Citizen Cartwright

Impossible to avoid a government shutdown?

After Saturday’s late-night House vote on a three-month, $986 billion government funding bill that would delay Obamacare for a year, some House GOP lawmakers were angry that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., kept the Senate closed on Sunday and isn't planning action on the House measure until Monday afternoon — hours before the government’s spending authority runs out at midnight.

At that point, the Senate is expected to send back to the House a budget bill stripped of any add-on provisions.

One idea being talked about by House Republican lawmakers Sunday was to tell Reid that he had to accept a face-saving measure, like a repeal of the tax on medical devices, which many Democrats support, or they will send back a new amendment that would force members of Congress, their staffs and White House staff to buy their medical insurance on Obamacare's new insurance exchanges, without any subsidies from the government to offset the cost.

Republicans expressed certainty that for all the discomfort a shutdown would inflict on Capitol Hill, Democrats wouldn't risk it to protect their own benefits.

NSA tracking Americans' social ties

In addition to phone records and email logs, the National Security Agency uses Facebook and other social media profiles to create maps of social connections, including those of American citizens, The New York Times reported on Sunday, citing documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Housing agency needs a bailout

The Federal Housing Administration said on Friday it needs its first taxpayer-funded bailout of $1.7 billion to cover projected losses on loans it insured from 2007 to 2009 and in its reverse mortgage programs, which allow seniors to borrow against their homes for everyday living expenses.

Sell-by dates on food 'useless'

Date labels frequently are so inscrutable and vary so much from state to state that they're essentially worthless as information, says The Washington Post, citing a report from the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic.

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'No clear path' to avoid shutdown

House leaders emerged from an emergency meeting late Thursday afternoon with "no clear path forward," after about two dozen hard-liners rejected their plan to keep the government running by shifting the fight against Obamacare to the coming debt limit battle, says The Washington Post.

And in their efforts to get the support of their troops, the House leaders had only widened the partisan divisions, says The New York Times.

Behind closed doors on Thursday, they proposed a legislative Christmas tree of demands for a debt ceiling increase that included: delaying Obamacare, fast-track authority to overhaul the tax code, construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, offshore oil and gas production, more permitting of energy exploration on federal lands, rolling back regulations on coal ash, blocking new EPA regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, eliminating a $23 billion fund to ensure the orderly dissolution of failed major banks, eliminating mandatory contributions to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, limiting medical malpractice lawsuits and increasing means testing for Medicare — among other things.

Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, the number two Senate Democrat, said: “The House is attaching the Republican Party platform to the debt ceiling. In a week full of absurdities, this one takes the cake.”

Tea Party support at 'near-record low'

As Washington braces for another budget showdown, 22 percent of Americans back the Tea Party — nearly matching the record low found two years ago, according to a Gallup poll.

More certainty about climate change

The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says in a report released early Friday that it's more certain than ever that humans are the main cause of global warming and warns that the impact of greenhouse gas emissions will be felt for centuries.

Temperatures are likely to rise by between 0.3 and 4.8 degrees Celsius (0.5 to 8.6 degrees Fahrenheit) by the late 21st century, according to the report.

The low end of the range only can be achieved if governments sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions, the IPCC says.

U.N. agreement on Syria

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have agreed on a resolution that would require Syria to give up its chemical weapons. It doesn't include automatic penalties for noncompliance.

Meanwhile, U.S. and Russian officials now believe that the vast majority of Syria’s nerve agent stockpile could be neutralized relatively quickly, lowering the risk that the toxins could be hidden away by the regime or stolen by terrorists, says The Washington Post.

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Diplomatic theater aside, will Iran's Rouhani deliver a compromise with the West?

War crimes court upholds conviction, 50-year sentence of former Liberian leader Charles Taylor

Sens. Wyden, Feinstein unveil bills to overhaul NSA surveillance practices

FBI has been using drones in domestic investigations since 2006, watchdog says

Glitch delaying online tools for Obamacare insurance marketplaces

SEC sharpening its focus on individual wrongdoers, not just companies

Will California’s boost of minimum wage to $10 an hour motivate other states to act?

White House to announce nearly $300 million in new and 're-purposed' grants for Detroit

Many big cities face serious pension debt, Moody's report says

Under pressure to offer healthier meals, McDonald's announces marketing, menu changes