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Boehner: 'Political rebellion' under way

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- There is a "political rebellion" going on in America that the Republican Party is hoping to speak for, the U.S. House minority leader says.

Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, speaking Sunday on CNN's "State of Union," said an incident in which a GOP-endorsed New York congressional candidate withdrew from an election under pressure from Republican conservatives showed that "we're in the middle of a political rebellion going on in America."

Boehner said, "This rebellion are by people who really have not been actively involved in the political process. And they don't really care whether you're a Democrat or a Republican. They want to see people who are going to stand up and protect the future for our kids and grandkids."

The House candidate, Dede Scozzafava, who'd been chosen by local Republican leaders to try to hold the seat of now-U.S. Army Secretary John McHugh for the GOP, was attacked by Republican presidential hopefuls Sarah Palin and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty as not sufficiently conservative.

Scozzafava on Sunday threw her support not to Conservative Party candidate Bill Hoffman but to Democratic candidate Bill Owens, the Washington publication The Hill reported.

Geithner: 'Choppy' U.S. recovery under way

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- A "choppy" and "uneven" U.S. economic recovery is under way, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Sunday.

Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Geithner said encouraging economic signs are emerging, but warned a recovery "could be a little choppy, it could be uneven, and it's going to take a while."

Responding to figures released Friday that indicated the United States' gross domestic product rose by a higher-than-expected 3.5 percent in the third quarter, Geithner said it was "good news and it shows that when you act with force you can stabilize a crisis like this and start to repair the damage and bring things back.

"But," he added, "this is going to be a different recovery than the past, because Americans are going to have to save more."

Geithner said the benefits of the budding recovery aren't being felt evenly.

"For large businesses, they can now borrow again and they can raise capital again, and that's very important," he said. "But small businesses, much more dependent on banks, they still face a really tough environment on the financing side, and we need to keep working to try to open up credit to them."

Lieberman: Would join health filibuster

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Ind-Conn., said Sunday that he would join a Republican filibuster to stop the creation of a government-run health plan option.

Lieberman, appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation," said he disagreed with Senate Democrats who support the public option measure, which they say is needed to provide competition for private insurers who enjoy monopolies in many markets.

"I feel so strongly about the creation of another government health insurance entitlement," he told CBS. "The government going into the health insurance business -- I think it's such a mistake that I would use the power I have as a single senator to stop a final vote."

The former Democrat said doing nothing would be better than a public option.

"We ought to follow the doctors' oath and say, 'First, let's do no harm,'" he said, adding that he believes a public option would hurt the country's economic recovery, predicting that if adopted it would necessitate tax hikes.

"It will probably raise premiums or it will put us further into debt," he said, asserting that the idea has been advanced by "people who really want to have a government-controlled health insurance system. That's their right. I think they're wrong."

Limbaugh: Obama a 'radical' president

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama is a "radical" chief executive who is "attacking" American freedoms and liberties, talk radio host Rush Limbaugh said Sunday.

The conservative commentator Limbaugh, appearing on "Fox News Sunday," launched a blistering attack on Obama both personally and politically, saying, "I'm really, really worried. We've never seen this kind of radical leadership at such a high level of power in the country."

Limbaugh assailed Obama's approach to the economy, asserting his policies, such as the economic stimulus bill, represented "a denial of liberty, an attack on freedom," and that rather than working to revive an economy that had plunged into a deep recession during the Bush administration, the Obama White House has instead "destroyed jobs. They've lost 3.3 million jobs in this country since Obama's stimulus plan, and it's going to get worse."

Limbaugh's wide-ranging attack also included swipes on Obama's stance on Afghanistan, saying, "We can't make up our minds what we're going to do in Afghanistan. We're dithering there."

Police nab 112 at Halloween celebration

ATHENS, Ohio, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- A total of 112 people were cited or arrested by authorities in Athens, Ohio, during the city's annual Halloween street party, city officials said.

The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch said police and state liquor agents picked the offenders out of a large crowd of holiday revelers, primarily Ohio University students, during the celebration Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

The 61 people nabbed by the Ohio Department of Public Safety's Investigative Unit were cited for alcohol-related offenses. City police meanwhile arrested 51 people on various charges.

The arrests and citations during the weekend followed 19 arrests and 51 citations during Friday night's revelry, the Dispatch reported.

The weekend's activities also resulted in 45 people seeking medical treatment for minor injuries or over consumption of alcohol.