CHRYSLER AGREES TO RECALL 2.7 MIL OLDER JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE AND LIBERTY SUVS THAT COULD BE AT RISK OF A FUEL TANK FIRE *

RECALL AFFECTS GRAND CHEROKEES FROM 1993 THROUGH 2004 AND LIBERTYS FROM 2002 TO 2007 *

ACTION COMES AFTER THE AUTOMAKER INITIALLY REFUSED A GOVT REQUEST TO RECALL THE VEHICLES OVER CONCERNS THE GAS TANK COULD RUPTURE IF HIT FROM THE REAR AND CAUSE A FIRE *

U.S. OFFICIALS SET TO BEGIN FORMAL TALKS WITH THE TALIBAN AT THE GROUP'S NEW OFFICE IN QATAR *

SR OBAMA ADMIN OFFICIALS SAY THE TALIBAN'S MOVE TO OPEN A POLITICAL OFFICE TUES IN DOHA IS A STEPPING STONE TO A FULL RENOUNCEMENT OF AL QAEDA *

TALKS ARE EXPECTED TO BEGIN IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS *

PRES OBAMA OPENS A 24-HOUR VISIT TO GERMANY ON TUES FOLLOWING TWO-DAY G8 SUMMIT IN NORTHERN IRELAND *

THE PRES IS EXPECTED TO MEET WITH GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL AND OTHER GOVT OFFICIALS AHEAD OF A SPEECH TOMORROW AT BERLIN'S BRANDENBURG GATE *

CO FIRE CREWS WORKING TO FULLY CONTAIN THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE WILDFIRE IN STATE HISTORY *

THE BLACK FOREST FIRE HAS TORCHED 22 SQ MILES AND KILLED TWO PEOPLE SINCE IT ERUPTED A WEEK AGO *

FLAMES HAVE DESTROYED MORE THAN 500 HOMES *

IT REMAINS 85% CONTAINED *

IT'S UNCLEAR HOW THE WILDFIRE WAS SPARKED, BUT OFFICIALS BELIEVE IT WAS HUMAN-CAUSED *

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE SAYS A SWEEPING IMMIGRATION BILL WOULD CUT DEFICITS BY $197 BIL OVER 10 YEARS *

CBO SAYS THE BILL WOULD ADD $262 BIL IN NEW SPENDING AND TAX CREDITS OVER 10 YEARS WHILE INCREASING REVENUE BY $459 BIL *

THE MEASURE WOULD ALSO CUT DEFICITS BY $700 BIL IN THE FOLLOWING 10 YRS *

UNDER THE LEGISLATION, SOME 8 MIL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WOULD GAIN LEGAL STATUS *

MILITARY JUDGE REFUSES TO DELAY THE FT HOOD SHOOTING SUSPECT'S MURDER TRIAL *

ACTION COMES AFTER MAJ. NIDAL HASAN ASKED FOR A THREE-MONTH DELAY IN THE CASE TO PREPARE FOR HIS STRATEGY TO DEFEND HIMSELF IN COURT OVER THE 2009 MASSACRE THAT LEFT 13 DEAD *

HASAN FACES THE DEATH PENALTY OR LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT PAROLE IF CONVICTED *

LEADERS OF THE G8 PUSHING FOR A NEGOTIATED AND PEACEFUL END TO SYRIA'S DEADLY CIVIL WAR *

DURING A SUMMIT IN NORTHERN IRELAND ON TUES, LEADERS OUTLINED A DECLARATION THAT CALLED FOR THE EXPULSION OF AL QAEDA-LINKED FIGHTERS FROM THE COUNTRY AND A FURTHER $1.5 BIL IN AID FOR REFUGEES *

SYRIA'S TWO-YEAR CIVIL WAR HAS LEFT AN ESTIMATED 80,000 DEAD *

HOUSE APPROVES A BILL THAT WOULD BAN ABORTIONS AFTER 20 WEEKS *

THE MEASURE PASSED 228-196 TUES EVENING *

HOWEVER, THE WHITE HOUSE SAYS PRES OBAMA WOULD VETO IT IF IT REACHED HIS DESK *

GOOGLE ASKS THE FOREIGN INTEL SURVEILLANCE COURT TO LIFT A GAG ORDER ON HOW OFTEN THE COMPANY IS ASKED TO TURN OVER DATA TO THE GOVT *

THE TECH GIANT FILED THE MOTION ON TUES ASKING PERMISSION TO DISCLOSE THE NUMBER OF DATA REQUESTS MADE BY THE COURT, CLAIMING IT HAS A FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH *

GOOGLE IS AMONG NINE INTERNET COMPANIES ID'D EARLIER THIS MONTH AS COMPLICIT IN THE NSA'S PRISM INTERNET SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM *

NSA PROGRAMS ALLEGEDLY HELPED FOIL A BOMB PLOT TARGETING THE NY STOCK EXCHANGE *

THAT'S WHAT THE DEPUTY FBI DIR TOLD A HOUSE INTEL CMTE ON TUES *

THE NSA'S CHIEF SAYS THE SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS HAVE HELPED PREVENT MORE THAN 50 POTENTIAL TERROR ATTACKS SINCE 9/11 *

WHISTLEBLOWER EDWARD SNOWDEN LEAKED INFO ON THE ONCE-SECRET PROGRAMS TO THE MEDIA TWO WKS AGO *

TOKYO-BOUND 787 DREAMLINER LANDS SAFELY IN SEATTLE AFTER THE CREW DECLARES AN EMERGENCY *

UNITED AIRLINES SAYS THE FLIGHT WAS DIVERTED BECAUSE OF AN OIL FILTER ISSUE *

THE FAA GROUNDED THE HIGH-TECH PLANES EARLIER THIS YR DUE TO A POTENTIAL RISK OF BATTERY FIRES *

notes

Senator Portman wrote a letter to President Obama — here it is!

by Posted in:

Dec 5 2012 - 2:57 PM ET

comments

(Below is from my FNC colleague Chad Pergram)

Urgent: Fox first: Portman writes to Obama and urges him to stand down from request for automatic debt ceiling increases

 

Per Pergram-Capitol Hill

 

From Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH).

 

Obama fiscal cliff plan would allow for the president to automatically raise the debt ceiling. The Obama plan would allow Congress to have a resolution to “disapprove” of the increase, but make it a moot point.

 

Many conservatives are revved up about this and worry that this cedes too much power to the president.

 

Some argue the power should be ceded to the president because debt ceiling increases are some of the most onerous votes a member is ever asked to take.

 

The President

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest

Washington, DC 20500

 

Dear Mr. President,

 

The Congress is ready to work with you as equal partners in addressing the coming fiscal cliff. Beyond averting the recession that the fiscal cliff would likely precipitate, Congress also seeks to address the projected long-term budget deficits that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, are driven almost entirely by unsustainable increases in entitlement spending.

 

You have said that substantial increases in the national debt are “irresponsible” and “unpatriotic,” and you once pledged to cut the budget deficit in half. We agree that Washington must rein in the debt, which is one reason we strongly oppose your proposal to eliminate Congress’s role in establishing a federal debt limit.

 

Far from a simple procedural vote, the debt limit has provided Congress with an opportunity to rein in the expanding national debt. The 1985 Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, which helped reduce the deficit, was attached to a debt limit bill. The three largest deficit reductions bills in the 1990s – in 1990, 1993, and 1997 – were each linked to debt limit legislation, as was the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010. Finally, the debt limit was the impetus for the 2011 Budget Control Act, estimated to save $2.1 trillion over the decade.

 

In short, nearly every significant deficit reduction law of the past 27 years has been linked to a debt limit debate. For Congress to surrender its control over the debt limit would be to permanently surrender what has long provided the best opportunity to enact bipartisan deficit reduction legislation.

 

Some suggest the current budget process already provides Congress with sufficient oversight over the national debt. However, the 60 percent of federal spending currently allocated to entitlements and other mandatory spending essentially grows on autopilot without automatic Congressional oversight. Furthermore, the United States Senate has not passed a budget in more than three years. These two developments leave the debt limit as the Congress’s most important remaining tool to force action on the soaring national debt.

 

We also believe that Congress’s power over borrowing, like the power of the purse, is firmly rooted in our constitutional tradition. The Founders understood the potential danger of permitting the Executive to unilaterally incur new public debt. Consequently, Article I of the Constitution empowers only Congress “to borrow money on the credit of the United States.” The debt ceiling is the means by which Congress exercises this inherent legislative responsibility.

 

Before World War I, Congress often authorized borrowing on a case-by-case basis. Over time, Congress transitioned to setting fixed borrowing allocations that could be used to finance full categories of federal borrowing, until the first modern debt limit was set at $45 billion in 1939. Since then, Congress and the President have come together to raise the debt limit more than 100 times to its current level of $16.394 trillion.

 

Mr. President, while serving in the United States Senate, you acknowledged the Congress’s important role in establishing the debt limit when you voted against raising it in 2006. We believe that preserving Congress’s role in setting the debt limit is necessary to encourage deficit reduction and uphold our constitutional tradition of legislative control over borrowing.

 

Sincerely

 

(Senator Signatures)

 

Chad Pergram

FOX News

Senior Producer for Capitol Hill

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