“Fiscal cliff” crisis heads to resolution in Congress

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A months-long battle over the U.S. “fiscal cliff” headed to a close on Tuesday as the House of Representatives moved toward final approval of a bipartisan deal meant to prevent Washington from pushing the world’s biggest economy into recession.

The Republican-controlled House was expected to back a tax hike on the top U.S. earners shortly before midnight on Tuesday, ending weeks of high-stakes budget brinkmanship that threatened to spook consumers and throw financial markets into turmoil.

Approval of the bill would be a victory for President Barack Obama, who campaigned for re-election last November on a promise to raise taxes on the wealthiest but faced stiff opposition from congressional Republicans.

Republicans had earlier considered adding hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts after the bill had already passed the Senate with strong bipartisan support. That would have triggered further partisan warfare and pushed the crisis well past a self-imposed January 1 deadline.

But party leaders abandoned the effort after determining they lacked the votes.

“We’ve gone as far as we can go and I think people are ready to bring it to a conclusion,” Republican Representative Jack Kingston of Georgia said. “We fought the fight.”

Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, a Republican, predicted the House would back the Senate bill, which also postpones for two months $ 109 billion in spending cuts on military and domestic programs set for 2013.

The bill easily cleared a procedural hurdle by a bipartisan vote of 408 to 10.

Lawmakers have struggled to find a way to head off across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts that began to take effect at midnight, a legacy of earlier failed budget deals that is known as the fiscal cliff.

Strictly speaking, the United States went over the cliff in the first minutes of the New Year because Congress failed to produce legislation to halt $ 600 billion of tax hikes and spending cuts scheduled for this year.

TAX HIKES FOR WEALTHIEST

While many Republicans were uneasy with the tax hikes and wanted more spending cuts in the bill, they seemed to realize that the fiscal cliff would begin to damage the economy once financial markets and federal government offices returned to work on Wednesday. Opinion polls show the public would blame Republicans if a deal were to fall apart.

House Republicans had earlier considered adding $ 330 billion in spending cuts over 10 years to the Senate bill, which raises taxes on the wealthiest U.S. households by $ 620 billion over the same period.

But Senate Democrats refused to consider any changes to their bill, which passed 89 to 8 in a rare display of unity early Tuesday.

That measure, which passed the Senate at around 2 a.m., would raise income taxes on families earning more than $ 450,000 per year and limit the amount of deductions they can take to lower their tax bill.

Low temporary rates that have been in place for the past decade would be made permanent for less-affluent taxpayers, along with a range of targeted tax breaks put in place to fight the 2009 economic downturn.

However, workers would see up to $ 2,000 more taken out of their paychecks annually with the expiration of a temporary payroll tax cut.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the Senate bill would increase budget deficits by nearly $ 4 trillion over the coming 10 years, compared to the budget savings that would occur if the extreme measures of the cliff were to kick in.

But the bill would actually save $ 650 billion during that time period when measured against the tax and spending policies that were in effect on Monday, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an independent group that has pushed for more aggressive deficit savings.

(Additional reporting by Rachelle Younglai, Thomas Ferraro and David Lawder; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Alistair Bell and Eric Beech)

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New Year’s Resolutions For Better Health

New Year’s resolutions are typically so singular, self-focused and private. How about making a resolution or two this year that has benefits beyond yourself? Here are some suggestions with lots of links to get you started.

You can help stop the spread of disease. Resolve to get up-to-date on your vaccines. While children have a full slate of vaccines, many adults don’t realize they have regular immunization obligations, too. Getting flu, pertussis, human papillomavirus and other vaccines can protect you and help stop the spread of diseases that harm others. Here’s a great guide to adult immunizations from the federal government. If the cost of vaccines is an issue, check into free or low-cost immunizations through your county’s public health department. Here’s a guide to finding your local office. Volunteer with an organization that needs your help. A group called Catchafire matches professionals who wish to volunteer their skills to organizations that need the help — including many important health organizations. The idea is to give great organizations access to top talent while respecting the professionals’ schedules and making their volunteer work meaningful. Here’s the link. Influence a healthier food climate. Americans spend about half of their food budgets eating out. So we had better demand thorough nutritional information about what we’re getting. Under healthcare reform, many restaurant chains will soon carry nutritional information. But the law has loopholes. If you don’t see the information you’re looking for on salt, fat, calories or other nutrients, ask the restaurant’s manager where you can find it. Nutritional information should be easy to access. Until it is, speak up and ask for it. Do your part to keep down healthcare costs. The Affordable Care Act will bring many consumers into the insurance healthcare system for the first time. But that doesn’t mean we can ignore the cost of care. Rising healthcare costs remain a huge issue that could drag down the economy and bedevil some reform efforts. You can help by being a wise healthcare consumer. Read your insurance policy and know what it does and doesn’t cover. Take advantage of free preventive care services and screening tests under the ACA. Shop around for prescriptions to find the cheapest prices. Ask your doctor for generic equivalents. Finally, use your health savings account if your employer offers one. These accounts provide incentives for using your money wisely, shopping around to find the best healthcare prices and weighing the costs and benefits of certain drugs, tests or procedures.  Here’s a guide to understanding how HSAs work. Be responsible about the prescription drugs you store at home. You can reduce your own risk of addiction and lower the risk for others, too, if you are careful about medications kept in your home. This year marked a turning point in the nation’s epidemic of prescription-drug abuse and addiction.  Admissions to addiction treatment centers for use of narcotic painkillers rose 569 percent in the past decade, according to the federal government. More people now die from drug overdoses than from traffic accidents. More than six million Americans abuse prescription drugs, and more than 70 percent of addicts get their drugs through family or friends or by raiding a home medicine cabinet. Dispose of unused medications. The Drug Enforcement Agency operates a National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day a few times a year (the next one is in April), that makes it easy to dispose of dangerous substance.  Go through your home today and collect unused medications. You can take them to a pharmacy for disposal or even flush them down the toilet. Some drugs carry disposal instructions on the label. Here’s information on how to dispose of prescription medications. Be a safe driver. One of the biggest safety issues on the nation’s roads these days is driver distraction. A large share of the distractions come from talking on a hand-held cell phone or text messaging while driving. You’re 23 times more likely to crash if you text while driving. Most states now prohibit texting while driving, but there are still many people who do it while knowing it’s unsafe. Break yourself of this terrible habit. The federal government has a website that provides people with information and tools to discourage distracted driving. Included in this package is a simple pledge sheet you can print out, sign and post on your refrigerator door or bathroom to help you make the commitment. There are a couple of other things you can do, too. Speak out if the driver you’re riding with is distracted. Encourage family and friends to drive phone-free. Run a race for the greater good. Who doesn’t love a good 5K walk or run? You benefit from the exercise and, if you choose a charity race, others reap rewards, too. There are thousands of charity races each year. Pick one and invite your friends to participate with you. Here’s a website to help you find a race.  Apply for a grant. There’s money out there for doing good. Saucony’s Run for Good Foundation aims at preventing child obesity by promoting running as part of a healthy lifestyle for kids. The foundation issues grant money to organizations that want to organize a kids’ running group. You can find information on how to apply at the foundation website. Sign a petition. Concerned about flame retardants in consumer products? Gun safety? Funding for research to fight a particular disease? There’s probably a petition for that. It’s an easy way to make your voice heard. Both change.org and thepetitionsite.com are good places to look to find a petition close to your heart.

Question: What resolutions can you make to help others? Tell us what you think in the comments.

---

Shari Roan is an award-winning health writer based in Southern California. She is the author of three books on health and science subjects.

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Analysis: After “fiscal cliff” dive, more battles, new cliffs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Whether or not the “fiscal cliff” impasse is broken before the New Year’s Eve deadline, there will be no post-cliff peace in Washington.

With the political climate toxic in Congress as the cliff’s steep tax hikes and spending cuts approach, other partisan fights loom, all over the issue that has paralyzed the capital for the past two years: federal spending.

The first will come in late February when the Treasury Department runs out of borrowing authority and has to come to Congress to get the debt ceiling raised.

The next is likely in late March, when a temporary bill to fund the government runs out, confronting Congress with a deadline to act or face a government shutdown. The third will possibly be whenever the temporary bill replacing the temporary bill expires.

While Congress is supposed to pass annual spending bills before the start of each fiscal year, it has failed to complete that process since 1996, resorting to stopgap funding ever since.

Influential anti-tax activist Grover Norquist predicted in an interview with Reuters that conservatives would wage repeated battles with President Barack Obama to demand budget savings every time the government needs a temporary funding bill or more borrowing capacity.

The so-called “continuing resolutions” to which a divided Congress has increasingly resorted to keep the government operating, provide a “very powerful tool” to pry out spending cuts, said Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.

Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said he will not be satisfied until there are substantial cuts to federal retirement and healthcare benefits known as entitlements, producing savings in the $ 4.5 trillion to $ 5 trillion range.

“Unfortunately for America,” said Corker, “the next line in the sand will be the debt ceiling.”

Most observers see the $ 16.4 trillion debt limit as the true fiscal cliff in the new year because if not increased, it would eventually lead to a default on U.S. Treasury debt, an event that could prove cataclysmic for financial markets.

The Treasury Department said on Wednesday it would start taking extraordinary measures by December 31 to extend its borrowing capacity for about two more months.

‘POISONOUS CLIMATE’

It was a deadlock over raising the debt ceiling in August 2011 that prompted a deficit reduction deal that led to a key fiscal cliff component, the $ 109 billion in automatic spending cuts on military and domestic programs.

If the fiscal cliff’s spending cuts or tax increases are left even partly unresolved on December 31, the political combat over them will carry over into the new Congress, possibly simultaneously with the debt ceiling debate.

“We would be pessimistic of a quick fix” if the deadline is missed, Sean West, head U.S. analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, said in a note to clients. “The political climate will be poisoned. The new Congress will need time to settle in.”

“We are concluding one of the most unsuccessful Congresses in history,” Democratic Representative John Dingell of Michigan declared in a statement on Saturday, “noteworthy not only for its failure to accomplish anything of importance, but also for the poisonous climate of the institution.”

Dingell, 86, is the longest serving member of the House, elected first in 1955.

Historically, bitter struggles in Congress like that over the fiscal cliff lead to further resentment and strife in a cycle of cumulative grudges that now spans nearly 30 years.

Many analysts and lobbyists in Washington believe the strife could get even worse because the new Congress convening on January 3 will include fewer members from moderate or swing districts and more from districts tilted heavily to the left or the right.

Republicans in particular are likely to face their most serious re-election challenges in 2014 not from Democrats but from conservative Republicans challenging them in primary elections.

“Ironically,” said a post-election analysis published by the law firm Patton Boggs, “the voters have elected a 113th Congress that may be even more partisan than the 112th.”

(Reporting by David Lawder and Fred Barbash; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Senate leaders to make last-ditch “fiscal cliff” effort

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and U.S. congressional leaders agreed on Friday to make a final effort to prevent the United States from going over the “fiscal cliff,” setting off intense bargaining over Americans’ tax rates as a New Year’s Eve deadline looms.

With only days left to avoid steep tax hikes and spending cuts that could cause a recession, two Senate veterans will try to forge a deal that has eluded the White House and Congress for months.

Obama said he was “modestly optimistic” an agreement could be found. But neither side appeared to give much ground at a White House meeting of congressional leaders on Friday.

What they did agree on was to task Harry Reid, the Democratic Senate majority leader, and Mitch McConnell, who heads the chamber’s Republican minority, with reaching a budget agreement by Sunday at the latest.

“The hour for immediate action is here. It is now. We’re now at the point where in just four days, every American’s tax rates are scheduled to go up by law. Every American’s paycheck will get considerably smaller. And that would be the wrong thing to do,” Obama told reporters.

A total of $ 600 billion in tax hikes and automatic cuts to government spending will start kicking in on Tuesday – New Year’s Day – if politicians cannot reach a deal. Economists fear the measures will push the U.S. economy into a recession.

Pessimism about the fiscal cliff helped push U.S. stocks down on Friday for a fifth straight day. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 158.20 points, or 1.21 percent. Retailers are blaming worries about the “fiscal cliff” for lackluster Christmas season shopping.

Under the plan hashed out on Friday, any agreement between McConnell and Reid would be backed by the Senate and then approved in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives before the end of the year.

But the House could well be the graveyard of any accord.

A core of fiscal conservatives there strongly opposes Obama’s efforts to raise taxes for the wealthiest as part of a plan to close America’s budget deficit. House Republicans also want to see Obama commit to major spending cuts.

Talks between Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner collapsed last week when several dozen Republicans defied their leader and rejected a plan to raise rates for those earning $ 1 million and above.

A Democratic aide said Boehner stuck mainly to “talking points” in Friday’s White House meeting, with the message that the House had acted on the budget and it was now time for the Senate to move.

TALKS ON ‘BIG NUMBERS’

The two Senate leaders and their aides will plunge into talks on Saturday that will focus mainly on the threshold for raising income taxes on households with upper-level earnings, a Democratic aide said. Analysts say both sides could agree on raising taxes for households earning more than $ 400,000 or $ 500,000 a year.

The pair will also discuss whether the estate tax should be kept at current low levels or allowed to rise, the aide said.

Democrat Reid warned of tough talks.

“It’s not easy, we’re dealing with big numbers, and some of that stuff we do is somewhat complicated,” he said.

McConnell described Friday’s White House summit, also attended by Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, as “a good meeting.”

“So we’ll be working hard to try to see if we can get there in the next 24 hours. So I’m hopeful and optimistic,” he said.

If things cannot be worked out between the Senate leaders, Obama said he wanted both chambers in Congress to vote on a backup plan that would increase taxes only for households with more than $ 250,000 of annual income.

The plan would also extend unemployment insurance for about 2 million Americans and set up a framework for a larger deficit reduction deal next year.

There are signs in the options market that investor fear is taking hold. The CBOE Volatility Index, or the VIX, the market’s favored anxiety indicator, has remained at relatively low levels throughout this process, but it moved on Friday above 22, the highest level since June.

But some in the market were resigned to Washington going beyond the New Year’s Day deadline, as long as a serious agreement on deficit reduction comes out of the talks in early January.

“Regardless of whether the government resolves the issues now, any deal can easily be retroactive. We’re not as concerned with January 1 as the market seems to be,” said Richard Weiss, a senior money manager at American Century Investments.

Another component of the “fiscal cliff” – $ 109 billion in automatic spending cuts to military and domestic programs – is set to kick in on Wednesday.

S&P rating agency said on Friday the fiscal cliff impasse did not affect the U.S. sovereign rating.

That lifted the immediate threat of a downgrade from the agency, which cut the United States’ triple-A rating in August, 2011 in an unprecedented move after a similar partisan budget fight.

(Additional reporting by David Lawder, Thomas Ferraro, Rachelle Younglai and Mark Felsenthal; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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Former President George H.W. Bush remains in intensive care

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – Former President George H.W. Bush remained in the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital on Thursday, but his longtime chief of staff issued a reassuring message, urging the media and the public to “put the harps back in the closet.”

Bush, 88, a Republican who during his one term in office led a coalition of nations that ejected Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991, was admitted to Methodist Hospital November 23 for bronchitis.

He was transferred to intensive care on Sunday after setbacks including a persistent fever, family spokesman Jim McGrath has said.

“I don’t have any guidance so far today except to say no news is good news,” McGrath said on Thursday. Hospital spokesman George Kovacik added that the former president remained in intensive care on Thursday.

But in a statement addressed to the “national media” on Bush’s condition on Thursday, chief of staff Jean Becker sought to strike an upbeat tone.

“Yes, President Bush is in ICU where he is getting the best medical care in the world,” she wrote. “Is he sick? Yes. Does he plan on going anywhere soon? No. He has every intention of staying put.

“He would ask me to tell you to please ‘put the harps back in the closet,’” she said.

On a more serious note, Becker said her boss was expected to remain in the hospital for “a while,” adding, “He is 88 years old, he had a terrible case of bronchitis which then triggered a series of complications.” She did not elaborate.

McGrath on Wednesday described Bush as alert and talking to medical staff.

On Thursday evening, McGrath released a statement from Bush mourning the death of retired Army General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the U.S. and allied forces that routed Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein’s military from Kuwait during a six-week war in 1991.

He said the four-star general, who died at age 78, “epitomized the ‘duty, service, country’ creed that has defended our freedom and seen this great nation through our most trying international crises.”

Bush has lower-body parkinsonism, which causes a loss of balance, and has used wheelchairs for more than a year.

The 41st U.S. president and father of former President George W. Bush, he served as a congressman, ambassador to the United Nations, envoy to China, CIA director and vice president for two terms under Ronald Reagan during a political career spanning four decades.

(Reporting by Corrie MacLaggan; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Paul Thomasch, Phil Berlowitz and Paul Simao)

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Meningitis, West Nile occupy U.S. health officials in 2012

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The year started in the United States with a mild flu season but ended up being marked by deadly outbreaks of fungal meningitis, West Nile virus and Hantavirus.

Tainted steroid medication has been cited as the cause of the meningitis outbreak that killed 39 people.

Weather contributed to the worst outbreak of West Nile virus since 2003 and an unusual outbreak of Hantavirus in California’s Yosemite National Park.

Transmitted by infected mice, Hantavirus is a severe, sometimes fatal syndrome that affects the lungs. West Nile can cause encephalitis or meningitis, infection of the brain and spinal cord or their protective covering.

As of December 11, 5,387 cases of West Nile virus had been reported in 48 states, resulting in 243 deaths, the CDC said in its final 2012 update on the outbreak. The 2003 outbreak left 264 dead from among nearly 10,000 reported cases.

A large number of cases this year occurred in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi where there are large mosquito populations.

CDC and state officials have said that rainfall in the spring and record high summer temperatures contributed to the severity of the outbreak by affecting mosquito populations, which transmit the disease by biting humans and animals.

Health officials said that only a small percentage of cases of West Nile virus are reported because most people have no symptoms and about 20 percent have mild symptoms such as aches and fever. One in 150 people with West Nile virus develop other illnesses such as meningitis and encephalitis.

The biggest outbreak in nearly two decades of Hantavirus, which emerges in dry and dusty environments, cropped up during the summer in 1,200-square-mile (3,100-square-km) Yosemite National Park, killing three of 10 infected visitors.

The National Park issued warnings to 22,000 people who may have been exposed to the rare disease, and 91 Curry Village cabins in the park were closed in late August.

In early September, a 78-year-old judge named Eddie Lovelace was rushed to a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. Thought to have had a stroke, he died a few days later.

After a large outbreak of fungal meningitis was linked to tainted steroid injections, Lovelace’s cause of death was revised. He became the first documented death in a meningitis outbreak that has infected 620 people and killed 39 in 19 states.

The New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts, was closed after investigators found that it had shipped thousands of fungus-tainted vials of methylprednisolone acetate to medical facilities around the United States. The steroid was typically used to ease back pain.

More than 14,000 people were warned that they may have had an injection of the tainted steroid. Doctors continue to see new cases of spinal infections related to the steroid, and cases of achnoiditis, an inflammation of nerve roots in the spine.

The outbreak led two Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of representatives to introduce legislation to increase government oversight of compounded drugs.

And what lies ahead in 2013?

“While there are some trends we can predict, the most reliable trend is that the next threat will be unpredictable,” said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Thomas Frieden.

(This refile corrects paragraph two to 39 instead of 243)

(Reporting by Adam Kerlin; Editing by Paul Thomasch)

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Early Childhood Obesity Rates Might Be Slowing Nation-Wide

About one in three children in the U.S. are now overweight, and since the 1980s the number of children who are obese has more than tripled. But a new study of 26.7 million young children from low-income families shows that in this group of kids, the tidal wave of obesity might finally be receding.Being obese as a child not only increases the risk of early-life health problems, such as joint problems, pre-diabetes and social stigmatization, but it also dramatically increases the likelihood of being obese later in life, which can lead to chronic diseases, including cancer, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Children as young as 2 years of age can be obese–and even extremely obese. Early childhood obesity rates, which bring higher health care costs throughout a kid’s life, have been especially high among lower-income families.”This is the first national study to show that the prevalence of obesity and extreme obesity among young U.S. children may have begun to decline,” the researchers noted in a brief report published online December 25 in JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association. (Reports earlier this year suggested that childhood obesity rates were dropping in several U.S. cities.)The study examined rates of obesity (body mass index calculated by age and gender to be in the 95th percentile or higher–for example, a BMI above 20 for a 2-year-old male–compared with reference growth charts) and extreme obesity (BMI of more than 120 percent above that of the 95th percentile of the reference populations) in children ages 2 to 4 in 30 states and the District of Columbia. The researchers, led by Liping Pan, of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, combed through 12 years of data (1998 to 2010) from the Pediatric Nutritional Surveillance System, which includes information on roughly half of all children on the U.S. who are eligible for federal health care and nutrition assistance.A subtle but important shift in early childhood obesity rates in this low-income population seems to have begun in 2003. Obesity rates increased from 13.05 percent in 1998 to 15.21 percent in 2003. Soon, however, obesity rates began decreasing, reaching 14.94 percent by 2010. Extreme obesity followed a similar pattern, increasing from 1.75 percent to 2.22 percent from 1998 to 2003, but declining to 2.07 percent by 2010.Although these changes might seem small, the number of children involved makes for huge health implications. For example, each drop of just one tenth of a percentage point represents some 26,700 children in the study population alone who are no longer obese or extremely obese. And if these trends are occurring in the rest of the population, the long-term health and cost implications are massive.Public health agencies and the Obama Administration have made battling childhood obesity a priority, although these findings suggest that early childhood obesity rates, at least, were already beginning to decline nearly a decade ago. Some popular prevention strategies include encouraging healthier eating (by reducing intake of highly processed and high-sugar foods and increasing fruit and vegetable consumption) and increased physical activity (both at school and at home).The newly revealed trends “indicate modest recent progress of obesity prevention among young children,” the authors noted. “These finding may have important health implications because of the lifelong health risks of obesity and extreme obesity in early childhood.”

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Few tests done at toxic sites after superstorm

OLD BRIDGE, N.J. (AP) — For more than a month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said that the recent superstorm didn’t cause significant problems at any of the 247 Superfund toxic waste sites it’s monitoring in New York and New Jersey.

But in many cases, no actual tests of soil or water are being conducted, just visual inspections.

The EPA conducted a handful of tests right after the storm, but couldn’t provide details or locations of any recent testing when asked last week. New Jersey officials point out that federally designated Superfund sites are EPA’s responsibility.

The 1980 Superfund law gave EPA the power to order cleanups of abandoned, spilled and illegally dumped hazardous wastes that threaten human health or the environment. The sites can involve long-term or short-term cleanups.

Jeff Tittel, executive director of the Sierra Club in New Jersey, says officials haven’t done enough to ensure there is no contamination from Superfund sites. He’s worried toxins could leach into groundwater and the ocean.

“It’s really serious and I think the EPA and the state of New Jersey have not done due diligence to make sure these sites have not created problems,” Tittel said.

The EPA said last month that none of the Superfund sites it monitors in New York or New Jersey sustained significant damage, but that it has done follow-up sampling at the Gowanus Canal site in Brooklyn, the Newtown Creek site on the border of Queens and Brooklyn, and the Raritan Bay Slag site, all of which flooded during the storm.

But last week, EPA spokeswoman Stacy Kika didn’t respond to questions about whether any soil or water tests have been done at the other 243 Superfund sites. The agency hasn’t said exactly how many of the sites flooded.

“Currently, we do not believe that any sites were impacted in ways that would pose a threat to nearby communities,” EPA said in a statement.

Politicians have been asking similar questions, too. On Nov. 29, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., wrote to the EPA to ask for “an additional assessment” of Sandy’s impact on Superfund sites in the state.

Elevated levels of lead, antimony, arsenic and copper have been found at the Raritan Bay Slag site, a Superfund site since 2009. Blast furnaces dumped lead at the site in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and lead slag was also used there to construct a seawall and jetty.

The EPA found lead levels as high as 142,000 parts per million were found at Raritan Bay in 2007. Natural soil levels for lead range from 50 to 400 parts per million.

The EPA took four samples from the site after Superstorm Sandy: two from a fenced-off beach area and two from a nearby public playground. One of the beach samples tested above the recreational limit for lead. In early November, the EPA said it was taking additional samples “to get a more detailed picture of how the material might have shifted” and will “take appropriate steps to prevent public exposure” at the site, according to a bulletin posted on its website. But six weeks later, the agency couldn’t provide more details of what has been found.

The Newtown Creek site, with pesticides, metals, PCBs and volatile organic compounds, and the Gowanus Canal site, heavily contaminated with PCBs, heavy metals, volatile organics and coal tar wastes, were added to the Superfund list in 2010.

Some say the lead at the Raritan Bay site can disperse easily.

Gabriel Fillippeli, director of the Center for Urban Health at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, said lead tends to stay in the soil once it is deposited but can be moved around by stormwaters or winds. Arsenic, which has been found in the surface water at the site, can leach into the water table, Fillippeli said.

“My concern is twofold. One is, a storm like that surely moved some of that material physically to other places, I would think,” Fillippeli said. “If they don’t cap that or seal it or clean it up, arsenic will continue to make its way slowly into groundwater and lead will be distributed around the neighborhood.”

The lack of testing has left some residents with lingering worries.

The Raritan Bay Slag site sits on the beach overlooking a placid harbor with a view of Staten Island. On a recent foggy morning, workers were hauling out debris, and some nearby residents wondered whether the superstorm increased or spread the amount of pollution at the site.

“I think it brought a lot of crud in from what’s out there,” said Elise Pelletier, whose small bungalow sits on a hill overlooking the Raritan Bay Slag site. “You don’t know what came in from the water.” Her street did not flood because it is up high, but she worries about a park below where people go fishing and walk their dogs. She would like to see more testing done.

Thomas Burke, an associate dean at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, says both federal and state officials generally have a good handle on the major Superfund sites, which often use caps and walls to contain pollution.

“They are designed to hold up,” Burke said of such structures, but added that “you always have to be concerned that an unusual event can spread things around in the environment.” Burke noted that the storm brought in a “tremendous amount” of water, raising the possibility that groundwater plumes could have changed.

“There really have to be evaluations” of communities near the Superfund sites, he said. “It’s important to take a look.”

Officials in both New York and New Jersey note they’ve also been monitoring less toxic sites known as brownfields and haven’t found major problems. The New York DEC said in a statement that brownfields in that state “were not significantly impacted” and that they don’t plan further tests for storm impacts.

Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, said the agency has done visual inspections of major brownfield sites and also alerted towns and cities to be on the lookout for problems. Ragonese said they just aren’t getting calls voicing such concerns.

Back at the Raritan Bay slag site, some residents want more information. And they want the toxic soil, which has sat here for years, out.

Pat Churchill, who was walking her dog in the park along the water, said she’s still worried.

“There are unanswered questions. You can’t tell me this is all contained. It has to move around,” Churchill said.

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Federal judge blocks Missouri law to deny birth control coverage

(Reuters) – A federal judge on Friday blocked a new Missouri law that requires health insurers to offer plans that exclude contraception coverage if employers or individuals object to birth control on moral or religious grounds.

U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig granted a temporary restraining order preventing the enforcement of the law, writing that it appears to conflict with the new federal health care law.

Republican lawmakers in Missouri drafted the law in response to President Barack Obama‘s policy of requiring insurers to cover birth control for free as part of the new federal health care law, even if they work for a church or other employer that has a moral objection.

State lawmakers in September overrode a veto by Democratic Governor Jay Nixon to enact the law.

The Missouri Insurance Coalition, a nonprofit whose members include health insurers that do business in the state, asked the judge to block the state law, arguing that it conflicts with federal law and is therefore invalid.

Fleissig wrote that the coalition is likely to succeed on that claim “given what appears to be an irreconcilable conflict” between the federal and state laws.

At a hearing, the judge wrote, the Missouri Department of Insurance “could offer no response to how there would not be a direct conflict” between the federal and state laws if an insurer offered a health insurance plan “that acquiesced to an employer’s decision not to offer contraceptive coverage.”

She is expected to schedule a hearing on a preliminary injunction.

(Reporting By Corrie MacLaggan; editing by Todd Eastham)

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Physician Launches Black Health Website

NATIONWIDE – The glaring realities facing the Black community’s health and well-being are in a state of emergency. Whether it is high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, various forms of cancer or obesity, Blacks in many cases have the unfortunate distinction as the leading sufferers of these health maladies. Dr. Corey Hebert aims to help tackle these dilemmas via cyberspace, with the launch of BlackHealthTV.com, an online social media and video website geared toward a community overwrought with preventable and treatable ailments and diseases. Launched in October, Dr. Hebert hopes by making health information available online in an interactive format more people will be privy to information that can save their lives or at the very least help them make more well-informed health decisions. “I was sitting at a table in New York with a bunch of very educated African Americans and one of the guys at the table had a Ph.D. from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and he burned himself with a plate at the table,” explained Dr. Hebert when asked what inspired him to launch BlackHealthTV.com. health_care_12-18-2012_1.jpg “The first thing he told me was, ‘Man let me get some butter so I can put it on this burn.’ And I explained to him that’s the worst thing that you could ever put on a burn. You should never put butter on a burn,” Dr. Herbert told The Final Call in an exclusive interview. Applying butter on a burn can cause infection. The man continued to insist butter was the answer telling Dr. Hebert, “trust me.” “I said trust you? I’m a medical doctor and I’m telling you that you’re not supposed to put butter on a burn … everybody at the table disagreed with me,” said Dr. Hebert. That encounter led him to conduct a poll of 1,000 Black people across the country of varying socio-economic status and education levels. The results said Dr. Hebert was 85 percent thought butter was the correct first-aid remedy. “The lack of information is appalling and we know that whatever was out there is not working because the health disparities are increasing. If they’re increasing I just felt I had to do something,” continued Dr. Hebert, an award-winning medical journalist and regular contributor on the Dr. OZ Show. Indeed, the statistics are daunting. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the news regarding Black Americans and optimum health is not good. Black men have higher rates of getting and dying from prostate cancer. Black women are 1.4 times more likely to die from breast cancer than White women. Blacks are more likely to die from asthma. An estimated 3.7 million or 14.7 percent of all non-Hispanic Blacks age 20 and older have diabetes, the leading cause of heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. In 2009 a staggering 44 percent of all new HIV infections were Black, despite being only 14 percent of the total U.S. population, and 45 percent of Black adults are obese. What makes BlackHealthTV.com unique is that it is not text heavy, but features video presentations with health tips, health news, recipes, and information on children’s health. Visitors to the site can also sign up to receive “health tips of the day” via email. Using modern technology is an opportunity for more access to information, and though Blacks still lag somewhat behind when it comes to the “digital divide,” the gap is closing. The Pew Research Center notes that 44 percent of Blacks are smart phone users and are more likely than Whites to use their cell phones for accessing Internet and multimedia content. The percentage of Blacks that use the Internet increased from 35 percent in 2000 to 71 percent in 2011, according to Pew. It is this reason; BlackHealthTV.com is formatted different than other health websites explained Dr. Hebert. “African Americans search for “health” more than any other group on the Internet and have downloaded more health apps for iPhones than any other group,” said Dr. Hebert, co-founder and CEO of the site. Other health sites are mostly written word, which can be intimidating to many, he explained. “I have friends that are Master’s degree people that really can’t decipher some of the stuff on WEB M.D., so the only way that an African American or any minority group or any majority group for that matter can get information and really understand it is if it’s delivered in a way that makes them feel very comfortable,” said Dr. Hebert. The online video concept grew from there he explained. “When I start off my videos about diabetes and they start off by saying, ‘You got sugar. Let me tell you what sugar is.’ It puts African Americans at rest about the anxiety about his or her diabetes because I’m speaking to them in a way that they understand and they can appreciate,” said the Baton Rouge, La. native who was raised by a single mother and went on to graduate Morehouse College and Meharry Medical College. Dr. Hebert said the most important thing to him is that for the first time, a Black person who may not be able to read can now access health information on demand. Through BlackHealthTV.com, Dr. Hebert plans to link up with other Black organizations. “That’s my goal. To partner with every Black organization in America and have our content be available to them on their website and any other way that they’d like to get it. We also envision in the long term to be able to have an actual television network called Black Health TV where we have all health content for African Americans, twenty-four seven,” said Dr. Hebert who specializes in pediatrics and emergency medicine. Making sure the Black community has easy to access information to guide them toward making wiser choices when it comes to their health is what drives Dr. Hebert, who has been featured also on the Discovery Channel, The Oprah Winfrey Show and other major networks. “I had never been to a classroom with Black people until I got to Morehouse College and that really changed my life and I knew at that point that I was going to have to take care of my people, at all cost. I don’t care what I have to do, I’m going to make sure that at the very least that an African American man or woman can make a poor choice but that poor choice that they make is based on the education that they have and that’s a choice that they’ve really made,” he explained. The poor health and dietary choices Black people continue to make, said Dr. Hebert are not based on education or fact, something he hopes will eventually change. “Before I die, you’re going to have all the facts in your mind and if you want to choose to do the wrong thing, that’s your choice. That’s what White people have; that’s what Hispanic people are being able to get right now; that’s what we need to have too and that’s the goal for me. To make sure that I empower every African American, or African for that matter, to have the health information that they need to make the right decisions for their health,” said Dr. Hebert. _____

By Starla Muhammad Special to the NNPA from The Final Call

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Allscripts names new CEO to spearhead recovery

(Reuters) – Embattled healthcare technology firm Allscripts named its board member and former chief operating officer of rival Cerner Corp Paul Black as its CEO, replacing Glen Tullman, and said it ended a review of strategic alternatives.

The move, effective immediately, raises new questions for the direction of Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc after activist shareholder HealthCor Management installed three of its nominees to the company’s board last summer, following a bitter fight with Tullman.

Allscripts has struggled to boost new business following its acquisition of Eclipsys Corp in 2010. It had hoped to expand into software and equipment for hospitals and healthcare systems with that purchase but ended up losing business to Cerner Corp and closely held Epic Systems Corp.

The company, which has been the subject of takeover interest, also said on Wednesday that Lee Shapiro would step down as president.

Allscripts shares, which have nearly halved in value this year, were down 19 percent at $ 8.70 in extended trade on Wednesday. They had closed at $ 10.68 earlier on the Nasdaq.

“Both Glen and the board of directors believe that after Glen’s 15 years of leadership, it is the right time now for a new leader to focus on execution, position the company to deliver shareholder value and lead Allscripts through its next phase of growth,” Allscripts spokeswoman Ariana Nikitas said.

Tullman’s resignation comes months after Healthcor cited problems with his leadership and demanded his ouster.

“I think Glen has been under a lot of pressure since the attempted coup by former board members and HealthCor demanded some changes and Allscripts agreed to put some of HealthCor’s appointees on the board,” said Anthony Vendetti, an analyst at Maxim Group, adding he has personally known Tullman since he became CEO.

Black left Cerner in 2007 after more than 12 years with the company, helping to make it a market leader with more than $ 1.5 billion of annual revenues and playing an instrumental role in its double-digit organic growth, Allscripts said.

“I think (Black) is the ideal candidate for CEO,” said Vendetti, who has a “buy” rating on Allscripts stock and a price target of $ 15.

“We view this news positively as Mr. Black is well regarded in the industry. With that said, we maintain our neutral rating for the time being,” Steven Halper of Lazard Capital Markets wrote in a note.

LONG ROAD TO GROWTH

Allscripts stock has fallen more than 42 percent this year amid weak bookings that hampered sales and profit.

The company withdrew its full-year outlook in November, as it began to consider strategic alternatives. Later that month, Reuters reported that Blackstone Group LP had emerged as the frontrunner to buy the company but that the two sides were far apart on price and a deal was highly uncertain, according to people familiar with the matter.

Black is no stranger to the buyout industry, having served as operating executive of Genstar Capital LLC, a private equity firm, and senior advisor at New Mountain Finance Corporation, an investment management company.

His background may come in handy as he seeks to turn around the company’s financial performance in a difficult environment for healthcare IT firms. These companies face a dwindling customer base as hospitals consolidate physician practices into their existing vendors.

“The expectation is that it will take some time (for the company) to fundamentally turn around its business,” analyst Vendetti said. He added that Allscripts’ main goal should be to re-establish client trust in their products and the ability to integrate their product portfolio.

A comment in the Allscripts statement from Tullman, who had been CEO since 1997, made no reference to the reasons for his departure. He said he was confident that Allscripts was in good hands and had a bright future ahead.

Analyst Halper said he remained concerned about the long-term growth prospects of the company.

“With the selection of Paul Black, hopefully the company can redefine its strategic direction,” Halper said.

(Additional reporting by Ransdell Pierson and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Gary Hill, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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French psychiatrist sentenced after patient commits murder

MARSEILLES, France (Reuters) – A French psychiatrist whose patient hacked an elderly man to death was found guilty of manslaughter on Tuesday in a groundbreaking case that could affect the way patients are treated.

A court in Marseilles said Daniele Canarelli, 58, had committed a “grave error” by failing to recognize the public danger posed by Joel Gaillard, her patient of four years.

Gaillard hacked to death 80-year-old Germain Trabuc with an axe in March 2004 in Gap, in the Alps region of southeastern France, 20 days after fleeing a consultation with Canarelli at Marseilles’s Edouard Toulouse hospital.

Canarelli was handed a one-year prison sentence and ordered to pay 8,500 euros to the victim’s children, in the first case of its kind in France. Defense lawyers said the ruling would have serious repercussions for treatment of the mentally ill.

“If a psychiatrist lives in fear of being sentenced, it will have very real consequences and probably lead to harsher treatment of patients,” said Canarelli’s lawyer, Sylvain Pontier.

The court said Canarelli should have requested Gaillard be placed in a specialized medical unit or referred him to another medical team, as one of her colleagues suggested. Her stubborn refusal had equated to a form of “blindness”, the court president Fabrice Castoldi said.

Gaillard had already been forcibly committed to a secure hospital on several occasions for a series of increasingly dangerous incidents.

The victim’s son, Michel Trabuc, said he hoped the case would set a legal precedent.

“There’s no such thing as zero risk, but I hope this will move psychiatry forward and, above all, that it will never happen again,” he said.

Gaillard was not held responsible for his actions and was freed under medical supervision.

(Reporting by Jean-François Rosnoblet; Writing by Vicky Buffery; Editing by Alison Williams)

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Bird flu kills 4-year-old boy in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A 4-year-old Indonesian boy has died from bird flu, bringing the death toll to 160 in the world’s hardest-hit country.

Health Ministry official Rita Kusriastuti said Tuesday that the boy died Dec. 6 in Tangerang city, just west of Jakarta, the capital. He developed symptoms of a cold and fever on Nov. 30 and was treated at a public health center before being hospitalized the same day he died.

Kusriastuti said the boy, from the West Java district of Bogor, was believed to have been infected with the H5N1 virus after having direct contact with dead fowl around his house.

Bird flu has killed at least 360 people worldwide since 2003. It remains hard for people to catch, but experts fear it could mutate into a more deadly form.

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White House won’t accept new tax offer from Republican leader

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is not ready to accept a new offer from the Republican leader of the U.S. the House of Representatives to raise taxes on top earners in exchange for major cuts in entitlement programs, a source said late Saturday.

The shape and details of Boehner‘s offer were uncertain Saturday night, as was the exact reason the president was prepared to reject it.

The source said Obama sees the offer made on Friday by U.S. House Speaker John Boehner as a sign of progress, but simply believes it is not enough and there is much more to be worked out before Obama can reciprocate.

Tax rates and entitlements are the two most difficult issues in the so-far unproductive negotiations to avert the “fiscal cliff” of steep tax hikes and spending cuts set for the new year unless Congress and the president reach a deal to avoid them.

The Boehner offer is the first significant sign of a shift in the Republican insistence that low tax rates set to expire on December 31 be extended for all taxpayers, and comes at some risk to the speaker.

Conservatives, particularly Tea Party-supported Republicans, see opposition to tax increases for anyone as an abandonment of party principles, and of the Republican base.

Obama wants high earners – those earning roughly $ 250,000 a year or more – to pay higher taxes in order to put the burden of deficit reduction on those he says can best afford it.

Republicans have privately spoken of coming back at Obama with a threshold of $ 1 million. Obama has previously called that unacceptable because it would not raise enough money on its own to cut the deficit significantly or provide enough money to avert across-the-board spending cuts.

On entitlements, the president faces pressures of his own from Democrats, who see protecting Medicare, the government health insurance program for seniors, as a bedrock principle.

A major bloc of congressional Democrats has already signaled they will not accept major cutbacks in Medicare as part of any deal.

It was unclear on Saturday if the president had communicated his response to Boehner.

NOT A COMPLETE SURPRISE

Boehner’s shift did not come as a complete surprise. Recent polls have suggested little public support for his position and he has been getting pressure from Senate Republicans to be more flexible.

The massacre in Connecticut silenced fiscal cliff talk in public on Saturday as the both sides got ready for a final scramble, with sessions of the House now scheduled just days before Christmas.

Obama canceled a trip he had planned to make next Wednesday to Portland, Maine, to press his case for tax hikes for the wealthy. He is heading on Sunday to Newtown, the site of Friday’s school shootings, in which a gunman killed 20 children and six adults before taking his own life. The gunman also killed his mother, according to police.

Boehner of Ohio canceled the standard Republican radio response on Saturday to Obama “so that President Obama can speak for the entire nation at this time of mourning,” he said in a statement issued late on Friday.

The moratorium on cliff pronouncements masked a growing recognition the two sides could remain deadlocked at the end of the year on the key sticking points – taxes and entitlements.

Senate Republicans prodded their counterparts in the House to beat a retreat on tax hikes, in a fashion that would allow Obama’s proposal to pass the Republican-controlled House while allowing Republicans to cast a face-saving vote against it.

Republicans could then shift the debate onto territory they consider more favorable to them, cutting government spending to reduce the deficit.

“Just about everyone is throwing stuff on the wall to see if anything sticks,” one Republican aide said in reference to various proposals being discussed on how to proceed.

Alluding to public opinion polls, the aide added: “We know if there is no deal, we will get blamed.”

“We could win the argument on spending cuts,” said a Republican senator who asked not to be identified. “We aren’t winning the argument on taxes.”

However, Republican leaders in both chambers are leery about seeming to cave on taxes. “There’s concern that if we did that, Obama would simply declare victory and walk away and not address spending,” said one aide. “We don’t trust these guys.”

‘A BALANCED PLAN’

Some of the prodding was coming from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Don Stewart, a McConnell spokesman, said the minority leader in the Democratic-controlled Senate hasn’t embraced any single plan, but has discussed and circulated measures offered by fellow Senate Republicans.

“Senator McConnell does not advocate raising taxes on anybody or anything,” Stewart said.

“We’re focused on getting a balanced plan from the White House that will begin to solve the problem of our debt and deficit to improve the economy and create American jobs,” said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.

“Right now, all the president is offering is massive tax hikes with little or no spending cuts and reforms,” Steel said.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor scheduled “possible legislation related to expiring provisions of law,” a reference to the expiring tax cuts, for the end of the week, portending a weekend session.

Cantor has said the House would meet through the Christmas holidays and beyond.

Hopes expressed after the November 6 general election of some “grand bargain” on deficit reduction have all but disappeared, at least for this year.

This is partly because time is running out and partly the result of growing warnings from Democrats in Congress that they would not support big changes in the Medicare program, the government-run health insurance program for seniors that is a major contributor to the government’s debt.

House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California ruled out one frequently mentioned proposal – raising the age of eligibility for Medicare, in a December 12 CBS television interview.

Asked if she was drawing a “red line” around that idea, Pelosi said her comments were “something that says, ‘don’t go there,’ because it doesn’t produce money.

(Reporting by Thomas Ferraro, Richard Cowan and Kim Dixon; Editing by Fred Barbash and Todd Eastham)

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How to talk to your children about a school shooting

(Reuters) – When parents ask how they can comfort and reassure their children after a tragedy that receives extensive news coverage, the usual advice is to be supportive and reassuring but don’t offer false assurance, experts say.

“Children want to know they’re safe and will stay safe. Parents can convey that by what they say and how they behave,” said Dr. Victor Fornari, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at North Shore-LIJ Health System in New Hyde Park, New York.

But after a school shooting – especially one as horrific as that in Newtown, Connecticut, on Friday – the challenge of helping kids cope is enormously greater than after, say, a tornado wipes out a distant town. It also poses a much greater risk that children who hear about it will suffer a traumatic reaction.

“Schools are supposed to be safe and nurturing environments for children,” said Fornari. “This shatters that belief. Restoring the sense of security in school will take time.”

The way to do that isn’t to offer false assurances, experts say.

“I wouldn’t lie, because your credibility is very, very important,” said Dr. Michael Brody, a child psychiatrist and chairman of the Television and Media Committee of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. “To say this would never happen to you, I don’t think that is reasonable.”

But while parents need to be honest, they should also make clear that such tragedies are exceedingly rare.

“Parents can say emphatically, ‘your school is a very safe place,’” said David Finkelhor, professor of sociology and director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. “It’s a vanishingly rare occurrence, and schools are still the safest places kids can hang out in terms of violence.”

Parents should not let young children watch news coverage of the shootings, and might warn older children and teenagers away from looking for news and disturbing video of the tragedy on Twitter, Facebook and other sites they can access via smartphones.

AVOID UPSETTING DETAILS

As parents talk to their children about Newtown, they should avoid dwelling on upsetting details, such as exactly what the gunman did where and to whom. Younger children should be reassured that the shooting is over. With older children, parents might talk about their school’s safety protocols and emergency plans.

If a teenager argues that school wasn’t safe for Newtown’s children, parents can offer statistics. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that school homicides have fallen in the last 20 years from about 30 a year in the 1990s to 17 in 2010, the last year with complete data.

If the child has questions, parents should answer directly and in a straightforward way, said Dr. Joshua Kellman, clinical associate of psychiatry at the University of Chicago Medicine, matching the level of the response to the level of the child. If an 8 year old asks how someone could open fire on little kids sitting at their school desks, simply explaining that “sometimes something goes wrong with people and they are not thinking right,” should suffice, he said.

It can also be helpful to show children that normalcy prevails. The best way to do that is by sticking to standard weekend activities, said child psychologist Dr. Harold Koplewicz, president of Child Mind Institute, a nonprofit treatment, research and education organization in New York City. “Go Christmas shopping, go to church or synagogue, play a game, watch a video.”

Parents should keep in mind that grief, distress, anxiety and worse are normal human reactions to news that little children have been gunned down in their classroom, not signs of psychological illness. In other words, don’t assume that children who become clingy or withdrawn, who demand more parental attention, stop doing schoolwork, have trouble sleeping or regress (parents can expect young children to ask to sleep in their beds, said Fornari) need counseling.

“If their reactions do not seriously interfere with their lives, you shouldn’t necessarily seek out professional help,” said Fornari. “Children are resilient. Most will be able to cope with this traumatic event and be fine.”

The children who will have the hardest time coping are the 10 percent or so who already suffer from anxiety, typically as a result of an earlier trauma such as witnessing violence or losing a close relative, said Fornari. “Parents know if this describes their child, and should expect stronger reactions.”

That, of course, holds especially true for the survivors of the shooting. These children — and adults — are more likely to be psychologically traumatized, suffering flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts, re-living the sounds of gunshots and the chaos of being rushed out of their classrooms by police officers.

For them, said Fornari, “their lives will forever be marked as before and after December 14.”

(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen and Sharon Begley; Editing by Julian Mincer and Lisa Shumaker)

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Venezuela’s Chavez in delicate state after surgery

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is in stable but delicate condition after his latest cancer surgery, the government said on Wednesday in a somber assessment that could indicate an end to his 14-year rule.

“Having been through a complex and delicate surgery, he is now in an equally complex post-operation process,” Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said on national television. “We trust in his strength.”

In an earlier broadcast, Vice President Nicolas Maduro spoke of “difficult” times ahead, urging Venezuelans to pray for Chavez and to keep faith that he would come home soon from Cuba, where he underwent the surgery on Tuesday.

Chavez’s downturn has opened gaping uncertainty about the future of his self-styled socialist revolution in a nation of 29 million people with the world’s largest oil reserves.

A frequent critic of the United States, Chavez has spearheaded a resurgence of the left in Latin America, galvanized a global “anti-imperialist” alliance from Iran to Belarus and led a decade-long push by developing nations for greater control over natural resources.

A close ally, Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa, sought to put a more positive spin on the cancer operation, telling reporters in Quito that Chavez was doing all right.

“He is fine, even though the surgery was complex,” Correa said, but he added that the future was not certain.

“If the gravity of his illness meant he could not continue to lead Venezuela, the revolutions must continue, in Venezuela, in Ecuador, in Argentina, in Bolivia.”

At home, Chavez has won cult-like status among the poor with his charisma and oil-financed largesse from health clinics to free homes. But he has alienated business with frequent nationalizations and angered many Venezuelans by putting ideological crusades over basic services.

Maduro, whom Chavez has named as a preferred successor should he be incapacitated, offered no medical details on Wednesday but urged Venezuelans to stay hopeful.

PRAYER VIGILS

Supporters have been holding prayer vigils, while opponents also sent Chavez best wishes for a successful recovery. Senior government ministers and military commanders attended a Mass to pray for Chavez’s health, which was broadcast live on state TV.

“He is fighting for life,” the head of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, told the congregation.

In a plaza near the center of Caracas, neighbors came to write well wishes for Chavez on a white cloth. But government officials appeared to be cautiously preparing the president’s supporters for the worst.

Villegas said in a statement that Venezuelans should view Chavez’s situation like that of an ill relative and have faith that he will return.

“If he doesn’t, our people should be ready to understand. It would be irresponsible to hide the delicate nature of the moment we are currently living,” he wrote.

One government source said Chavez was in critical condition early on Wednesday, but since then his vital signs had improved.

State media ran hours of tributes to the president, and of rank-and-file supporters around the country gushing with admiration. “He is a second Jesus Christ,” one woman beamed.

The stakes also are enormous for allies around Latin America and the Caribbean who rely on generous oil subsidies and other aid from Chavez. President Raul Castro’s communist government in Cuba is particularly vulnerable because of its dependence on more than 100,000 barrels of oil per day from Venezuela.

Wall Street investors are also watching closely in the hope that Chavez’s intransigent socialism will give way to a more market-friendly administration.

Venezuela’s global bonds, which usually rise on bad news about Chavez’s health, saw a muted reaction on Wednesday.

The operation was Chavez’s fourth in Havana since mid-2011 for a recurring cancer in the pelvic region.

Opposition leaders have criticized the government for lack of transparency, pointing out that other Latin American leaders provided detailed reports of both diagnoses and treatments.

Chavez is due to start a new, six-year term on January 10 after his October re-election.

REGIONAL ELECTIONS LOOM

The Chavez health saga has eclipsed the buildup to regional elections on Sunday that will be an important test of political forces in Venezuela at such a pivotal moment.

Of most interest in the 23 state elections is opposition leader Henrique Capriles’ bid to retain the Miranda governorship against a challenge from former Vice President Elias Jaua.

Polls have been mixed with one showing Capriles way ahead and another giving Jaua a 5 percentage point lead.

Capriles must win if he is to retain credibility and be the opposition’s presidential candidate-in-waiting should Chavez’s cancer force a new election. Even though it may be premature, many Venezuelans already are asking themselves what a Capriles versus Maduro presidential election would be like.

Capriles, who favors a Brazilian-style government promoting open markets with firm welfare safeguards, won 44 percent in the election, a record 6.5 million votes for the opposition.

Although past polls have shown Capriles more popular than all of Chavez’s allies, that would not necessarily be the case against a Maduro candidacy imbued with Chavez’s personal blessing and with the power of the Socialist Party behind him.

(Additional reporting by Marianna Parraga, Eyanir Chinea, Mario Naranjo, Efrain Otero and Daniel Wallis in Caracas, and Eduardo Garcia in Quito.; Editing by Kieran Murray and Christopher Wilson)

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Chavez faces cancer surgery in Cuba, vows he’ll be back

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez flew to Cuba on Monday for cancer surgery, with a vow to return quickly despite conceding for the first time that the disease could end his 14-year rule of the South American OPEC nation.

“I leave full of hope. We are warriors, full of light and faith,” the ever-upbeat Chavez said before boarding the flight to Havana. “I hope to be back soon.”

Chavez, 58, pumped a fist in the air as he set off for the latest chapter of a tumultuous rule that has included a brief coup, persistent acrimony with the United States and frequent nationalizations, as well as wildly popular anti-poverty programs.

The socialist president first suffered an undisclosed form of cancer in the pelvic region in mid-2011. He had appeared to improve and easily won re-election in October but now faces a fourth round of surgery for a second cancer recurrence in the same area.

The news sparked a rally in Venezuela bonds on Monday, given many investors’ preference for more a business-friendly government in Caracas.

Chavez stunned Venezuelans over the weekend with his nationally televised announcement that more malignant cells had been found, despite twice having declared himself cured.

END OF AN ERA?

Chavez’s re-election in October was helped by heavy government spending on social programs and his intense emotional connection to followers who view him as a larger-than-life figure.

He is due to start a new six-year term on January 10.

His departure would mark the end of an era given his flamboyant leadership of Latin America’s hard left and self-appointed role as Washington’s main provocateur in the region.

Chavez has named Vice President and Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro as his preferred successor, urging supporters to vote for Maduro in the event of an election. The constitution stipulates a vote within 30 days should he be incapacitated.

In his first appearance following his anointment, Maduro wept as he vowed the country would remain faithful to Chavez and carry on his self-styled revolution.

“We are going to accompany President Chavez in prayer and in action,” Maduro said at a campaign rally for state governors. “We’ve been with (him) in the good times and bad times.”

Allies including former Vice President Elias Jaua and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez came forward with good wishes for the president. Ramirez read a statement from oil workers vowing unbending loyalty to Chavez and promising to support Maduro.

State media promoted a Twitter campaign for the president by splashing hashtags including #ElmundoestaconChavez (the world is with Chavez). By midday, it was one of the microblogging site’s top global trending topics.

The health saga has once again eclipsed major national issues such as state elections on Sunday, a widely expected devaluation of the bolivar currency and a proposed amnesty for Chavez’s jailed and exiled political foes.

If a new election were needed, the opposition could be in its best position to win since Chavez took power in 1999. Many voters have overlooked the government’s failings because of their deep emotional connection with the president.

But the opposition’s prospects may hinge on the result of the vote for Miranda state governor on Sunday. A loss there for Governor Henrique Capriles could fracture the coalition that backed him as a unity presidential candidate and spark a return to an era of infighting that benefited Chavez and his allies.

Capriles, 40, lost to Chavez in October but got 44 percent of the vote – a record 6.5 million votes for the opposition in the Chavez years.

Opposition leaders say Chavez’s condition is serious enough that he must officially step aside and temporarily designate the vice president to lead the country while he is in treatment.

Failure to do so, they say, could paralyze decision-making and lead to fighting within the ruling Socialist Party.

Chavez’s backing of Maduro was seen as a snub to Congress head Diosdado Cabello, who is widely considered Maduro’s rival despite their public statements to the contrary. Chavez pointedly called for unity and “no intrigue” before leaving.

The opposition also has criticized the secrecy surrounding the details of his medical condition and his snubbing of local doctors in favor of those in Cuba.

“Hiding information for partisan gain without regards for the good of the country is not democratic,” said Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, the leader of Venezuela’s Democratic Unity coalition.

Venezuela’s heavily traded global bonds rallied 2.81 percent in price, according to returns tallied by the J.P. Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index Plus (EMBI+).

INTERNATIONAL IMPACT

Chavez’s health has major implications for the region.

A handful of Latin American and Caribbean neighbors – from Cuba and Nicaragua to Bolivia and Ecuador – have come to depend on his oil-fueled largesse to bolster their fragile economies. OPEC member Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves.

War-torn Syria, which is facing tightening sanctions by the United States and the European Union, has received much-needed shipments of diesel from the sympathetic Chavez government.

Despite Chavez’s selection of Maduro, his “Chavismo” movement could disintegrate without him given rumored rivalries among the main players. Goldman Sachs analyst Alberto Ramos warned in a research note of “a possibly noisy, and not necessarily short, political transition in Venezuela.”

Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver and union leader, is the most popular of the senior “Chavistas” among the president’s working-class supporters, thanks to his affable manner, humble background and close ties to Chavez.

His six years as foreign minister have also given him good contacts in countries such as China and Russia. He has an easygoing style but is a firm believer in Chavez’s leftist policies and has often led fierce criticism of the United States.

Supporters have been holding vigils for Chavez around the country, and even though he was absent on Monday, his image was everywhere on state media and in public squares.

Messages of support also have poured in from abroad, and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, a fellow socialist, joined Chavez in Cuba.

“We’ve come in solidarity,” Correa said. “He is a historic president, a great friend … and most of all an extraordinary human being. You are not alone in your struggle.”

For latest news, follow us on Twitter @ReutersVzla

(Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago in Caracas, Walker Simon in New York, Sujata Rao in London, Nelson Acosta in Havana, Jack Kimball in Bogota; Editing by Kieran Murray and Xavier Briand)

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November tax receipts grow, deficit higher: CBO

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Government tax receipts grew at a healthy 6 percent pace in November as employment and wages improved, the Congressional Budget Office said on Friday, but the month’s deficit still rose, largely because of benefit payment calendar shifts.

Should the revenue growth trend continue, it could buy the U.S. Treasury Department slightly more time before it runs out of borrowing capacity early next year.

An increase in the federal debt limit is tangled up in the negotiations between President Barack Obama and Congress over how to deal with the year-end “fiscal cliff” of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts. Obama has sought permanent authority to lift the debt cap, while congressional Republicans intend to use the debt limit as leverage in their demands for deep cuts to federal health and retirement benefit programs.

The Treasury is on track to hit the $ 16.4 trillion debt limit December 31 when more government payments are due. It has a number of emergency maneuvers it can employ to keep borrowing for several more weeks.

Louis Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson ICAP in Jersey City, New Jersey, said Treasury could announce the first of these measures, suspending the sale of securities to state and local governments, as early as next week.

The move to suspend the so-called “slugs”, which are used by state and local governments to temporarily park the proceeds of their municipal bond issues, would allow the Treasury to gain more accurate control over its debt issuance.

As of Wednesday, the Treasury was just $ 95 billion below the debt limit.

MORE PAYROLL WITHHOLDING

The nonpartisan CBO said that for the first two months of the fiscal year that started October 1, receipts are $ 30 billion — or 10 percent — ahead of last year.

Much of the growth is coming from withheld income and payroll taxes from individuals — a sign that declines in unemployment and growth of wages are bearing fruit. These receipts are up $ 23 billion for October and November, or 8 percent from a year earlier.

Receipts from corporate income taxes, normally low at this time of year, declined slightly, but other revenues rose by $ 7 billion, or 22 percent. The Federal Reserve accounted for $ 4 billion of that increase, as it earned higher yields on the debt securities it holds, while excise tax receipts grew $ 2 billion.

The combined October-November deficit totaled $ 292 billion, about $ 57 billion more than the year-earlier period, CBO said. But it attributed the increase partly to the shift of December Social Security and other benefit payments into November. Without these shifts, the two-month deficit would have declined by $ 8 billion from year ago levels.

The shifts will also have the effect of reducing December’s outlays and deficit.

CBO said November’s deficit totaled $ 172 billion, up $ 35 billion from a year earlier. The U.S. Treasury is expected to announce final budget data for the month next week.

Excluding calendar shifts, U.S. government outlays are growing at a slightly slower pace, 3.7 percent for the first two months of the fiscal year compared to the prior-year period.

The biggest gains in outlays came from the programs that Republicans want to cut deeply: 8 percent each for the Social Security and Medicare programs for the elderly, and 9 percent for Medicaid, which serves the poor.

Net interest costs were up $ 2 billion, or 5 percent, but spending on unemployment benefits fell by $ 4 billion, or 22 percent.

(Additional reporting by Rachelle Younglai. Editing by Fred Barbash and M.D. Golan)

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