QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It is one of the first things I learned in intelligence school in 1963. It’s a fundamental given.”
James Clapper, director of national intelligence, who defended the National Security Agency’s practice of spying on foreign leaders because, he said, other countries spy on the United States Article, 1A
Lawmakers: Delay flood-insurance redo
WASHINGTON - A bipartisan group of lawmakers Tuesday unveiled legislation that would delay for about four years several changes to the federal government’s flood-insurance program that are threatening to sock thousands of people with unaffordable premium increases.
The move comes as the government is beginning to implement an overhaul of the much-criticized program.
That overhaul passed last year with bipartisan support. The revamped program was backed by both Democrats and Tea Party Republicans but has caused a panic in places such as Staten Island, N.Y., the New Jersey coast and flood-prone areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida, where higher rates threaten to push some people out of their homes.
Some of the most ardent supporters of delaying the premium increases are conservative Republicans from Southern states, where the new rules have sent some home values plummeting because of uncertainty over insurance rates and because subsidized rates can’t be passed along to buyers. New flood maps threaten to saddle some homeowners who are paying a few hundred dollars a year now with annual premiums of more than $20,000.
Senate OKs picks for FCC chief, member
WASHINGTON - The Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to confirm President Barack Obama’s two nominations to the Federal Communications Commission, overcoming obstacles by a Republican lawmaker.
The vote came after Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, lifted a hold earlier in the day on the nomination of Tom Wheeler as chairman, with Cruz saying he had received assurances from Wheeler that the commission would not immediately pursue changes for political advertising on television.
That became an issue in the 2012 elections after the Supreme Court ruled that corporations and unions could make unlimited donations to political groups. The agency’s regulations on political advertising imply that such disclosure is required, but the agency has not forced the issue.
Wheeler was confirmed along with Michael O’Rielly as a commissioner, filling the two seats that have been empty since the previous chairman and a Republican member announced their resignations in March.
Tsarnaev friend wants court order lifted
BOSTON - A lawyer for a friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev asked a judge Tuesday to lift an order that keeps most court documents against the friend hidden from public view.
The lawyer for the friend, Azamat Tazhayakov, argued during a hearing in U.S. District Court that the order is overly broad and that prosecutors haven’t shown it is needed.
He said the order prohibits him from publicly discussing any materials that prosecutors have given to the defense.
“The defendants have basically been muzzled,” said attorney Nicholas Wooldridge.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney John Capin said the order is needed to protect Tazhayakov and another Tsarnaev friend from adverse pretrial publicity.
Prosecutors allege that Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev, both friends who attended the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth with Tsarnaev, removed evidence from Tsarnaev’s dorm room after the marathon bombing. They have pleaded innocent to charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. A third Tsarnaev friend, Robel Phillipos, has pleaded innocent to charges of lying to authorities.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler did not immediately rule on the request to lift the protective order.
Ex-Rep. Jackson reports to prison early
CHICAGO - Former Illinois U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.
has entered a North Carolina federal prison several days early to begin serving a 2½-year prison term for illegally spending $750,000 in campaign money on items such as cigars, mounted elk heads and a gold watch, a prison official said Tuesday.
Jackson, 48, was in custody Tuesday morning as inmate No. 32451-016, said Bureau of Prisons spokesman Chris Burke. He declined to say exactly when the son of civil-rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson reported.
Court documents were never clear about when Jackson must report. In her sentencing order this year, Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington said only that he would have “to surrender … no earlier than Nov. 1.”
By not announcing in advance when he’d report, Jackson avoided the crush of media that swirled around other prison-bound Illinois politicians. Helicopters hovered above and cars filled with journalists trailed ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich when he reported to a Colorado prison last year to serve a 14-year term for corruption.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 10/30/2013