Obama outlines expansive educational goals
WASHINGTON, March 10 (UPI) -- Finger-pointing and party bickering must end so the United States can provide a complete and competitive education, President Barack Obama said Tuesday.
"It is time to prepare every child, everywhere in America, to out-compete any worker, anywhere in the world," Obama said during a speech to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington. "It is time to give all Americans a complete and competitive education from the cradle up through a career. ... America's entire education system must once more be the envy of the world."
The future belongs to the country that can best educate its citizens, Obama said, citing achievement statistics from several countries and comparing them with U.S. scores.
"(And) my fellow Americans, we have everything we need to be that nation. ... What is at stake is nothing less than the American dream."
Obama promoted his education plan as providing for children from pre-kindergarten through post-secondary education. His multifaceted approach includes a controversial measure that would reward effective teachers, provide mentoring for new or troubled instructors and weed out poor teachers.
"(If) a teacher is given a chance but still does not improve, there is no excuse for that person to continue teaching," Obama said, noting that the vast majority of teachers were effective. "I reject a system that rewards failure and protects a person from its consequences. The stakes are too high."
Obama pledged "not to rest" until students "can focus on what you should be focusing on -- your own education."
Budget battle brewing among Democrats
WASHINGTON, March 10 (UPI) -- In-fighting among Democrats and policy disagreements with the White House may make fashioning a federal budget document difficult, congressional leaders say.
Congressional Democrats and the administration are at odds over major initiatives in President Barack Obama's budget proposal, including proposed limits on tax deductions for the wealthiest 1.2 percent of taxpayers; cutting some agri-business subsidies; reducing spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security; and capping greenhouse emissions, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
"The legislative process requires compromise and being open to different alternatives," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Committee leaders disagree with the administration on how to fill in details of Obama's budget outline, and they must contend with dissent within their ranks not only on the president's blueprint but also a spending bill necessary to keep Washington running through the end of this fiscal year, The Washington Post said.
Concerning the appropriations bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has been trying to hold off a Republican bloc seeking to remove more than 8,500 pet projects from the measure while still rounding the 60 votes necessary to move the bill along. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., is withholding his support to protest a provision that would ease U.S. rules on travel and imports to Cuba.
By allowing Republicans to offer a total of 11 amendments Monday and Tuesday, Reid hoped GOP support for the bill would grow and he would not need Menendez's vote when the bill comes to a final vote, expected Tuesday, the Post said.
GOP targets Dems for ethics complaints
WASHINGTON, March 10 (UPI) -- Congressional Republicans are filing ethics complaints against Democrats in an effort to put pressure on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., analysts say.
U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., has filed three resolutions calling for a House ethics committee investigation centering on the relationship between Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., and PMA Group, a lobbying organization raided last year by federal authorities, the Washington publication Politico reported Tuesday. The House defeated one of the resolutions last week and is set to vote on the re-filed resolution later this week.
Although they target Murtha on the issue of earmarks, political analysts say the complaints are actually aimed at Pelosi, who as minority leader personally filed 12 such resolutions calling for ethics probes regarding former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., and other Republicans, Politico said.
"We are just doing to them what they did to us," an unnamed House Republican aide told the publication. "If it was good enough then, it's good enough now."
Gaza family seeks $200M from Israel
NAZARETH, Israel, March 10 (UPI) -- A Gaza family says Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other officials owe it $200 million in compensation for the alleged slayings of 29 family members.
The al-Samoni family of Gaza's Zeitoun neighborhood says it lost the family members during the 22-day Israeli military incursion into Gaza known as Operation Cast Lead and have filed a lawsuit demanding compensation with the Nazareth District Court, Ynetnews reported Tuesday.
Also named in the suit were Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and military Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi. Al-Samoni family attorney Mohammad Foukara said 45 members of the family were injured in the Israeli offensive.
The suit claims seven family members were killed Jan. 4 when an Israeli shell hit their apartment, and 22 more were killed a day later at a shelter when shells struck it as well, Ynetnews reported.
Legal experts said Israeli courts have consistently rejected such Palestinian lawsuits in the past.
Dalai Lama: Tibetan culture becoming lost
BEIJING, March 10 (UPI) -- Tibetan culture and identity are nearing extinction, the Dalai Lama said in a message delivered Tuesday on the 50th anniversary of a failed revolt.
Speaking from his headquarters in Dharamsala, India, where he lives in exile, the Tibetan spiritual leader said his followers live in "constant fear" under Chinese rule, The Times of London reported.
"These 50 years have brought untold suffering and destruction to the land and people of Tibet," the Dalai Lama told a crowd of several hundred. "Even today, Tibetans in Tibet live in constant fear and the Chinese authorities remain constantly suspicious of them. Today, the religion, culture, language and identity -- which successive generations of Tibetans have considered more precious than their lives -- are nearing extinction. In short, the Tibetan people are regarded like criminals deserving to be put to death."
Chinese Communist troops seized control of Tibet in 1950 and quelled the 1959 uprising, killing an estimated 87,000 people and sending the Dalai Lama into exile with about 83,000 Tibetans, the British newspaper said.
The Dalai Lama used the anniversary to remember all who died under Chinese rule. The Tibet region technically is autonomous, but its current government is directed from Beijing.
A senior Chinese official in Tibet said Tuesday the claims by the Dalai Lama and his followers that more than 1 million Tibetans died in the past 50 years was a lie, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The population of Tibet grew from 1.2 million in 1959 to 2.87 million in 2008, said Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the Tibet regional government.
