Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/310107
ByStephenOhlemacher TheAssociatedPress WASHINGTON The House voted Friday to make per- manent a tax credit that re- wards businesses for invest- ing in research and devel- opment, pushing Congress toward an election-year showdown over a series of expired tax breaks that are popular back home but add billions to the budget deficit. The research tax credit expired at the beginning of the year, along with more than 50 other temporary tax breaks that Congress routinely extends. HouseRepublicanssaidFri- day's vote was the beginning ofabroaderefforttoaddmore certainty to the tax code. In the coming weeks, they hope to vote on bills to make more temporary tax breaks perma- nent, though they have yet to decide on which ones. "Beyond having the dubi- ous distinction of the highest corporate rate in the world, the United States is also the only country that allows important pieces of its tax code, like the research and development tax credit, to expire on a regular basis," said Rep. Dave Camp, R- Mich., chairman of the tax- writing House Ways and Means Committee. Camp noted that the re- search credit has been around since 1981 and has been renewed many times with broad bipartisan sup- port. Friday's bill passed by a vote of 274 to 131, with 62 Democrats joining nearly every Republican in sup- port. President Barack Obama supports making the re- search and development tax credit permanent. But the White House threatened to veto the House bill because it isn't offset by other tax in- creases. The veto message noted that if all the 50-plus temporary tax breaks were made permanent, it would "add $500 billion or more" to the deficit. WASHINGTON Ho us e vo te s to expand on research tax breaks By Eric Tucker The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Jus- tice Department does not have to turn over informa- tion on cases involving war- rantless cellphone tracking if the cases ended without a defendant's conviction, a di- vided federal appeals court ruled Friday in upholding privacy protections for peo- ple acquitted of crimes. The ruling came in a pub- lic records lawsuit brought by the American Civil Lib- erties Union, which had re- quested information on all federal cases in which pros- ecutors had obtained cell- phone data without a war- rant to track a user's where- abouts. The Justice Department earlier released information on cases that resulted in a conviction, but the ACLU also sought information about the small number of such cases that ended in a defendant's favor. The U.S. Court of Ap- peals for the District of Co- lumbia Circuit previously held that the Justice De- partment was obligated un- der the Freedom of Infor- mation Act to disclose the case name and docket in- formation on warrantless cellphone tracking prose- cutions that ended with a conviction. But in a 2-1 deci- sion Friday, the judges said defendants who are acquit- ted or have had the charges against them dismissed en- joy extra privacy interests that outweigh the public benefit in disclosing that in- formation. Though the appeal turned on a small number of cases, the dispute nonetheless un- folded against the backdrop of ever-advancing law en- forcement technologies and the ongoing debate over pri- vacy protections. "While this attention would have been warranted at the time of indictment, now that these defendants have been acquitted or had the relevant charges dis- missed they have a signifi- cant and justified interest in avoiding additional and un- necessary publicity," Judge David Tatel wrote. "Once a person has been publicly indicted, and that information is easily avail- able on the Internet, it's just unrealistic to say that the person has an ongoing in- terest in the privacy of his public indictment" that out- weighs the public's right to know what happened, said Arthur Spitzer, the legal di- rector of the ACLU in Wash- ington. He said he was dis- appointed by the decision. The Justice Department, in responding to the ACLU lawsuit, identified 229 prose- cutions since 2001 in which a judge had approved the gov- ernment's request to obtain cellphone tracking data without making a finding of probable cause. The depart- ment refused to turn the list over, but after an earlier ap- peals court decision, ulti- mately released docket in- formation for 214 cases that resulted in guilty pleas or convictions. Since the ACLU didn't challenge the Justice De- partment's authority to withhold information on sealed cases, the only cases at issue in the appeal were six that ended with acquit- tal or dropped charges. Judge Janice Rogers Brown dissented from the majority opinion, saying the six disputed cases already exist in the public domain and can easily be accessed through a Google search or other means. "An individual who is in- dicted and tried has no pri- vacy interest that can pro- tect the public record of prosecution from disclosure — even if the ultimate out- come was acquittal or dis- missal," she wrote. PHONE TRACKING Co ur t si de s wi th U S in c el l re co rd s ca se By Bradley Klapper The Associated Press WASHINGTON Despite Democratic complaints, Re- publicans jumped into a new election-season investigation of the deadly Benghazi as- sault on Friday, naming ma- jority members of a special House committee. Demo- crats mulled a boycott of the panel, which is inspiring bit- ter partisanship before even starting its work. House Speaker John Boehner immediately took to social media to highlight his seven-member Republican team. Democrats have five seats to fill, if they decide to participate at all in what Mi- nority Leader Nancy Pelosi derided as a "political stunt." "For whatever reason, ev- erything seems to be parti- san," acknowledged Rep. Trey Gowdy, a second-term Republican and former pros- ecutor from South Carolina whom Boehner picked last week to head the committee. Gowdy expressed his hope that a fair Benghazi investi- gation would transcend pol- itics, but he also suggested Democrats would have to accept that "one side gets more strikes than the other side when you're constitut- ing a jury." The Republicans' roster includes veterans of previ- ous House examinations of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. The House approved the formation of the commit- tee Thursday, with every Republican voting in favor and only seven Democrats crossing party lines to join them. It is the eighth investi- gation thus far on Benghazi. The panel is authorized to work through the end of the year, past November's mid- term elections when the GOP hopes to win control of the Senate. The Benghazi attack has become a conservative ral- lying cry, with Republicans accusing the Obama admin- istration of intentionally misleading the public about the nature of the attack and stonewalling congressional investigators. The rest of Boehner's team includes four members of Congress who have inves- tigated Benghazi already: the Intelligence Commit- tee's Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia and Mike Pompeo of Kansas, the Foreign Affairs Committee's Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Martha Roby of Alabama, until recently an Armed Services Committee member. The others are Su- san Brooks of Indiana and Peter Roskam of Illinois. Democrats weighed their options as Pelosi sought a meeting with Boehner to discuss the operating rules of the special investigation. Boehner has rejected the Democrats' request for equal membership on the panel. Democrats say they'll participate nonethe- less if they get GOP guaran- tees of fair access to docu- ments, a voice on subpoenas and an equal chance to ques- tion witnesses. They say Re- publicans denied them such rights in a separate Beng- hazi probe. WASHINGTON Benghazi probe inspires partisanship By Michael R. Sisak The Associated Press STAMFORD, CONN. Last call came Friday for the bar cars on commuter trains between Manhattan and Connecticut, a final run for rolling taverns where city workers gathered for de- cades to play dice, find jobs and hold annual Christmas parties with a jazz band. The cars on the Metro- North Railroad are be- lieved to be the last of their kind in the United States. With their faux-wood pan- eling on the walls and red leather lounges, they evoke New York's "Mad Men" era of martini lunches. On the 7:07 p.m. train to New Haven a day earlier, commuters snapped pho- tos and recorded videos of the cars that became much more than places to simply have a drink. "ImovedtoConnecticut10 years ago, but I never would have met as many friends as I've met. It all started on the bar car, really," said Nan BuziakLexow."It'sa sad day for all of us." Herhusband,FredLexow, was a regular bar car rider for more than 20 years and was one of the original dice players. When he died in September 2012, she de- scribed him in his obituary as "a former regular rider of the 523 Club from Grand Central." Fellow bar car rid- ers attended his wake. Bar- tenders sent flowers. The bar cars, which date back at least 50 years, are being retired because they cannot be coupled to a new fleet of train cars on the New Haven line. Transpor- tation officials are hoping to buy new bar cars or retrofit some, but no decisions have been made yet. Amtrak still serves alco- hol in its dining cars. But the American Public Trans- portation Association says Metro-North is believed to be the last commuter rail line with bar cars. "It was part of the com- muter railroad experi- ence," said Art Guzzetti, the group's vice president for policy. "One by one they've been going away." The annual Christmas party until a few years ago featured a five-piece jazz band underwritten by a rider. The bar cars were also a place to make con- tacts for new jobs and for pranks, like gluing cans to the bar to trick one man who would come through and guzzle half-drunk beers, riders say. Kyle Elliott said he started riding in the bar car 10 years ago but a job change two years ago has kept him away. He returned Thursday after hearing they were making their last runs. "I know all these peo- ple," Elliott said. "I've been to parties in the summer at their homes. I know their children. I've been to fu- nerals of people that I've known in this bar car. We've shared all the things that you share with your friends in life through meeting each other in this bar car." Meghan Miller, of Bran- ford, who's been riding the bar car since 1997, said she showed up for the birth of a fellow rider's child before he did because she was on an earlier train and the rid- er's wife had called her as his emergency contact. She said bar car riders would buy her drinks and smok- ing used to be allowed. "This is very much 1963. It is a very 'Mad Men' vibe," she said. "That would be in- credibly appropriate. If fe- males are going to be on the bar car, you're expected to hold your own." Mark DelMonte, of Wall- ingford, was known as the "mayor of the 5:48," send- ing email alerts to fellow bar car regulars updating them on which of the dwin- dling number of bar cars were rolling. "I wanted to take one of these cars, because they're going away, and put it in my backyard," DelMonte said. "It's ugly. It's orange. But it's nostalgic and we love it." LAST CALL Ba r ca rs m ak e fin al r un o n NY C- ar ea t ra ins MICHAELR.SISAK—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Mark DeMonte, right, of Wallingford, Conn., join other riders in the bar car on the 7:07 p.m. train to New Haven, Conn., at Grand Central Terminal on Thursday in New York. By Stephen Ohlemacher The Associated Press WASHINGTON When it comes to baby names, blending in is out, and standing out is in. Noah and Sophia top the Social Security Ad- ministration's list of most popular American baby names for 2013, but they don't begin to approach the popularity of past gen- eration favorites like John and Mary. Noah sailed past Ja- cob to claim the top spot for boys, ending Jacob's 14-year reign. Sophia was No. 1 for the third straight year in the list released Friday. Noah was followed by Liam, Jacob, Mason and William. Sophia was fol- lowed by Emma, Olivia, Isabella and Ava. Newgeneration, new names But none of these names is nearly as popular as the top names were a gener- ation ago. Why? Because more and more parents are looking to give their children names that will set them apart, instead of worrying about whether they will fit in. "Names have more widely become seen as a personal brand, a state- ment of individual style and personality, and so people are looking for a name that's different from what other people have," said Pamela Redmond Sa- tran, co-founder of Name- berry.com. "In the 1950s, everybody was looking to blend in." Last year, a little more than 18,000 newborns were named Noah. Twenty years ago, almost 50,000 newborns were named Mi- chael, the top name that year. In 1950, when James was No. 1, there were more than 86,000 newborns with that name. It's the same story for the girls. About 21,000 newborns were named Sophia last year. Twenty years ago, 35,000 babies were named Jessica. In 1950, more than 80,000 were named Linda, the top name for girls that year. "In the past, most par- ents were picking from a pretty well-defined set of names," said Laura Wat- tenberg, creator of Baby- namewizard.com. "Liter- ally for hundreds of years, the English royal names dominated. You had John and Mary and James and Elizabeth." "Today," she said, "we get names everywhere." Jacob first rose to No. 1 in 1999. In the 45 years be- fore that, Michael was king for all but one. Girl names more varied There has been more va- riety among the girls. Mary dominated the first half of the 20th century. But in the past two decades, Em- ily, Emma, Isabella and Jes- sica have all spent time at the top. "People are not as cre- ative with boys' names," said Jennifer Moss, founder of Babynames.com. "I find that when I'm working with parents, the father tends to be more conservative about boys names. His No. 1 con- cern is always, 'Oh, I don't want it to be too crazy or he'll be teased on the play- ground.'" The Social Security Ad- ministration's website pro- vides lists of the top 1,000 baby names for each year, dating to 1880. The top baby names that year were John and Mary. John is now No. 27 and Mary has fallen to No. 121. Social Security also charts the fastest-rising names each year. These names may not be in the top 10 or even the top 100, but they moved up more spots than any other. For girls, the runaway winner was Daleyza, which jumped a whopping 3,130 spots, to No. 585. Daleyza is the name of the young daughter of Larry Hernan- dez, a singer who stars in a Spanish-language real- ity TV show called "Larry- mania." "Reality TV is one of the biggest style makers today because it gives us a con- stant new stream of names from all over the place," Wattenberg said. Among the other top risers for girls: Marjorie, Lennon and Jurnee. Ju- rnee Smollett-Bell is an actress who starred in the TV show "Friday Night Lights." For boys, the fastest ris- ing name was Jayceon, which jumped 845 spots, to No. 206. Two hip hop artists are named Jayceon. One simply goes by the name Jayceon. The other, Jayceon Terrell Taylor, is a rapper who goes by the stage name The Game. Among the other top ris- ers for boys: Milan, Atlas, Jayse and Duke. CHILDREN Tops in tags: Noah, Sophia are favorite baby names "Names have more widely become seen as a personal brand, a statement of individual style and personality, and so people are looking for a name that's different from what other people have." — Pamela Redmond Satran, co-founder of Nameberry.com The Daily News will feature a special section of photos and write-ups on over 75 "Students of Distinction" from middle and high schools across the county. This project has been created in cooperation with the Tehama County Department of Education. Selections of students featured will be made by schools and Teachers. The supplement will be published as a special section of the newspaper and as a digital page-turn online edition on www.redbluffdailynews.com through May of 2015! To sponsor a student's photo and accomplishments is just $59 for 1 sponsorship and $55 each for multiples. Local businesses, professionals, educators, local citizens: All are welcome to support Tehama County's most accomplished students, and demonstrate support of local education in the process. Sponsor Deadline: Friday, May 23 Sponsors will be identified in a 3" tall by 1 column wide space at the bottom of each student salute. This special will appear in the full run of the Daily News on Thursday, May 29, 2014 Daily News advertising representatatives can help you decide what to say. Limited opportunity to support students from individual schools. For further information, contact your Daily News advertising representative or Nadine Souza at Honoring Outstanding Tehama County Students (530) 527-2151 advertise@ redbluffdailynews.com SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2014 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 3 B