Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/78178
4A Daily News – Friday, August 10, 2012 WORLD BRIEFING percent WASHINGTON (AP) — Who gets thumped by higher taxes in President Barack Obama's health care law? The wealthiest 2 percent of Americans will take the biggest hit, starting next year. And the pain will be shared by some who aren't so well off — people swept up in a hodgepodge of smaller tax changes that will help finance health coverage for millions in need. For the vast majority of people, however, the health care law won't mean sending more money to the IRS. Health care law's big tax hikes hit the wealthiest 2 And roughly 20 mil- lion people eventually will benefit from tax cred- its that start in 2014 to help them pay insurance premiums. quences for people who decline to get coverage and businesses that don't offer their workers an adequate health plan. Some 4 million individu- als without insurance are expected to pay about $55 billion over eight years, according to the Congres- sional Budget Office's estimates. Employers could be dinged an esti- mated $106 billion for failing to meet the man- date, which starts in 2014. crisis BEIRUT (AP) — As Syrian forces struggled to drive rebels from the country's largest city, the regime's key ally Iran tried Thursday to start an alternative Iran holds conference to calm Syria process to address the cri- sis. The tax increases — plus a mandate that nearly everyone have health cov- erage — are helping make the law an election-year scorcher. Obama is cam- paigning on the benefits for the uninsured, women and young adults. His rival, Mitt Romney, and Republican lawmakers are vowing to repeal ''Obamacare,'' saying some health care reforms are needed but not at this cost. Lots of the noise is about the financial conse- fighting for more than two weeks. Tehran billed Thurs- day's conference as a way to focus on dialogue — an alternative to Western-led initiatives that call for Assad to give up power. mentally ill CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — Attorneys for the suspect in the Colorado movie theater shootings said Thursday their client is mentally ill and that they need more time to assess the nature of his ill- ness. Lawyers for suspect in shooting say client is political Iran gathered an array of nations ranging from strong supporters of Dam- ascus to far-flung nations a world away from the Syrian civil war. unlikely to result in any international consensus, but it shows Iran's resolve to stand by President Bashar Assad as his forces try to crush the 17- month-old uprising. On Thursday, Syrian rebels said they were low on ammunition but still managed to put up resis- tance against a regime ground offensive in the city of Aleppo, a center of The one-day forum is lawyers made the disclo- sure at a court hearing in suburban Denver where news media organizations were asking a judge to unseal court documents in the case. James Holmes' Holmes, a 24-year-old former Ph.D. student at the University of Col- orado, Denver, had the familiar, dazed demeanor that he has had in previ- ous court appearances. Holmes is accused of going on a July 20 shoot- ing rampage at a midnight showing of the latest Bat- man movie in Aurora, killing 12 people dead and injuring 58 others. Defense attorney Daniel King made the revelation about Holmes as he argued defense attorneys need more ion in a stubbornly close presidential race dash- ing quickly toward November. Tim Pawlenty? The former Minnesota gov- ernor is a fee-raiser whose record ''is painful for the middle-class families who lived under his leadership,'' the Obama campaign argues. Rob Portman? The Ohio senator is ''one of the architects of the top- down Bush budget'' that the Obama team blames for ''crashing our econo- my.'' Marco Rubio? The rookie Florida senator has ''led the way on almost every extreme position Mitt Romney has embraced,'' accord- ing to the missive that seeks examples of ''the good, the bad and ugly'' of Rubio. information from prose- cutors and investigators to assess their client. fight militants CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian troops, light tanks, armored vehicles and attack helicopters are pouring into the Sinai desert to root out increas- ingly aggressive Islamic militants in the most sig- nificant easing to date of a key provision in the land- mark 1979 peace treaty with Israel: The demilita- rization of the peninsula. For more than 30 years, Egyptian soldiers with heavy weapons were virtually banned from much of Sinai to create a buffer between the long- time enemies. Now, Israel has green-lighted the surge in hopes militants on its doorstep will be defeated. Egypt troops in Sinai to time, it has repeatedly called for changes in the treaty's limits on troops in Sinai, seen as humiliating. But its calls may be mainly rhetoric for an Egyptian public among which anti-Israel feeling is high and amending the deal is popular. Obama begins effort to pick apart GOP running mate But talk of formally changing the treaty remains just that, talk. The reason may lie in the delicate realities of the new Egypt, where the fiercely anti-Israel Mus- lim Brotherhood has risen to political power — with one of its own as Egypt's first president since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak last year. The Islamist group has said that Egypt will continue to abide by the accord. At the same CINCINNATI (AP) — President Barack Obama and his Democ- ratic allies aren't wait- ing for Republican Mitt Romney to reveal his vice presidential choice. They're already trying to scuff up those consid- ered by political insiders to be most likely to join the GOP ticket. The president's cam- paign started swinging at the potential Republi- can running mates this week while urging home-state Democrats to chime in about the shortcomings that — as emails to donors and supporters put it — ''Americans need to know.'' The pre-emptive strikes are an effort to define a possible No. 2 in a negative light and reflect a sense that time is precious to sway opin- shirt on' DALLAS (AP) — Country singer Randy Travis was lying in the middle of the road with no car in sight when another driver spotted him and called 911, according to a recording released Thursday. ''I just found a guy laying in the road,'' the caller said in a record- ing released by the Grayson County Sher- iff's Office. He added later, ''I want to say he had no shirt on, but I don't know.'' Officials said Travis Caller in country star Randy Travis arrest: 'I want to say he had no was naked and threat- ened to kill state troop- ers when he was arrest- ed late Tuesday night. He was charged with driving while intoxicat- ed and retaliation or obstruction, and released Wednesday on $21,500 bond from the jail in Sherman, about 60 miles north of Dal- las. A mug shot showed a battered-looking Travis in a T-shirt, with a black eye and dried blood on his face. He later walked barefoot out of the county jail wearing scrubs and a University of Texas ball cap. The 911 caller did not identify Travis by name and said he at first thought the body belonged to a deer. ''I'm spooked out,'' he said. ''I don't see a vehicle, there's a couple of cones scattered.''