White House News: REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT, Posted by Menelik Zeleke

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release                        July 31, 2011

  

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

8:40 P.M. EDT

     THE PRESIDENT:  Good evening.  There are still some very important votes to be taken by members of Congress, but I want to announce that the leaders of both parties, in both chambers, have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid default -- a default that would have had a devastating effect on our economy.

U.S. budget deal leaves scars on both parties, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Accord shifts debate toward spending cuts

* Republicans risked backlash in event of shutdown

* Obama scores points too for being willing to cut deal (Repeats with no changes in text)

By Caren Bohan and Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) - Democrats and Republicans did little to improve their battered image with Americans in a bitter budget debate that ended only with a last-minute deal that barely averted a government shutdown.

The political adversaries reached agreement to fund the government over the next six months little more than an hour before a midnight Friday deadline. The deal must still be voted on next week, after days of invective over spending and policy issues.

That was only round one. Now they have to launch into negotiations over the U.S. budget for fiscal 2012, and if the past few weeks have been any indication, it will be a difficult undertaking.

Welcome to divided government, 2011. Republicans won the House of Representatives in last November's congressional elections, forcing President Barack Obama to take into account their views after he governed mostly with Democrats his first two years in office.

American voters are now seeing the results of the elections: Both parties battling over what they believe are the true concerns of the people. Republicans want deep cuts in spending, and Democrats want to protect programs for their constituents.

Who comes out ahead? The 1995 government shutdown was perceived to help the Democrats in a showdown between President Bill Clinton and then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican.

This time, the top House Republican, Speaker John Boehner, survived his first major test, gaining $37.8 billion in spending cuts and averting a government shutdown that could have proven politically disastrous for Republicans in the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.

Obama will score some points, too, for being willing to compromise with Republicans, a potential plus as he campaigns for re-election and tries to rebuild ties with independent voters who fled Democrats in congressional elections last year.

Obama, who convened evening meetings this week at the White House to push Republicans and his fellow Democrats toward a deal, was also worried about the repercussions of a shutdown, which he said could have hurt the economy just as it was showing vigor.

REPUBLICAN MOMENTUM?

But Republicans may reap more political gains from the accord, which could give them momentum leading into upcoming spending battles, the first over the fiscal 2012 budget and the other in a bid to increase the U.S. debt limit.

"Republicans are going to go out and say this is a big start," said Terry Madonna, a political science professor at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania. "Their argument is going to be that they were elected to do this."

By making some last-minute concessions, Boehner could face some heat from rock-ribbed conservative Tea Party activists, who had demanded cuts of at least $100 billion in the budget for the rest of this year and felt it would have been worth it to fight for them even if the government shut down.

But Madonna said Republicans would have "flubbed" their bigger goals if they refused to budge.

Obama might have paid a price too if the impasse had continued.

He faced criticism from both Republicans and some Democratic supporters for failing to engage more actively in the budget negotiations up until this week when he took on a much higher-profile role.

Liberal blogger Ezra Klein labeled Obama's approach the "Can you hear me now strategy?" and some accused the president of delegating too much of the negotiations to Vice President Joe Biden.

"The truth is Obama hasn't been closely involved in this and Biden hasn't either," said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia. "I don't think anybody will say Obama has been a leader on the budget and the debt. He has basically avoided making decisions."

In terms of sheer numbers, Republicans got more of what they wanted than Democrats, who initially resisted any cut in the overall budget for this year.

The spending measure initially passed by House Republicans would have cut the budget by $61 billion. As of last week, Democrats were willing to go along with $33 billion and ultimately agreed to $37.8 billion.

Budget experts say the cuts in discretionary spending will barely dent a U.S. budget deficit projected to hit $1.4 trillion this year.

But Republicans have set their sights on a more far-reaching effort to shrink the federal government's size and that one is likely to be a much tougher sell. (Additional reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Facebook To Share Users' Home Addresses, Phone Numbers With External Sites, Posted by Meosha Eaton

Facebook will be moving forward with a controversial plan to give third-party developers and external websites the ability to access users' home addresses and cellphone numbers in the face of criticism from privacy experts, users, and even congressmen.

Facebook quietly announced the new policy in a note posted to its Developer Blog in January. It suspended the feature just three days later following user outcry, while promising that it would be "re-enabling this improved feature in the next few weeks."
In response to a letter penned by Representatives Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas) expressing concern over the new functionality, Facebook reaffirmed that it will be allowing third parties to request access to users' addresses and phone numbers.

Facebook noted that it is considering implementing controls that would more explicitly highlight the personal nature of the information being transmitted to applications and explained it is "actively considering" whether to restrict users under 18 years old from sharing their contact information with third-party developers.

"We expect that, once the feature is re-enabled, Facebook will again permit users to authorize applications to obtain their contact information," Facebook's Marne Levine, vice president of global public policy, wrote in the letter to Reps. Markey and Barton. "[H]owever, we are currently evaluating methods to further enhance user control in this area."

Facebook has attempted to tread a fine line with regard to privacy issues even as it has continuously pushed users to share more information, both on Facebook and beyond the social network.

The plan to open up users' address and phone numbers to third-party sites and services marks the latest frontier in Facebook's often controversy-fraught efforts to encourage users to be more liberal in sharing their data and online activity.

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Even if the revamped feature were to include improved notifications and protections for minors, privacy experts warn the feature could imperil users' personal information and increase their risk of being targeted by scams, spam, and identity thieves.

Though Facebook prohibits applications from selling users' information or sharing it with advertisers and data brokers, malicious, rogue apps spreading phishing scams and other ruses are not uncommon on the social network. With just a few errant clicks, an unsuspecting user could potentially hand over her home address to a scammer peddling diet cures or free iPads in an effort to compile credit card data and other personal information.

"[Scammers] might be able to impersonate you if they had your phone number," said Norman Sadeh-Koniecpol, a professor at the Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science. "They're saying, 'Please give us your phone number,' but they're not telling you whether they'll share it or whether they'll sell it or use if for malicious purposes. In fact, you don't know who you're dealing with."

Others are concerned with what they see as Facebook's willingness to change the rules of play--first encouraging people to share personal information with a more limited group of friends, then allowing that data to be accessed in new, unexpected ways.

"People never thought when they were posting this data [such as their phone numbers] that it would be accessible to anyone but friends. There's a real mismatch of expectations around that," said Mary Hodder, chairman of the Personal Data Ecosystem Consortium. "Even if Facebook comes back with new protections, they're still saying, 'Hey, get over it, your data is public.' I feel badly for users that Facebook's approach is 'You give us anything and it's all fair game.'"

Despite the social network's intentions to make addresses and phone numbers accessible to developers, Rep. Markey offered Facebook measured praise for its response, while stressing the necessity of protecting younger users.

"I'm pleased that Facebook's response indicated that it's looking to enhance its process for highlighting for users when they are being asked for permission to share their contact information," Rep. Markey said in a statement. "I'm also encouraged that Facebook is deciding whether to allow applications on the site to request contact information from minors. I don't believe that applications on Facebook should get this information from teens, and I encourage Facebook to wall off access to teen's contact information if they enable this new feature."

UPDATE: Facebook has contacted The Huffington Post with the following statement:

Despite some rumors, there's no way for other websites to access a user's address or phone number from Facebook. For people that may find this option useful in the future, we're considering ways to let them share this information (for example to use an online shopping site without always having to re-type their address). People will always be in control of what Facebook information they share with apps and websites.

End the American Addiction to Foriegn Oil, Posted by Meosha Eaton