- Latest House bid fails as bitter back-and-forth over government shutdown rages
CNN October 2, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: "I don't care who wins the battle. I want the government to reopen," GOP Rep. King says
- Lawmakers continue to talk over each other; Obama weighs in on Day One of shutdown
- Agencies begin furloughs that could eventually impact up to 800,000 workers
- Aides: GOP plans again to bring up bills in House to fund programs piecemeal
Are you affected by the shutdown? Got a message for Washington? Send it to iReport and be part of CNN's coverage.
Washington (CNN) -- While up to 800,000 federal workers faced life without a paycheck as Day One of the government shutdown kicked in, Democrats and Republicans persisted in talking past each other without actually talking to each other to end the nation's latest fiscal crisis.
The Republican-led House offered its latest gambit on Tuesday night but failed in separate votes to approve piecemeal funding for three specific programs -- the District of Columbia, veterans affairs and national parks.
The votes required a two-thirds majority for passage, which would have required hefty Democratic support. That did not materialize, though House leadership aides say the plan is to bring up the same measures again Wednesday in a way that would require only a simple majority to pass.
Aside from conservative political calculations that calling these votes would put their ideological foes in a tough spot, it appears they'll have little practical impact since the Democratic-led Senate wasn't about to acquiesce and the White House promised a veto.
Parks, museums: Sorry, we'
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid derided the strategy as "just another wacky idea by tea party Republicans," a clear example of the rhetorical firefights that have marked the latest pitched battle over spending. This one has been fueled by GOP efforts to condition any continued funding of the government with the elimination -- or at least the delay -- of Obamacare.
- Abe Bets It’s Different This Time With Sales Tax Rise
Bloomberg Sep 30, 2013
It’s different this time. The four most dangerous words in markets, according to former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.
With Japan set to raise its sales tax for the first time since 1997, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s political future rides on a different outcome than last time -- when the nation slid into a recession and the premier lost his job. To avoid a spending slump, Abe, 59, is poised to unveil a stimulus plan to counter the 3 percentage point bump in the levy to 8 percent.
“Abe must know that breaking the economy would mean the end of Abenomics,” said Masayuki Kichikawa, chief Japan economist at Bank of America Corp. in Tokyo, referring to the initiative to reflate the world’s third largest economy after two decades of stagnation. “The miserable failure of the 1997 sales tax rise is stuck in the mind of Japanese politicians.”
The prime minister, who is scheduled to speak tomorrow on his plans for taxes and an economic-support package, was left little room to abandon the planned sales-tax increase he inherited from the previous government. Cabinet members, an independent panel of experts and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda all advised proceeding with the rise to 8 percent in April, an unpopular move designed to shore up revenue for a government with the world’s largest public debt burden.
- UPDATE 1-As Obama's Asia "pivot" falters, China steps into the gap
Reuters 2013.10.06
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (Reuters) - When then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared two years ago "We are back to stay" as a power in Asia, the most dramatic symbol of the policy shift was the planned deployment of 2,500 U.S. Marines in northern Australia, primed to respond to any regional conflict.
At this point in time, however, there is not a single U.S. Marine in the tropical northern city of Darwin, according to the Australian defence ministry. Two hundred Marines just finished their six-month tour and will not be replaced until next year, when 1,150 Marines are due to arrive.
The original goal of stationing 2,500 Marines there by 2017 remains in place, but the lack of a U.S. presence there two years after the policy was announced underlines questions about Washington's commitment to the strategic "pivot" to Asia.
President Barack Obama's cancellation of a trip this week to four Asian nations and two regional summits due to the U.S. government shutdown has raised further doubts over a policy aimed at re-invigorating U.S. military and economic influence in the fast-growing region, while balancing a rising China.
While U.S. and Asian diplomats downplayed the impact of Obama's no-show, the image of a dysfunctional, distracted Washington adds to perceptions that China has in some ways outflanked the U.S. pivot.
"It's symptomatic of the concern in Asia over the sustainability of the American commitment," said Carl Baker, director of the Pacific Forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Hawaii.
As embarrassed U.S. officials announced the cancellations last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Indonesia announcing a raft of deals worth about $30 billion and then in Malaysia to announce a "comprehensive strategic partnership", including an upgrade in military ties.
He was en route to this week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bali and the East Asia Summit in Brunei, where Obama will no longer be able to press his signature trade pact or use personal diplomacy to support allies concerned at China's assertive maritime expansion.
Since 2011, China has consolidated its position as the largest trade partner with most Asian countries and its direct investments in the region are surging, albeit from a much lower base than Europe, Japan and the United States. Smaller countries such as Laos and Cambodia have been drawn so strongly into China's economic orbit that they have been called "client states" of Beijing, supporting its stance in regional disputes.
Leveraging its commercial ties, China is also expanding its diplomatic, political and military influence more broadly in the region, though its efforts are handicapped by lingering maritime tensions with Japan, the Philippines and several other nations.
"For countries not closely allied with the U.S., Obama's no-show will reinforce their policy of bandwagoning with China," wrote Carl Thayer, emeritus professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra.
- New tourism law spurs Chinese independent travel
China Daily, 2013.10.03
HEFEI -- China's first tourism law, aiming to upgrade the country's tourism industry, has caused travel agencies to raise prices, spurring more Chinese to become independent travelers.
Having learned that a travel agency's fare for a six-day Thailand tour has surged by 2,000 yuan ($325) following the new law, which took effect on Oct 1, Li Qianying and her friend are planning to backpack around the country instead.
"Two girls looking for experienced backpackers to pool travel expenses in Thailand this November," posted Li, a university student studying in east China's Anhui province.
Outbound tourism products and domestic long-distance tours have seen a significant increase in price since September as we approach the effective date of the tourism law, which will more tightly regulate the market in a bid to exorcise unscrupulous operators and practices.
"The prices for tours to the Republic of Korea, Japan and southeast Asian countries have increased by up to 80 percent during Golden Week [Oct 1-7] compared to the National Day holiday last year," said Xia Jinju, marketing director of Anhui Global International Travel Co Ltd.
The fast-growing tourism industry in China has exposed flaws such as wanton price hikes, unfair competition and agencies' habit of ushering groups into pressurized shopping opportunities. Some operators have long depended on receiving kickbacks from tourist shops in return for bringing them customers. Such scandals concerning "black tour guides" in Hong Kong and Macao have scared tourists away.
The implementation of the new tourism law is designed to get rid of these elements and protect the rights of tourists.
With stricter regulation of the market and no chance of back-door operation, tour prices have gradually returned to the rational, and the abnormal phenomenon of "zero tour fare" has been eliminated.
As a result, more Chinese who hope to travel on a modest budget have begun to arrange their own schedule and turn to the Internet for help.
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