IRAN - The $400 Million

"Investigating the Obama administration's $400 million payment to Iran" PBS NewsHour 8/4/2016

NOTE:  I remember when the payment was mad AND that it had nothing to do with the hostages.  It was NOT secret, just not highly publicized.  This is more the case of the media being asleep at the time.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The Wall Street Journal revealed this week that in January, the Obama administration secretly airlifted $400 million in cash to Iran.  The money was owed as part of a failed arms deal prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but payment coincided with the release of four Americans held in Tehran.  Hari Sreenivasan speaks with Jay Solomon, the Wall Street Journal reporter who broke the story.

GWEN IFILL (NewsHour):  The Iran nuclear deal has been a major issue in this year's presidential election.  Detractors blame Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration for caving to Iranian demands, while receiving little in return.

Now revelations about U.S. payments to the Iranian government add a new wrinkle to those critiques.

Hari Sreenivasan has more.

HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour):  This week, The Wall Street Journal broke news that the Obama administration secretly airlifted $400 million in cash to Iran.  The money was owed as part of a failed arms deal prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.  But the payment coincided within the release of four Americans imprisoned in Tehran, raising questions about cash for prisoners.

Donald Trump criticized the move today at his rally in Portland, Maine.

DONALD TRUMP (R), Presidential Nominee:  Four hundred million in cash.  It's being flown in an airplane to Iran.  I wonder where that money really goes, by the way.  Right?  I wonder where it really goes.

Well, it went to either in their pockets, which I actually think more so, or toward terrorism, probably a combination of both.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  Late this afternoon, President Obama pushed back and defended the U.S. decision to send the cash to Iran.  He spoke at the Pentagon.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  We announced these payments in January, many months ago.  It wasn't a secret.  We announced them to all of you.

Iran had pressed a claim before an international tribunal about them recovering money of theirs that we had frozen that, as a consequence of its working its way through the international tribunal, it was the assessment of our lawyers that we were now at a point where there was significant litigation risk, and we could end up costing ourselves billions of dollars.  It was their advice and suggestion that we settle.

ELECTIONS 2014 - Sad Day for the U.S.

Sorry to say, the U.S. electorate is really dumb.  Put the Republican party that stalemated government for years in legislative power and expects change for the better?  The Republicans are the same old party and will NOT work for the 99% of us.

"Republicans Seize Control of Senate, Retain House" by Janet Hook, Patrick O’Connor, and
Reid Epstein; Wall Street Journal 11/5/2014

Republicans took control of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, a result that transforms the political dynamic in Washington and gives the GOP new power over President Barack Obama ’s final two years in the White House.

Republicans won Senate seats from West Virginia to Colorado and beyond to assemble a majority of at least 52 seats, expanded their margin in the House—possibly to levels not seen in decades—and won key governor races.

The sweep left Democrats without a majority in either chamber for the first time since 2006.

“It’s time to go in a new direction,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) who is in line to become Majority Leader, after he defeated his Democratic opponent, Alison Lundergan Grimes, by a decisive margin.  “We can have real change in Washington, and that’s just what I intend to deliver.”

A slow economic recovery and a series of jolting events, including an Ebola outbreak and the rise of Islamic State in the Middle East, left many voters anxious and looking for change.

Tuesday’s balloting featured 14 competitive gubernatorial races.  Republicans rolled up victories in most top-tier governors’ races, with Govs. Rick Scott of Florida, Rick Snyder of Michigan and Scott Walker of Wisconsin all notching wins.  Republican Bruce Rauner defeated Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn in Illinois However in Pennsylvania, Democrat Tom Wolf defeated GOP Gov. Tom Corbett.

Republicans scored some unlikely wins in gubernatorial races, including in Massachusetts and Maryland, two Eastern states with large populations of Democratic votes.  In Maine, the state’s Republican governor was reelected, and in Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback rode the Republican wave to victory in an election in which he looked unsteady at times.

Vermont’s governor’s race seems poised to produce an unusual outcome: since no candidate is likely to win a majority of the vote, the state’s legislature will be given the responsibility of picking among the two leading candidates.

By the end of the fall campaign, Democrats were struggling in swing states that were touted as building blocks of the party’s ascendancy, including Colorado, Iowa and New Hampshire. Republicans’ ability to compete in those states bodes well for their prospects in the 2016 presidential race and suggests a possible reshaping of the national political map.

Not since 1980 has the GOP beaten more than two incumbent Senators.  On Tuesday, they knocked off at least three.

With the government squarely divided between a GOP Congress and a Democratic White House, new opportunities could open for compromise if both parties and the President decide to bend enough to make deals.  That remains a big question in a capital stymied by four years of gridlock.  Businesses are banking on seeing progress on such issues as an overhaul of the immigration system and corporate tax code.

In his victory speech, Mr. McConnell hit a conciliatory note.  “We do have an obligation to work together on the issues where we can agree,” he said.  “Just because we have a two-party system doesn’t mean we have to be in perpetual conflict.”

Officially conceding defeat, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) issued a statement congratulating Mr. McConnell.

A GOP-led Senate will have sway over approving Mr. Obama’s appointments to cabinet posts, including his next attorney general, and vacant judicial appointments.

Mr. Obama and his fellow Democrats had hoped to win favor among voters with improvements in the U.S. economy.  But across the country, Democrats struggled against hostile political forces, including Mr. Obama’s dwindling standing and a map of competitive elections that tilted heavily in Republicans’ favor.

In the U.S. House, Republicans moved toward expanding their majority, with the only question being by how many seats.  A gain of 12 seats would give the GOP 246 votes, its largest share in House since 1946.

The GOP’s strong position going into Election Day was a reversal of fortune from bruising losses in the 2012 election.  And just a year ago, the party fell in polls after conservatives were blamed for a U.S. government shutdown.

Sen. Mark Pryor was the first Democratic casualty on Tuesday, defeated by GOP Rep. Tom Cotton in Arkansas.  Republicans picked up their first Democratic open seat of the night when Rep. Shelley Moore Capito won in West Virginia, the first Senate win by her party in the state since 1956.  Wins in Iowa and North Carolina tipped the chamber into the Republican column.

One of the biggest surprises of the night was the unexpectedly close Senate race in Virginia, where Democratic Sen. Mark Warner was once expected to easily win re-election.  A recount there is possible.

Republicans framed the election as a referendum on Mr. Obama, whose second term has been plagued by acrimony at home and tumult abroad.

His low approval ratings weakened Democratic Senate candidates, who had tried to distance themselves from a president whose historic victory in 2008 had helped them win election.

Even before votes were tallied, the White House sought to deflect the view that the congressional elections were a referendum on the Presidency.  Vice President Joe Biden predicted Senate Democrats would keep control.  On Tuesday, Mr. Obama offered what sounded like excuses for looming losses.

“This is possibly the worst possible group of states for Democrats since Dwight Eisenhower,” Mr. Obama said during a Tuesday afternoon interview with a public radio station in Connecticut.

The 2014 midterm campaigns were defined by voters’ long-simmering frustration with the ability of elected officials in Washington to move the country forward.  The economy was the top voter concern, with an overwhelming majority describing economic conditions as poor or “not so good.’’  Health care was second on the list.

By better than a two-to-one margin, more voters polled said the next generation would have a worse life than today’s.  Two-thirds said the U.S. had gone off track—more widespread negativity than in either the 2010 or 2012 elections.  On Tuesday, many voters said they cast ballots more in opposition to one candidate than support for the other.

“It’s like the worse of two evils,” said Mike Ball, of Raleigh, N.C., who voted for Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan because her opponent, state House Speaker Thom Tillis, “put a bad taste in my mouth.”  Mr. Ball, a computer analyst, said he wasn’t “super happy with Hagan.”

AIRCRAFT - Boeing 787 Like Lithium-Ion Batteries a Long Concern

"Batteries Like Those on Dreamliner Raised Concerns" by DANIEL MICHAELS, Wall Street Journal 1/17/2013

Batteries similar to those at the center of the recent problems with Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner have raised growing concerns with air-safety regulators in recent years.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ordered a halt to Dreamliner flights on Wednesday after two major battery malfunctions aboard the aircraft, and regulators world-wide followed the FAA's lead, effectively grounding Boeing's flagship jet.

Until now, the biggest worry about lithium-ion batteries centered on the kind used in electronics products, such as laptop computers and cellphones, that were shipped in bulk as air cargo or stowed in passengers' carry-on baggage. The Dreamliner is the first passenger plane to use big lithium batteries as a backup power source.

It remains unclear whether the Dreamliner's batteries, which are produced by Japanese battery maker GS Yuasa Co., caused the problems on two Dreamliners operated by All Nippon Airways Co. and Japan Airlines, respectively. Other factors, such as their wiring or installation, could have contributed to the incidents, industry officials say.

Whatever the cause, the power cells posed a risk because they are highly flammable under certain conditions. Lithium batteries are vulnerable to overheating if overcharged, or if discharged too rapidly, and overheated or damaged batteries can catch fire. They burn at extremely high temperatures, may emit flammable vapors, flames or sparks, and can even explode.

The danger is related to what makes the batteries popular: They can store large amounts of energy. They combine light weight and compact size with the ability to charge up and discharge quickly.

Over the past decade, aviation regulators have recorded dozens of incidents in which lithium batteries in consumer products have overheated or caught fire on planes or at airports. Stricter international safety rules kicked in this year to tackle the hazards of shipping such batteries by air.

Large shipments of the power cells are suspected of having played a role in the fatal crashes of two jumbo-jet cargo planes in 2010 and 2011 and the destruction of a smaller freighter in 2006, according to safety officials.

Despite the concerns about lithium batteries, they are being used more widely in aircraft. The U.S. military's new F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter jet uses lithium-ion batteries produced by a unit of French battery maker Saft Groupe SA. No safety incidents with the units have been publicly reported.

A spokesman for Lockheed Martin Corp., which builds the fighter, said in a statement that its batteries aren't from GS Yuasa, and that "we expect no impact [on the Joint Strike Fighter] program."

Europe aircraft maker Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co., uses small lithium batteries for emergency power on its two-deck A380 super-jumbo, which entered service in 2007.

Airbus plans to use bigger lithium batteries on its new A350 model, now in development, but those cells still will be smaller than those aboard the Dreamliner. Saft will supply the A350 batteries, Airbus said.

The Dreamliner is an unusual airplane because it relies on electric power for most of its functions.

Previous airliners from Boeing, Airbus and other manufacturers have used a combination of electrical and mechanical power drawn from a plane's engines.

The new Airbus A350 will use roughly one-third the electric power of the Dreamliner, Airbus officials said Thursday. The plane also uses two batteries in parallel where Boeing uses one, reducing the power that each one stores and discharges, Airbus officials said.

"We don't need as much power, and it's a different architecture on the A350," said Tom Williams, Airbus's executive vice president for programs. He declined to comment on how the 787 incidents might influence the A350's battery design. "We need to wait and see what the investigation tells us," he said.

As concerns about the batteries have increased, the FAA has conducted extensive testing of their performance. In at least one test, the batteries burned hot enough to melt test equipment, according to a person familiar with the results.

In another set of tests last year, the FAA caused lithium batteries in a laptop computer to ignite in the cockpit of a Boeing 737 jet. Pilots increasingly use laptop and tablet computers as replacements for the heavy maps and manuals they have long lugged around.

The test focused more on the smoke hazard from a fire than the damage caused by flames. To disperse the smoke, the testers boosted ventilation in the cockpit, replacing its air entirely once every minute, according to an FAA report of the test.

Nevertheless, the testing showed that a standard lithium laptop battery, which is much smaller than the models on the Dreamliner, "could pose a significant smoke hazard" in the cockpit, the report said. In one test, the smoke was dense enough to cause a "severe lack of visibility."

POLITICS - Republicas Lose Tax Issue

"The GOP's Payroll Tax Fiasco" Opinion, Wall Street Journal 12/22/2011

How did Republicans manage to lose the tax issue to Obama?

GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell famously said a year ago that his main task in the 112th Congress was to make sure that President Obama would not be re-elected. Given how he and House Speaker John Boehner have handled the payroll tax debate, we wonder if they might end up re-electing the President before the 2012 campaign even begins in earnest.

The GOP leaders have somehow managed the remarkable feat of being blamed for opposing a one-year extension of a tax holiday that they are surely going to pass. This is no easy double play.

Republicans have also achieved the small miracle of letting Mr. Obama position himself as an election-year tax cutter, although he's spent most of his Presidency promoting tax increases and he would hit the economy with one of the largest tax increases ever in 2013. This should be impossible.

House Republicans yesterday voted down the Senate's two-month extension of the two-percentage-point payroll tax holiday to 4.2% from 6.2%. They say the short extension makes no economic sense, but then neither does a one-year extension. No employer is going to hire a worker based on such a small and temporary decrease in employment costs, as this year's tax holiday has demonstrated. The entire exercise is political, but Republicans have thoroughly botched the politics.

Their first mistake was adopting the President's language that he is proposing a tax cut rather than calling it a temporary tax holiday. People will understand the difference—and discount the benefit.

Republicans also failed to put together a unified House and Senate strategy. The House passed a one-year extension last week that included spending cuts to offset the $120 billion or so in lost revenue, such as a one-year freeze on raises for federal employees. Then Mr. McConnell agreed with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on the two-month extension financed by higher fees on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (meaning on mortgage borrowers), among other things. It passed with 89 votes and all but seven Republicans.

Senate Republicans say Mr. Boehner had signed off on the two-month extension, but House Members revolted over the weekend and so the Speaker flipped within 24 hours. Mr. Boehner is now demanding that Mr. Reid name conferees for a House-Senate conference on the payroll tax bills. But Mr. Reid and the White House are having too much fun blaming Republicans for "raising taxes on the middle class" as of January 1. Don't be surprised if they stretch this out to the State of the Union, when Mr. Obama will have a national audience to capture the tax issue.

If Republicans didn't want to extend the payroll tax cut on the merits, then they should have put together a strategy and the arguments for defeating it and explained why.

But if they knew they would eventually pass it, as most of them surely believed, then they had one of two choices. Either pass it quickly and at least take some political credit for it.

Or agree on a strategy to get something in return for passing it, which would mean focusing on a couple of popular policies that would put Mr. Obama and Democrats on the political spot. They finally did that last week by attaching a provision that requires Mr. Obama to make a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days, and the President grumbled but has agreed to sign it.

But now Republicans are drowning out that victory in the sounds of their circular firing squad. Already four GOP Senators have rejected the House position, and the political rout will only get worse.

One reason for the revolt of House backbenchers is the accumulated frustration over a year of political disappointment. Their high point was the Paul Ryan budget in the spring that set the terms of debate and forced Mr. Obama to adopt at least the rhetoric of budget reform and spending cuts.

But then Messrs. Boehner and McConnell were gulled into going behind closed doors with the President, who dragged out negotiations and later emerged to sandbag them with his blame-the-GOP and soak-the-rich re-election strategy. Any difference between the parties on taxes and spending has been blurred in the interim.

After a year of the tea party House, Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats have had to make no major policy concessions beyond extending the Bush tax rates for two years. Mr. Obama is in a stronger re-election position today than he was a year ago, and the chances of Mr. McConnell becoming Majority Leader in 2013 are declining.

***
At this stage, Republicans would do best to cut their losses and find a way to extend the payroll holiday quickly. Then go home and return in January with a united House-Senate strategy that forces Democrats to make specific policy choices that highlight the differences between the parties on spending, taxes and regulation. Wisconsin freshman Senator Ron Johnson has been floating a useful agenda for such a strategy. The alternative is more chaotic retreat and the return of all-Democratic rule.

Answer to WSJ question: The Republican Party no longer exists, it's now the Tea Party (NO-compromise, our-way or no-way).

As to "the return of all-Democratic rule," I would applaud that. It would be MUCH better than the no-governance Democratic/Tea-Party rule we have today.


ALSO

"Democrats Pressure House GOP to Back Down on Payroll Tax Cut" PBS Newshour 12/21/2011