indians.

The bill drew 61 co-sponsors, more than enough to block filibusters and set up a political dare to Republicans: Vote no, and you're waging a "war against women."

The strategy raised hackles among Republicans, who insisted they had women's interests at heart, too. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the narrative was a distraction from issues Democrats would rather not discuss, such as the economy and gas prices.

"We face an abundance of hard choices," said McCain, the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee and a leading supporter of Republican hopeful Mitt Romney this year. "Divisive slogans and declaring of phony wars are intended to avoid those hard choices and to escape paying a political price for doing so."

To prove it, Republicans offered alternatives that would delete the references to gays, lesbians and transgender people, keep the cap on visas at its current level and allow tribal authorities to go to federal court for protective orders on behalf of abused Native American women.

But the Senate rejected the options overwhelmingly. And in the end, even its sponsor, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and McCain, were among the 15 Republicans who voted for the final Democratic bill.

The 31 Republicans who voted no said they support the spirit of the act but had problems with the Democratic rewrite up for consideration.

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., for example, said he opposed the bill in part because he believes abused women are best served by state and local governments.

And Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said he voted no because he believes the tribal provisions in the bill would be unconstitutional. Under the measure, Native American officials would be allowed to arrest, prosecute and imprison non-Indians, who cannot vote in tribal elections or have a say in crafting laws that could be used against him, Kyl said.

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Senate OKs huge budget bill, payroll tax cut

  By ALAN FRAMWASHINGTON -- The Senate voted Saturday to temporarily avert a Jan. 1 payroll tax increase and benefit cutoff for the long-time unemployed, forcing a reluctant President Barack Obama to make an election-year choice between unions and environmentalists over whether to build an oil pipeline through the heart of the country.

The action set up a House vote Monday on the legislation.

With the still-reeling economy serving as a backdrop, the Senate's 89-10 vote belied a tortuous battle between Democrats and Republicans that produced the compromise two-month extension of the expiring tax breaks and jobless benefits and forestalled cuts in doctors' Medicare reimbursements.

It also capped a year of divided government marked by raucous partisan fights that tumbled to the brink of a first-ever U.S.

default and three federal shutdowns, only to see eleventh-hour deals emerge. It also put the two sides on track to revisit the payroll tax cut early next year as the fights for control of the White House and Congress heat up.

However, House GOP leaders held a conference call Saturday with rank-and-file lawmakers in which participants said strong anger was expressed about the Senate bill, including its lack of House-approved cuts in last year's health care overhaul law and its failure to erase the reductions in doctors' payments for more than two months.

"You can't have an economic recovery with this," said Rep.

Jack Kingston, R-Ga., said of the bill "If the Senate is incapable of doing that, we don't have to accept it."

A House GOP aide said afterward, "Members are overwhelmingly disappointed in the Senate's decision to just `kick the can down the road' for two months. No announcement was made regarding the schedule or plans."

By 67-32, senators gave final congressional approval to a separate $1 trillion bill financing the Pentagon and scores of other federal agencies through next September. That measure avoided a shuttering of government offices that otherwise would have occurred this weekend when temporary financing expired.

The tax legislation delivers tax cuts and jobless benefits that some Republicans opposed. It also represents a rebuff of Obama's original demands for a yearlong payroll tax reduction for 160 million workers that was to be even deeper than this year's cut, extended to employers and paid for by boosting taxes on the highest-earning Americans.

The measure's $33 billion price tag will be paid for instead by raising fees that government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will charge to back new mortgages or refinancings, beginning next year.

When fully phased in, those increases could cost a person with a $200,000 mortgage about $17 a month.

Despite the changes, Obama praised the Senate for passing the bill and prodded the Republican-run House to give it final approval in a vote, which has been expected early next week. He exhorted lawmakers to extend the tax cuts and jobless aid for the entire year, saying it would be "inexcusable" not to.

"It should be a formality, and hopefully it's done with as little drama as possible when they get back in January" from their holiday recess, he said.

The Senate adjourned for the year after its votes Saturday.

While Obama and Democrats used the fight to portray themselves as defenders of beleaguered middle- and lower-income people, Republicans used it to cast themselves as champions of job creation.

Headlining that was a provision they inserted forcing Obama to make a decision within two months on whether to allow construction of the proposed 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline, which is to deliver up to 700,000 barrels of oil daily from tar sands in Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Texas. The language requires him to issue the needed permit unless he declares the pipeline would not serve the national interest.

Unions have clamored for the thousands of jobs the project could create. Environmentalists have decried the huge amounts of energy it would take to extract the oil. Obama originally announced he was delaying a decision until 2013, which would have allowed him to avoid choosing between two Democratic constituencies before Election Day next November.

When the House inserted the language into its version of the payroll tax bill this month, Obama said he would "reject" the legislation if it retained the Keystone provision. He abandoned that stance this past week as GOP leaders said they would insist on keeping the Keystone language and the final deal jelled.

"The only thing standing between thousands of American workers and the good jobs this project will provide is a presidential decision," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

An administration official said Friday that Obama would almost surely refuse to grant the permit, a stance echoed Saturday by congressional Democrats.

"We feel we're giving them the sleeves off a vest," said Sen.

Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

Democrats said when Congress revisits the issue of renewing the tax cuts and jobless benefits early next year, they would win the political battle because they would be viewed as protecting peoples' household budgets.

Republicans, though, said they would once again focus the fight on jobs, with some predicting they would try adding provisions to repeal pollution curbs and other government regulations that they say make it harder for companies to hire people.

"There are lots of issues Republicans are interested in as job creators that will still be alive in March," said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

The tax bill would renew this year's 4.2 percent payroll tax through February, preventing the rate from bouncing back to its normal 6.2 percent on New Year's Day. Obama pushed that cut through Congress a year ago as a way to help spark the economy by leaving more money in people's pockets.

A $50,000-a-year wage earner would save about $170 during next year's first two months under the bill the Senate approved Saturday.

Obama had proposed reducing the payroll tax employees pay to 3.1 percent next year. The levy is the chief source of revenue for Social Security.

For two more months, the tax measure would also continue current jobless benefits that provide a maximum 99 weeks of coverage for people who have been out of work the longest. Without any extension, the White House said, 2.5 million people would have lost coverage by the end of February.

The bill also prevents a 27 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements for doctors that might have induced some to stop treating the program's elderly beneficiaries.

The spending legislation carries out budget cuts across government that Republicans won earlier this year and includes GOP provisions blocking energy efficiency and coal dust requirements.

Democrats fought off Republican language that would have blocked limits on greenhouse gases and hazardous emissions from utility plants and other sources.

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Associated Press writer Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.

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Senate to work next week on debt limit impasse

  By JIM KUHNHENN WASHINGTON -- The Senate abandoned plans for a July 4 break as time dwindled for lawmakers to strike a compromise on avoiding a government default and reducing mammoth federal deficits. In a challenge to President Barack Obama, the chamber's top Republican invited him to the Capitol to discuss the impasse with GOP lawmakers.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced the scheduling change Thursday, a day after President Barack Obama prodded lawmakers to act swiftly to extend the government's ability to borrow money. The Senate had been scheduled to take a week's break but instead will meet beginning Tuesday.

"We'll do that because we have work to do," Reid said.

The House had already been scheduled to work next week.

Minutes later, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took to the Senate floor to invite Obama to meet with Senate Republicans "anytime this afternoon" at the Capitol. He belittled Obama's demands to include increased tax revenues as part of a deficit-cutting package, repeating what GOP leaders have long said: Congress lacks the votes to approve a measure containing tax hikes.

By meeting directly with Republicans, "that way he can hear directly from Senate Republicans why what he's proposing will not pass," he said, adding, "And we can finally start talking about what's actually possible."

The White House said Obama had no plans to accept McConnell's invitation "What the senator invited the president to do was to hear Senate Republicans restate their maximalist position. We know what that position is," Obama spokesman Jay Carney said. "He also invited the president to hear what would not pass. That's not a conversation worth having."

At a Wednesday news conference, Obama insisted there is no more time to add. And he beseeched and badgered lawmakers to complete a deal to cut long-term deficits and lift the nation's debt ceiling before Aug. 2 to avoid what his administration says would be a calamitous government default.

"There's no point in putting it off," he said Wednesday.

"We've got to get this done."

But neither Obama nor the divided Congress is making it easier.

The White House has identified at least $1.3 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years and is proposing up to $400 billion in new tax revenue. Republicans want more spending cuts and no tax increases.

Such brinkmanship relies on the clock; it is both a friend and an adversary. The problem with Aug. 2 is not that it's too soon, but that it's still four week away.

At a news conference, the president sought to upend the Republican argument that deficit-cutting negotiations had come to a standstill over the White House desire to increase taxes.

"The tax cuts I'm proposing we get rid of are tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, tax breaks for oil companies and hedge fund managers, and corporate jet owners," Obama countered.

Ever since bipartisan debt negotiations led by Vice President Joe Biden broke down last week, the White House has gradually become more aggressive, culminating with Obama's spirited news conference.

He called on lawmakers to work through their July Fourth recess.

He argued that his 12- and 10-year-old daughters show more discipline getting their work done. "They're not pulling all-nighters," he said.

"Call me naive," he said at another point, "but my expectation is that leaders are going to lead."

Obama is tilting at an institutional dysfunction - one that he himself once seemed to recognize: "If you don't set deadlines in this town, things don't happen. The default position is inertia," he said in 2009 during the health care debate. As it turned out, his deadline came and went, and it wasn't until 2010 that the health care overhaul legislation passed.

Some deadlines are too stark to avoid, but they get pushed to the brink. The government shutdown talks earlier this year came down to the final two hours. When asked what ultimately led to a deal to avoid halting government operations, one top Obama adviser said, "the clock."

Senior presidential adviser David Plouffe was asked in a nationally broadcast interview Thursday if the deadline was real.

"There's very little debate that that's going to change," he told NBC's "Today" show. Plouffe added, "We're in a danger zone now."

Plouffe, who was Obama's campaign manager when he ran for president in 2008, said he believes Democrats and Republicans alike are going to have to "get out of their comfort zone" to reach an agreement that would increase the government's borrowing authority and avert a default on the federal debt.

The Obama administration is warning that if the debt ceiling is not raised by Aug. 2, the U.S. would face its first default in history, potentially throwing world financial markets into turmoil.

Many congressional Republicans aren't convinced, and some administration officials worry that it could take a financial plunge before Congress acts.

The pending debt ceiling vote would have to raise the current borrowing limit of $14.3 trillion by about $2.4 trillion to last until the end of 2012.

At his news conference, Obama took issue with criticism that he has not pushed for an agreement. He argued that he has spent an hour to an hour-and-a-half each with Republican senators, Democratic senators and House members from both parties.

"I've met with the leaders multiple times," he continued. "At a certain point, they need to do their job."

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, replied that an increase in the debt ceiling will pass only if the White House agrees to spending cuts in excess of the debt limit increase, holds down future spending and raises no taxes.

"The longer the president denies these realities," Boehner said, "the more difficult he makes this process."

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AP White House Correspondent Ben Feller contributed to this report.

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Senate votes down controversial House budget

  By ANDREW TAYLORWASHINGTON -- The Senate has rejected a controversial House budget plan for turning Medicare into a voucher-like program for future beneficiaries.

Five Republicans joined every Democrat in killing the measure, which calls for transforming Medicare into a program in which future beneficiaries - people now 54 years old and younger - would be given a subsidy to purchase health insurance rather than have the government directly pay hospital and doctor bills.

Democrats said the GOP plan would "end Medicare as we know it," and they made it the central issue in a special election Tuesday in which Democrats seized a longtime GOP district in western New York.

Republicans faulted Democrats controlling the Senate for failing to offer a plan of their own. (Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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Senate panel grills Apple, Google on location data

  WASHINGTON -- A Senate panel is questioning executives from Apple and Google about why iPhones and handheld wireless devices running Google's Android software store location data that can be used to track where their owners have been.

The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law is holding a hearing Tuesday to explore what legal protections, if any, govern location data at a time when wireless carriers, smartphone makers and apps developers have access to ever more detailed information about their users' whereabouts.

The hearing comes several weeks after researchers revealed that Apple's popular iPhone has been storing device location data for up to a year. Google, too, recently acknowledged that phones running its Android software store some GPS location data for a short time.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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