Boxer adds to calls for Calif. lawmaker to resign

AAAMar. 27, 2014 5:09 PM ET
Boxer adds to calls for Calif. lawmaker to resign
By JULIET WILLIAMSBy JULIET WILLIAMS, Associated Press  

State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, right, D-Sacramento, is consoled by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, after Steinberg and fellow Democrats called for Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, to resign his seat in the wake of his arrest on federal corruption and firearm charges, during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. Steinberg said lawmakers will immediately suspend Yee unless he steps down. The announcement comes hours after Yee was arrested and appeared in federal court. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, right, D-Sacramento, is consoled by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, after Steinberg and fellow Democrats called for Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, to resign his seat in the wake of his arrest on federal corruption and firearm charges, during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. Steinberg said lawmakers will immediately suspend Yee unless he steps down. The announcement comes hours after Yee was arrested and appeared in federal court. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, talks to reporters after he called for Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, to resign his seat in the wake of his arrest on federal corruption and firearm charges, during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. Steinberg said lawmakers will immediately suspend Yee unless he steps down. The announcement comes hours after Yee was arrested and appeared in federal court.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, center, D-Sacramento, calls for Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, to resign his seat in the wake of his arrest on federal corruption and firearm charges, during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. Flanked by fellow Senate Democrats, including Sen. Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles, left, and Mark Leno, of San Francisco, Steinberg said lawmakers will immediately suspend Yee unless he steps down. The announcement comes hours after Yee was arrested and appeared in federal court. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, center, D-Sacramento, calls for Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, to resign his seat in the wake of his arrest on federal corruption and firearm charges, during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. Flanked by fellow Senate Democrats, including Sen. Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles, left, and Mark Leno, of San Francisco, Steinberg said lawmakers will immediately suspend Yee unless he steps down. The announcement comes hours after Yee was arrested and appeared in federal court. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, center, D-Sacramento, calls for Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, to resign his seat in the wake of his arrest on federal corruption and firearm charges, during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. Flanked by fellow Senate Democrats, including Sen. Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles, left, and Mark Leno, of San Francisco, Steinberg said lawmakers will immediately suspend Yee unless he steps down. The announcement comes hours after Yee was arrested and appeared in federal court. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Sen. Barbara Boxer is calling on a Democratic California state senator to resign from office following his arrest on public corruption and firearms charges.

Boxer on Thursday joined the Democratic leader of the Senate in demanding Yee to resign or face suspension by his colleagues. So far, Yee has only announced he is dropping out of the Secretary of State race.

Yee’s lawyer says the senator plans to plead not guilty to charges of accepting more than $ 42,000 to influence legislation and introduce an undercover FBI agent to an arms trafficker.

Yee’s spokesman and chief of staff did not return calls for comment.

Boxer said she supports the investigation, which sends a message that there is no place in public life for criminals who violate the public trust.

Associated Press

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News Topics: General news, Government and politics, Elections, Political resignations, State legislature, Political corruption, Legislature, Indictments, State governments, Political issues, Law and order

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Boxer adds to calls for Calif. lawmaker to resign

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Louie Gohmert adds Palin ‘can see Russia from my house’ to the Congressional Record

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Louie Gohmert adds Palin ‘can see Russia from my house’ to the Congressional Record

Hagel adds urgency to push for ethics crackdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — Concerned that ethical problems inside the military might run deeper than he realized, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered service leaders Wednesday to add urgency to their drive to ensure “moral character and moral courage” in a force emerging from more than a decade of war.

Almost a year into his tenure as Pentagon chief, Hagel had been worried by a string of ethics scandals that produced a wave of unwelcome publicity for the military. But in light of new disclosures this week, including the announcement of alleged cheating among senior sailors in the nuclear Navy, Hagel decided to push for a fuller accounting.

Last month the Air Force revealed it was investigating widespread cheating on proficiency tests among nuclear missile launch officers in Montana, and numerous senior officers in all branches of the armed forces have been caught in embarrassing episodes of personal misbehavior, inside and outside the nuclear force. The Air Force also is pursuing a drug use investigation, and a massive bribery case in California has ensnared six Navy officers so far.

At the same time, hundreds of soldiers and others are under criminal investigation in what the Army describes as a widespread scheme to take fraudulent payments and kickbacks from a National Guard recruiting program.

The steady drumbeat of one military ethics scandal after another has caused many to conclude that the misbehavior reflects more than routine lapses.

“He definitely sees this as a growing problem,” Hagel’s chief spokesman, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, told a Pentagon news conference Wednesday after Hagel met privately with the top uniformed and civilian officials of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

“And he’s concerned about the depth of it,” Kirby said. “I don’t think he could stand here and tell you that he has — that anybody has — the full grasp here, and that’s what worries (Hagel) is that maybe he doesn’t have the full grasp of the depth of the issue, and he wants to better understand it.”

Hagel’s predecessor, Leon Panetta, had launched an effort to crack down on ethics failures more than a year ago, and the matter has been a top priority for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, for even longer.

Kirby said Hagel has come to realize that he needs to investigate as well.

“We don’t fully know right now what we’re grappling with here and how deep and serious it is,” Kirby said. “And I think, you know, for a leader at his level with the responsibilities that he carries every day, not knowing something like that is something to be concerned about. And he wants to know more.”

Hagel believes that the vast majority of military members are “brave, upright and honest,” and he is encouraged by efforts already under way to curb misconduct, including sexual assaults, Kirby said.

But Hagel told the service leaders Wednesday that he “also believes there must be more urgency behind these efforts” and that all Pentagon leaders must “put renewed emphasis on developing moral character and moral courage in our force.”

Kirby was asked whether Hagel believes ethics lapses are a symptom of over-use of the military for the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“He believes that that is a factor that should be looked at,” the spokesman said.

A significant portion of the concern about military misbehavior is aimed at two segments of the nuclear force: the Air Force’s land-based nuclear missile corps, and the Navy’s training program for operators of nuclear reactors used as propulsion systems for submarines and aircraft carriers. Neither of those fields was directly involved in significant ways in either of the wars since 2001.

The Navy announced on Tuesday that it had opened an investigation into cheating allegations against about 30 senior sailors representing about one-fifth of its instructors at a Charleston, S.C.,-based school for naval nuclear power reactor operators.

Unlike an Air Force cheating probe that has implicated nearly 100 officers responsible for land-based nuclear missiles that stand ready for short-notice launch, those implicated in the Navy investigation have no responsibility for nuclear weapons.

The Navy said its implicated sailors are accused of having cheated on written tests they must pass to be certified as instructors at the nuclear propulsion school. A number of them are alleged to have transmitted test information to other instructors from their home computers, which if verified would be a violation of restrictions on the use and transmission of classified information.

The matter is being probed by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

Separately, Kirby announced that the Pentagon has picked two retired officers to lead an independent review of personnel problems inside the Air Force and Navy nuclear forces. They are Larry Welch, a former Air Force chief of staff, and John Harvey, a retired Navy admiral and nuclear-trained surface warfare officer.

Associated Press

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Thai anti-government protester killed, adds to doubts over election

BANGKOK (Reuters) – A Thai anti-government protest leader was shot and killed in Bangkok on Sunday when violence erupted as demonstrators blocked early voting in many areas of the capital ahead of a disputed election next week.

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U.S. Olympic Committee Adds Sexual Orientation To Discrimination Rules

Months ahead of the Winter Olympics in Russia, where controversy surrounds a law that targets homosexuality, the U.S. Olympic Committee adds protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation to its policies.

“The fact that we do not think it is our role to advocate for a change in the Russian law does not mean that we support the law, and we do not,” USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said.

The organization’s board adopted the measure after its chairman, Larry Probst, said he would support adding sexual orientation to the International Olympic Committee’s non-discrimination policies.

“Americans are among Olympic athletes who’ve expressed outrage about the law,” NPR’s Howard Berkes reports for our Newscast unit. “The International Olympic Committee has warned athletes that engaging in political protest during the Olympics violates the Olympic Charter. The USOC is pushing the international Olympic body to also ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.”

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U.S. Olympic Committee Adds Sexual Orientation To Discrimination Rules

U.S. Olympic Committee Adds Sexual Orientation To Discrimination Rules

Months ahead of the Winter Olympics in Russia, where controversy surrounds a law that targets homosexuality, the U.S. Olympic Committee adds protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation to its policies.

“The fact that we do not think it is our role to advocate for a change in the Russian law does not mean that we support the law, and we do not,” USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said.

The organization’s board adopted the measure after its chairman, Larry Probst, said he would support adding sexual orientation to the International Olympic Committee’s non-discrimination policies.

“Americans are among Olympic athletes who’ve expressed outrage about the law,” NPR’s Howard Berkes reports for our Newscast unit. “The International Olympic Committee has warned athletes that engaging in political protest during the Olympics violates the Olympic Charter. The USOC is pushing the international Olympic body to also ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.”

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U.S. Olympic Committee Adds Sexual Orientation To Discrimination Rules

Japan growth slows in second quarter, adds to sales tax uncertainty

1 of 4. A fishmonger tends to his store in Tokyo August 12, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Issei Kato

By Leika Kihara and Stanley White

TOKYO | Mon Aug 12, 2013 12:11am EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s economy grew at a slower-than-expected rate in the second quarter, offering ammunition to those seeking to delay a scheduled sales tax increase even as government debt has risen past 1,000 trillion yen ($ 10.4 trillion).

Capital expenditure unexpectedly fell for a sixth straight quarter, a sign that companies are yet to boost spending despite the feel-good mood generated by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s reflationary policies over the first half of 2013.

The world’s third-largest economy grew an annualized 2.6 percent in April-June, a third straight quarter of expansion but below both a forecast of 3.6 percent growth and a downwardly revised 3.8 percent rate in the first quarter.

“Private consumption came out stronger than expected but capital spending and inventory disappointed,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.

“Growth above 2 percent is still considered high, so it wouldn’t lead to a complete postponement of the sales tax hike. But the government could make tax hikes more incremental, without delaying the timing.”

The Nikkei 225 share average fell to a six-week low on the weaker than expected data, with analysts saying confidence was hit by the combination of weak capital spending and the expected sales tax increase affecting consumption.

Abe was elected last December on a platform of aggressive fiscal and monetary stimulus to revive Japan’s economy.

An immediate impact of ‘Abenomics’ was a sharp weakening of the yen, a surge in share prices and exceptionally strong personal consumption in early 2013, but there are questions over his commitment to the third leg – structural reform.

As part of efforts to curb its debt, which is about double the size of its GDP, Japan is due to raise its 5 percent sales tax rate to 8 percent next April and then to 10 percent in October 2015

Public debt exceeded 1 quadrillion yen — or 1,000 trillion yen — for the first time in June, Finance Ministry data shows, highlighting the need for higher taxes or other new revenue.

But the GDP data may weaken the case for the tax hike, and sources have said Abe is worried it may dampen spending and delay Japan’s escape from 15 year of deflation.

“Growth is lower than I expected, so you cannot say that the conditions are appropriate to raise taxes as scheduled,” Etsuro Honda, a professor at Shizuoka University and an influential adviser to Abe, told Reuters.

STRONG SPENDING, WEAK INVESTMENT

On a quarter-to-quarter basis, Japan’s economy grew 0.6 percent in April-June, data released by the Cabinet Office showed on Monday. External demand added 0.2 percentage point to growth, while domestic demand contributed 0.5 point.

Private consumption rose 0.8 percent from the March quarter, more than a median market forecast of a 0.5 percent increase, on robust spending on food, travel and consumer electronics.

But capital expenditure slid 0.1 percent, much weaker than a median market forecast for a 0.7 percent increase and marking the sixth straight quarter of decline.

“The economy has been steadily rising since inauguration of the Abe administration last year,” Abe told reporters.

“I’ll continue to take all possible care about the economy. I’d like to focus on the economy, including implementation of further growth strategies in the autumn.”

Government officials have said the preliminary GDP data and revised figures due on September 9 would be key factors in the tax debate, with a final decision possible by early October.

Critics of the planned two-stage tax hike are calling for a delay or at least a more moderate pace of increase.

Honda has repeatedly said he favors raising the sales tax by 1 percent per year and that he is worried about Japan’s progress in escaping 15 years of mild deflation.

But Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has said the tax hikes are needed and would not hurt the economy. Kuroda has also said Japan can raise taxes and still escape deflation.

($ 1 = 96.2550 Japanese yen)

(Additional reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto, Shinichi Saoshiro and Chris Gallagher; Editing by John Mair)

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