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Friday, June 17, 2011
The Morning Scoop - Exclusive: Paul Ryan's Shrewd Budget Payday
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The congressman stands to make money from his stakes in four businesses that lease land to energy companies that would benefit from $45 billion in tax breaks and subsidies in his proposed budget. The Daily Beast's Daniel Stone reports.
Next step, Bashar. The cousin of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad announced that he is quitting business and entering charity work, according to Syrian television. Rami Makhlouf is Syria's most powerful businessman, a confidant of his cousin the president, and hated by protesters. Makhlouf reportedly intends to sell his communications, construction, oil, and other businesses and donate the profits to charity. The move was seen as an attempt to appease protesters, but even if purely symbolic, it is a surprising concession from the regime.
With President Obama's promised July troop drawdown nearing, the Pentagon is requesting that the surge continue until Fall 2012. The military wants a large number of the extra 33,000 soldiers, sent in December 2009, to remain in Afghanistan through the next two fighting seasons. The U.S. has about 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, and outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates says only a "small fraction" will remain after December 2014.
The National Security Agency is working with Internet-service providers to figure out how to stop cyberattacks like the ones that have recently hit defense contractors and government agencies. The NSA is providing Internet carriers with data on suspicious network behavior and malicious code signatures that the carriers can use to scan traffic going to 15 major contractors. The collaboration capitalizes on the Internet carriers' superior ability to monitor large volumes of traffic. It's also intended to allay privacy concerns, because the government itself isn't monitoring private-sector traffic. Civil-liberties advocates are worried that a provision in the White House's recent cybersecurity proposal would open the door to cooperative surveillance by the public and private sector.
There is a good chance that whoever takes over for Anthony Weiner will end up a lame duck. Weiner's congressional district, which covers Brooklyn and Queens, may disappear as a result of the 2010 census. New York is set to lose two House seats, and it was widely assumed that Weiner's district could be absorbed into adjoining districts to help shore up Democratic incumbents. The winner of the upcoming special election will serve out the rest of Weiner's term until 2012, and would then be expected to step aside. One Democratic consultant said, "There is very little precedent that I can think of that someone is agreeing to be both a placeholder and not seek that office if they get redistricted out."
The sexting congressman refused to resign, but Nancy Pelosi had other ideas. Patricia Murphy on how the party leaders forced out the man who'd become a national embarrassment.
Weinergate: Men Will Always Cheat by Kay Hymowitz So what's the difference now? From Anthony Weiner to Eliot Spitzer, it's the public shaming on behalf of the women they've betrayed.
15 Hottest Books For Dad by Malcolm Jones & Jimmy So You'll find plenty of advice out there when it comes to which E-reader to get your dad. But when it comes to what to put on those devices, things get murky. We're here to help. Here are some books dad will love.
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