Paul Ryan, elected 54th speaker, pledges to fix 'broken' House

........................Paul Ryan was sworn in as speaker of the House....................

Erin Kelly, USA TODAY 2:22 p.m. EDT October 29, 2015

Paul Ryan was sworn in as the 54th speaker of the House. He remarked that, to him, the House represents the best of America, but that it is broken and needs fixing. USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Newly elected Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday it is time to fix a "broken" House and begin solving the nation's problems instead of adding to them.

"The American people make this country work, and the House should work for them," Ryan said in a speech on the House floor after his election. "What a relief it would be to the American people if we finally got our act together. What a weight off their shoulders."

Ryan was elected the 54th speaker of the House as his colleagues looked to the Wisconsin Republican to help unite his fractious party and end the constant crises that have come to dominate the chamber in recent years.

He received 236 of the 432 votes cast. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., received 184. Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., got 9 votes. A handful of other people got a total of three votes.




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U.S. may lose clout at IMF due to refusal to OK reform: Lew

WASHINGTON Wed Mar 12, 2014 11:37am EDT

1 of 2. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew testifies before the Senate Budget Committee about the President's 2015 Budget on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 12, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

(Reuters) - The United States is hearing that its refusal to approve previously negotiated reforms for the International Monetary Fund could reduce the nation's influence at the institution, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Wednesday.
U.S. lawmakers have been reticent to approve the IMF quota reforms that were agreed to in 2010 and would give developing countries a bigger say at the international lender.
The reforms would not reduce Washington's power at the IMF, where the United States is the sole country with veto power.
The Obama administration hoped Congress would tack approval of the IMF quota reforms onto legislation for an aid package for crisis-stricken Ukraine, but the outlook for that happening remains uncertain.

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Here’s why the unemployment rate doesn’t matter anymore

• The Washington Post

• By Ylan Q. Mui

• February 11 at 12:20 pm

(Photo by Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

The unemployment rate used to be a pretty straightforward economic indicator. It showed the percentage of people who want a job but don't have one -- one of the most basic measures of labor market health.
But the number has been acting in funny ways since the recession, and it just keeps getting weirder. The unemployment rate skyrocketed as millions of people lost their jobs during the darkest days of the financial crisis. That part makes sense. 
What is harder to understand is why the jobless rate has dropped substantially even though many workers do not have jobs. Solving that puzzle requires looking at more esoteric labor market data. Even newly minted Fed chief Janet Yellen said on Capitol Hill today that "we shouldn't focus only on the unemployment rate."


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NSA reform measures quietly included in $1.1tn spending bill

Compromise spending package contains provisions asking the NSA to quantify the effectiveness of its surveillance program

• Dan Roberts in Washington
• 
  
• theguardian.com, Wednesday 15 January 2014 18.30 EST

House speaker John Boehner of Ohio leaves the House chamber after the final vote on a massive spending bill. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

Congress is calling on the National Security Agency to detail the effectiveness of its bulk data collection programmes and will outlaw certain types of domestic surveillance, using two little-noticed clauses included in its giant federal spending bill.
The $1.1tn budget bill passed the House of Representatives Wednesday afternoon by 359-67 votes and is expected to become law after clearing the Senate as soon as Friday.
But in a sign of pent-up reform pressure on Capitol Hill, two measures dealing with the NSA were quietly included in the 1,600-page spending text with relatively little fanfare – or opposition from the White House – and are likely to pave the way for more binding legislative efforts once President Barack Obama outlines his own response to the surveillance scandal on Friday.
The first, and more unexpected, of the two NSA budget measures directs the agency to reveal “the number of records acquired by the NSA as part of its bulk telephone metadata program” over a five-year period, and to turn the data over to the House and Senate judiciary committees within 90 days.
“This report shall provide, to the greatest extent possible, an estimate of the number of records of United States citizens that have been acquired by NSA as part of the bulk telephone metadata program and the number of such records that have been reviewed by NSA personnel in response to a query,” it demands.
It is also calls for more information on the vexed question of how helpful such metadata has been in foiling terror plots, something that both NSA critics and Obama's own review panel say has been greatly exaggerated.

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Shots fired at U.S. Capitol, female suspect killed

NBC News

Police cordon off the U.S. Capitol after shots were fired on Capitol Hill on Oct. 3.

Jewel Samad / AFP - Getty Images

By Michael O'Brien, Pete Williams, Richard Esposito and Tracy Connor, NBC News

The United States Capitol was placed on lockdown Thursday afternoon after a woman tried to ram a car into the White House gate, was chased by Secret Service and exchanged shots with police, sources said.
The suspect — who sources said had a child in the car — was shot and killed, and a shelter-in-place order was lifted at about 3 p.m. At least one Capitol Police officer was injured during the pursuit.
"This appears to be an isolated incident," said Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine. "Both scenes are under control."

The U.S. Capitol was placed on lockdown following a car chase and shooting involving a woman who attempted to ram the White House gates.

Launch slideshow

President Barack Obama was briefed about the harrowing incident, which came in the midst of the government shutdown that has created a tense atmosphere on Capitol Hill.
It started at 2:18 p.m. when the woman in a black car tried to breach White House security at 15th St. and E, law-enforcement sources said.

People take cover as gun shots were heard at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Oct. 3.

Jewel Samad / AFP - Getty Images

She did not get through and was chased at high speeds for about 12 blocks, the sources said.
Her car hit a Capitol Police vehicle at Second St. and Constitution Ave. and then crashed into barricades a few blocks away, Dine said.
Law-enforcement sources said she began firing and was shot. The child was reported to be safe.
Her motive was unknown but Dine said there was no reason to think it was an act of terrorism.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Mass., who was on the balcony talking to his colleagues, described a "burst" of gunfire from the House side of the Capitol, towards the House office buildings.
"It was like the first volley in a 21-gun salute," Rep. Matthew Cartwright, D-Penn., told MNSNBC.
Travis Gilbert, who watched the chase from the roof of the Newseum, said vehicles involved "had several close encounters with other vehicles during the case."

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