US News - News February 22, 2012

Source: Obama Seeks 28 Percent Corp. Tax Rate (MyFoxAtlanta)
President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even lower effective rate for manufacturers, a senior administration official says, as the White House lays down an election-year marker in the debate over tax policy.

Town Can Ban Hydrofracking, N.Y. Judge Rules (nytimes)
In a victory for opponents of the drilling process known as hydrofracking, a New York State judge ruled on Tuesday that the upstate town of Dryden in Tompkins County can ban natural gas drilling within its boundaries. In August, Dryden's Town Board used its zoning laws to pass a drilling ban, one salvo in a battle that is playing out nationwide as energy companies move to drill in densely populated areas.

Santorum's Anti-Environmentalism (consortiumnews)
On "Face the Nation" last Sunday, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum accused President Barack Obama of embracing a "phony ideal" of environmental theology that puts protection of the Earth above man's desire to extract its resources, while grabbing more power for the government."When you have a worldview that elevates the Earth above man and says we can't take those resources because we're going to harm the Earth … it's just all an attempt to centralize power, to give more power to the government," the former Pennsylvania senator said.

The GOP's Big Investors (robertreich)
Have you heard of William Dore, Foster Friess, Sheldon Adelson, Harold Simmons, Peter Thiel, or Bruce Kovner? If not, let me introduce them to you. They're running for the Republican nomination for president. I know, I know. You think Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, and Mitt Romney are running. They are – but only because the people listed in the first paragraph have given them huge sums of money to do so. In a sense, Santorum, Gingrich, Paul, and Romney are the fronts. Dore et al. are the real investors.

Obama housing chief Edward DeMarco under fire from California Democrats (scpr)
Federal Housing Finance Agency Acting Director Edward DeMarco testifies before the House Financial Services Committee's Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Dec.

FHFA releases plan for Freddie, Fannie exit (washingtonpost)
A federal housing regulator released a plan Tuesday for beginning to wind down mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and prepare for the future of the nation's housing market.

DeMarco "Completely Puzzled" Over Derivatives Flap (forbes)
FHFA head: "inverse floaters" were "nothing unusualThe chief of the Federal Housing Finance Agency told NPR he was "completely puzzled" by the uproar over investments that critics said were a bet against homeowners refinancing their mortgages.

Obama Reportedly Seeking 28% Corporate Tax Rate (npr)
President Obama is proposing to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even lower effective rate for manufacturers, a senior administration official says, as the White House lays down an election-year marker in the debate over tax policy.In turn, corporations would have to give up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy. Corporations with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on their foreign earnings

Supreme Court to Hear Affirmative Action Case (nytimes)
In a 2003 decision that the majority said it expected would last for 25 years, the Supreme Court allowed public colleges and universities to take account of race in admission decisions. On Tuesday, the court signaled that it might end such affirmative action much sooner than that. By agreeing to hear a major case involving race-conscious admissions at the University of Texas, the court thrust affirmative action back into the public and political discourse after years in which it had mostly faded from view.

NYPD does its homework (nydailynews)
12 radical Islamist terrorist participated in such a group. The president of Yale University has gotten his gown into a twist because NYPD anti-terror detectives appear to have checked out the website of the school's student Muslim association. Hypothesis: Smart people can be pretty naive. Proof: President Richard Levin's statement decrying "disturbing news reports" that the department's Intelligence Division "may have conducted improper surveillance of Muslim students."

Santorum in '08: 'Satan has his sights on the United States of America' (nydailynews)
Appears to imply Obama presidency would be sign of looming holy war "The Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies would have his sights on," Santorum tells a Florida university crowd.

Santorum challenges policy on prenatal testing (articles.cnn)
tests like amniocentesisThe government shouldn't make health care providers fully cover prenatal tests like amniocentesis, which can determine the possibility of Down syndrome or other fetal problems, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum said Sunday.

Obama to help new national black history museum break ground (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
A new national museum telling the history of black life, art, and culture will soon begin taking shape as the 19th museum in the Smithsonian Institution to explore stories that have sometimes been left out on the National Mall.

Colorado woman must turn over computer hard drive (WHDH)
Readily available, easy-to-use software can encrypt a computer hard drive so thoroughly it would take years for a hacker to break in.

Super donors to super political committees: $1 million donors prop up presidential candidates (Medincine Hat News)
In this Feb. 18, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, speaks in Boise, Idaho.

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