Senate panel approves Kerry for secretary of state

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2013 (Reuters) — Senator John Kerry won the unanimous support of the chamber's Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday to replace Hillary Clinton as President Barack Obama's new secretary of state.

The full Senate was expected to confirm Kerry later on Tuesday, setting in motion a special election for his Massachusetts Senate seat.

The five-term senator and losing presidential candidate in 2004 has broad support from fellow Democrats as well as Republicans in the Senate. He is expected to be sworn in as the top U.S. diplomat later this week.

In a signal of the strong support for Kerry, committee members signed a resolution praising Kerry's work in the Senate before their unanimous voice vote to support his confirmation.

"It is a lengthy recitation of an incredible career here in the Senate, some tremendous accomplishments on behalf of the nation and a recognition of how you are going to be an incredible secretary of state," said Senator Robert Menendez, of New Jersey, who will replace Kerry as committee chairman.

A smiling Kerry came into the room shortly after the vote, to enthusiastic applause from the committee. Moved by their support, he said, "I'm honored beyond words," before making brief remarks about the importance of the committee going forward on issues like Middle East peace.

Kerry, who became a U.S. senator 28 years ago, told the committee he would make a final speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday.

"What a privilege to work with you and now to work with you in a different way. I thank you very, very much," Kerry said.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Jackie Frank and Philip Barbara)

President Obama unveils biggest gun-control push in decades

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16, 2013 (Reuters) — President Barack Obama proposed a new assault weapons ban and mandatory background checks for all gun buyers on Wednesday as he tried to channel national outrage over the Newtown school massacre into the biggest U.S. gun-control push in decades.

Rolling out a wide-ranging plan for executive and legislative action to curb gun violence, Obama set up a fierce clash with the powerful U.S. gun lobby and its supporters in Congress, who will resist what they see as an encroachment on constitutionally protected gun rights.

Obama presented his agenda at a White House event in front of an audience that included relatives of some of the 20 first-graders who were killed along with six adults by a gunman on December 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

"We can't put this off any longer," Obama said, vowing to use "whatever weight this office holds" to make his proposals reality. "Congress must act soon."

Until now, Obama had done little to rein in America's gun culture during his first four years in office. But just days before his second inauguration, he appears determined to champion gun control in his next term with a concerted drive for tighter laws and other steps aimed at preventing new tragedies like the one at Newtown.

The proposals stem from a month-long review led by Vice President Joe Biden, who on orders from Obama met with advocates on both sides, including representatives from the weapons and entertainment industries.

Obama's plan calls on Congress to renew a prohibition on assault weapons sales that expired in 2004, a requirement for criminal background checks on all gun purchases, including closing a loophole for gun show sales, and a new federal gun trafficking law - long sought by big-city mayors to keep out-of-state guns off their streets.

He also announced 23 steps he intends to take immediately without congressional approval. These include improvements in the existing system for background checks, lifting the ban on federal research into gun violence, putting more counselors and "resource officers" in schools and better access to mental health services.

ASSAULT WEAPONS BATTLE

The most politically contentious piece of the package is Obama's call for a renewed ban on military-style assault weapons, a move that Republicans who control the House of Representatives are expected to oppose.

The Newtown gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, used a Bushmaster AR-15 type assault rifle to shoot his victims, many of them 6- and 7-year-olds, before killing himself.

Underscoring the tough political fight ahead, the National Rifle Association, launched a scathing advertising campaign against Obama's gun control effort and deployed its representatives in force on Capitol Hill.

The NRA, which says it has about 4 million members, took aim at Obama in a stinging TV and Internet spot, accusing him of being "just another elitist hypocrite" for accepting Secret Service protection for his two daughters but turning down the lobby group's proposal to put armed guards in all schools.

As he announced the new gun measures, Obama was flanked on the stage by children from around the country chosen from among those who sent letters to him about gun violence and school safety.

"We should learn from what happened at Sandy Hook. I feel really bad," a boy wrote in a portion that Obama read from the podium.

With gun ownership rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, gun restrictions have long been a divisive - and risky - issue in American politics.

But polls show that public sentiment shifted in favor of increased gun-control measures after the Newtown shooting, and Obama hopes to take advantage while there is a mood for action in Washington.

However, the White House is mindful that the clock is ticking. The usual pattern after U.S. shooting tragedies is that memories of the events soon fade, making it hard to sustain a push for gun policy changes.

Obama acknowledged the political challenges but made clear that he is prepared to take on the NRA, despite its widespread support among Republicans and significant backing among Democrats.

He warned that opponents of his effort would try to "gin up fear" and urged lawmakers to think more about the safety of schoolchildren than trying to "get an 'A' grade from the gun lobby that supports their campaign."

Obama's plan appears to tread cautiously on the question of whether violent movies and video games contribute to the gun violence, which would open up issues of freedom of expression.

A senior administration official said, however, that Obama would be asking for $10 million for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study the root causes of gun violence, including any relationship to video games and media images.

Seeking to jump-start his plan, Obama also nominated Todd Jones to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, quietly abandoning Andrew Traver, whose nomination for the job has long been stalled. Jones is currently the acting director of the law enforcement agency.

By Matt Spetalnick
and Jeff Mason

(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason, Steve Holland, Roberta Rampton, Thomas Ferraro; Editing by Alistair Bell and Paul Simao)

Obama digs in heels, refuses to negotiate debt ceiling

(Reuters) — President Barack Obama on Monday rejected any negotiations with Republicans over raising the U.S. borrowing limit, accusing his opponents of trying to extract a ransom for not ruining the economy in the latest fiscal fight.

At a White House news conference called to promote his position on the budget, Obama vowed not to trade cuts in government spending sought by Republicans in exchange for raising the borrowing limit.

"What I will not do is to have that negotiation with a gun at the head of the American people," he said.

With an agreement to prevent the economy falling over a "fiscal cliff" barely two weeks old, Washington has already begun skirmishing over a new fiscal issue: the debt ceiling, which fixes a limit on how much the government can borrow.

The United States could default on its debt if Congress does not increase the borrowing limit, a prospect Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned against in separate comments on Monday.

Obama has tangled repeatedly with Congress over budget and spending issues, and on Monday he said Republicans would bear the responsibility for the consequences of a default.

"They can act responsibly, and pay America's bills or they can act irresponsibly, and put America through another economic crisis," he said. "But they will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the American economy."

Republicans want Obama to cut some spending to rein in the deficit before they agree to raise the debt limit again.

Obama must get "serious about spending and the debt limit is the perfect time for it," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said. "The American people do not support raising the debt ceiling without reducing government spending at the same time," said Republican John Boehner, the House of Representatives speaker.

The last debt ceiling fight, in 2011, upset world financial markets. Obama cast the borrowing issue as one that will affect many Americans and sensitive industries.

"If congressional Republicans refuse to pay America's bills on time, Social Security checks and veterans' benefits will be delayed. We might not be able to pay our troops, or honor our contracts with small business owners. Food inspectors, air traffic controllers, specialists who track down loose nuclear material wouldn't get their paychecks," he said.

Obama reminded Republicans that he won the November election partly on his approach to fiscal issues.

The debt limit is one of a trio of deadlines looming around the end of February, including automatic deep spending cuts that were temporarily put off in the "fiscal cliff" deal, and the end of a stopgap government funding measure.

A number of Republicans have said they would be willing to allow a U.S. debt default or a government shutdown to force the Obama administration to accept deeper spending cuts than the White House would like.

Obama's unexpected news conference could have been a pre-emptive strike aimed at influencing strategy sessions among Republican lawmakers scheduled for later this week.

The Treasury Department warned on Monday that the United States will run out of ways to prevent a default in mid-February or early March if the $16.4 trillion ceiling on borrowing is not raised.

NOT A "DEADBEAT NATION"

Obama said he would agree to talk about steps to trim the U.S. budget deficit, but made clear he wants to keep that discussion separate from the debt ceiling increase.

"The issue here is whether or not America pays its bills," he said. "We are not a deadbeat nation. And so there's a very simple solution to this: Congress authorizes us to pay our bills."

He held to his position that deficit reduction should include measures to raise revenue and not come from spending cuts alone.

Republicans have rejected that approach, saying the "fiscal cliff" deal, which raised taxes for the wealthy while maintaining low tax rates for most Americans, should have put to rest any more discussion over tax increases.

Fiscal issues loomed large during what was the final news conference of Obama's first term, which came a week before an inauguration ceremony that will launch his next four years.

Fights with Congress over taxes and spending have overshadowed much of his domestic agenda during most of the last two years, with the president facing legislative gridlock that shows little sign of abating.

Obama raised the specter of a severe setback to the U.S. economy if congressional Republicans persist with the threat of a debt default.

"It would be a self-inflicted wound on the economy," he said. "Even entertaining the idea of this happening, of the United States of America not paying its bills, is irresponsible. It's absurd."

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, top White House economic adviser Gene Sperling and Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett later held a conference call with three dozen business leaders to discuss the president's fiscal plans and insist that Congress must raise the debt limit "without drama or delay," a White House official said.

Participants included Honeywell International Inc CEO David Cote, Evercore Partners chairman Roger Altman, Goldman Sachs Group Inc chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, Marriott International Inc chief executive Arne Sorenson, AT&T Inc CEO Randall Stephenson, Xerox Corp chief Executive Ursula Burns, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty and Deloitte LLP's U.S. chief executive, Joe Echevarria.

(Additional reporting byu Matt Spetalnick, Jeff Mason and Steve Holland, Editing by Alistair Bell and Christopher Wilson)

More Americans siding with Democrats, Republicans lag: poll

(Reuters) — Democrats have regained the edge over Republicans among U.S. adults expressing a party preference even as a growing number of Americans say they are politically independent, a poll released on Wednesday showed.


Some 47 percent of Americans identified themselves as Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents last year, compared to 42 percent who said they were Republicans or Republican-leaning, according to the Gallup survey.

"That re-establishes a Democratic edge in party affiliation after the two parties were essentially tied in 2010 and 2011," the polling firm said.

The findings are based on all of Gallup's polling data from 2012, which includes more than 20,000 interviews with adults across the country.

The November election saw Democratic President Barack Obama win a second term and Democrats pick up eight seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The party also maintained its control of the Senate.
But in a finding that could spell trouble for both parties, the number of Americans claiming political independence crept up.

Forty percent of respondents last year said they aligned with neither party, up from 39 percent in 2007 and 1995, the poll showed. Thirty-one percent said they were Democrats and 28 percent said they were Republicans.

"The rise in independence is perhaps not surprising, given the low esteem in which Americans hold the federal government and the political parties," Gallup said.

"But with most Americans willing to at least express a leaning to either party, it does suggest the potential for the parties to gain more solid adherents in the future," it added.

The poll had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 1 percentage point.

(Reporting By Susan Heavey; Editing by Xavier Briand)