10 facts about 10 new members of Congress

Which new member of the House is a former reindeer farmer? Who is the biggest new tea party name in the Senate? Here’s a look at 10 new members of Congress with unique backgrounds.

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The 113thCongress is sworn in on January 3, 2013, and it’s a diverse bunch.
There will be 90 new members of Congress to start the New Year, with 13 new senators and 67 representatives making their appearances in Washington.
The biggest names are in the Senate, with a superstar of the left and of the right getting top billing.
Elizabeth Warren defeated Scott Brown in Massachusetts in one of the most publicized races in 2012. Warren is seen as a new leader of the left, but the former Harvard Law professor was a Republican until 1995.
Ted Cruz is already being talked about as a 2016 presidential contender, even before he sets foot on the Senate floor. The Republican from Texas has tea party roots. He has also argued nine cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin is another high-profile name from the 2012 election making her Senate debut. Baldwin served 14 years in the House and is the first openly gay candidate elected to the Senate.
Maine’s new senator, Angus King, isn’t a Democrat or a Republican. King is a former governor who ran as an independent candidate in 2012. Since the 1980s, King has been involved with alternative energy products.
And Deb Fischer, the new senator for Nebraska, has a hands-on business background. She’s been in the ranching business since the 1970s, which could come in handy if votes need to be wrangled on the Senate floor.
The House has some interesting new members, including that professional reindeer farmer.
Kerry Bentivolio from Michigan is a newcomer to politics. Yes, he has reindeer and has worked as a Santa Claus portrayer, as well as a school teacher and engineer. He replaces Thaddeus McCotter in the House.
A better-known name is Joseph P. Kennedy III of Massachusetts. Just 32 years of age, Kennedy is the son of Joseph P. Kennedy II and the grandson of Robert Kennedy. He will represent Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional District.
Florida’s Ted Yoho will represent the state’s 3rd District in Congress. Yoho’s career prior to politics was being a large-animal veterinarian. He used a grassroots campaign to defeat incumbent Cliff Stearns in a primary.
And there will be two doctors in the House–literally. Dr. Ami Bera will represent California’s 7th District. He is the former chief medical officer for Sacramento County. Raul Ruiz, also of California, has three graduate degrees from Harvard and has worked as an E.R. doctor in the past.

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Factbox: Key players in scramble to avoid U.S. "fiscal cliff"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The outcome of the "fiscal cliff" debate will be decided in four days, with just a handful of powerful leaders in Washington calling the shots, for better or for worse.
Here are some of the politicians and administration figures who are involved in trying to head off the tax increases and federal spending cuts that will take hold in January unless Congress acts, possibly pushing the economy into recession.
* Barack Obama, Democratic president: Reelected last month, the former Democratic U.S. senator from Illinois campaigned on the need to raise taxes on high-income Americans. He has insisted on this through the "fiscal cliff" negotiations with Republicans. But he offered them a compromise last week on setting the income threshold for tax increases at a higher level than he had initially sought. This offer was spurned.
* John Boehner, Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives: Capitol Hill veteran from Ohio. Struggles to control conservative Republicans from the Tea Party movement. Walked out of talks with Obama last week and vowed that the House would pass its own plan to avoid the "fiscal cliff." That effort collapsed in disarray. Boehner adjourned the House for the holidays and has not returned. The House was expected to reconvene on Sunday.
* Joseph Biden, Democratic vice president: Played key role in forging the 2010 deal to extend Bush-era tax cuts for two years after the Republican takeover of the House.
* Max Baucus, Democratic U.S. senator from Montana: Powerful chairman of tax-focused Senate Finance Committee. Will cross party lines for a deal. May be vulnerable in a 2014 re-election race.
* Dave Camp, Republican U.S. representative from Michigan: Chairs tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee until 2014. Gets along with Baucus. Has a tax plan of his own.
* Tim Geithner, Treasury secretary: Expected to step down soon, he is the architect of the Obama administration's fiscal policy. Took steps this week to postpone the arrival until sometime in February of U.S. government borrowing limit.
* Orrin Hatch, U.S. senator from Utah: Top Republican on Senate Finance Committee. Conservative but has worked with Democrats.
* Mitch McConnell, top Senate Republican: Worked with Biden on extending Bush tax cuts in 2010. Up for re-election in 2014 and faces scrutiny of Tea Party faction at home in Kentucky.
* Grover Norquist, activist: Heads the Americans for Tax Reform group. Almost every Republican in Congress has signed his group's "no new taxes" pledge, but its power may be fading.
* Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic leader: California representative and Obama ally. Powerful among liberal Democrats.
* Harry Reid, Senate Democratic leader: Blunt Utah power-broker and dealmaker. Must balance liberal and conservative factions, with many fellow Democrats up for re-election in 2014.
* Paul Ryan, Republican vice presidential nominee in the 2012 election and House Budget committee chairman: Wisconsin representative known for controversial budget proposals.

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Curtain rises in 2013 on final act in soap opera over new arena for Oilers

EDMONTON - It started out as a sports arena but has become Edmonton's longest running soap opera.
A cost-shared deal between the hockey-mad city and the Edmonton Oilers to build a palatial downtown rink for the NHL team went from deal to no-deal to possible deal in 2012, with all sides now agreeing a final resolution — one way or the other — must come early in 2013.
It has been a series of setbacks and cliff-hangers enough to turn gung-ho glass-half-full Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel into a head-shaking fatalist.
"This is the last kick at the cat, more or less," said Mandel after the city and Oilers owner Daryl Katz agreed Dec. 12 to resume one last round of talks, with the help of a mediator.
"We'll see if anything happens from it.
"I'm not sure (of a solution) any more than I was before. I think there's a long row to hoe."
Local hockey fans can be excused for rolling their eyes following four years of fuzzy numbers, shifting statements, apologies, bluster, brinkmanship and revisionist history.
It was a deal everyone thought was done in October 2011, but it fell apart a year later when Katz demanded an extra $6 million a year from taxpayers along with a promise that the city ignore its own tendering rules and move its staff in as the anchor tenant in a proposed Katz office tower.
"It's wrong to hold us up for ransom," said Mandel on Oct. 17 when council formally voted to walk away from the deal to build the $478-million rink.
If the debate has become melodrama, then the mercurial, spectral Katz (pronounced CATES) is in the starring role.
The 51-year old pharmacy billionaire and owner of the Rexall chain of stores has been a polarizing figure since he bought the Oilers in 2008 and began stumping for a new downtown arena to replace aging Rexall Place, in the city's industrial north end.
The mop-topped magnate and philanthropist has been hard to pin down.
Interviews with journalists are rare and requests from many agencies, including The Canadian Press, have been rebuffed. Katz statements are largely restricted to email fan-outs or answers to sympathetic questions from a Katz staffer in broadcast interviews.
He has shown an understanding that celebrity is currency, carefully doling out biographical details in uncontextualized snippets, leaving fans to speculate about his true intentions, values and aims.
When he bought the Oilers in 2008, he cast himself as Katz the Visionary, the hometown boy who grew up an Oilers fan now handed a chance to give back.
"I don't know if I would have had the same enthusiasm (to buy the team) but for the opportunity to build a new arena and to revitalize downtown," Katz said at the time.
"Somebody had to step up."
When negotiations dragged on over the next three years, Katz cast himself as Gordon Gecko, moviedeom's pitiless Wall Street moneyman.
"Hockey is not philanthropy," he opined to The Globe and Mail in July 2012 in an interview beneath the nine-metre-tall windows of the living room in his mansion overlooking Edmonton's river valley.
"This is a business. Capital is portable."
As public opinion turned against Katz last fall as he asked for millions of dollars more from the public, Gordon Gecko was replaced by Katz the Crazy Dreamer, a put-upon family man just trying to help his community against his better business judgment.
"God knows I've spent enough money (on the arena project)," he told The Edmonton Journal in September.
"You know my wife thinks I'm nuts, OK?"
In the same interview he cast himself as Katz the Martyr, pilloried by critics despite rescuing the team from crisis, ruin and possible relocation.
"I bought the Oilers because the EIG (Edmonton Investors Group) was fractured and Edmonton's ability to keep the team was at risk," he said.
Reports at the time, however, described the chaos as more of a self-fulfilling prophecy after Katz made an escalating series of uninvited share offers that ultimately fractured the ownership group between those who wanted to cash in and those who wanted to stick it out.
Katz has also bounced between bluster and apology.
In late September, he threatened to move the team to Seattle, but then he later said sorry in newspaper ads after getting vitriolic blowback from fans on the Internet and in the media.
He has also demonstrated a tin ear for politics.
When city council demanded last fall that he appear before them in public to explain why he wanted millions of dollars more, he twice refused them and, for good measure, publicly scolded them for failing to show "political leadership."
At the next meeting on Oct. 17 — when the politicians canned the deal — councillor Jane Batty sarcastically thanked Mandel for finally showing "political leadership."
Both sides agree money is the stumbling block and have agreed to let a third party examine each side's financial projections.
It's still a fuzzy area because the Oilers, as per the norm with professional sports franchises, refuse to open their books.
The result has been a debate about numbers without the numbers. Independent forecasters estimate the Oilers are making millions of dollars a year. The Oilers say they're bleeding buckets of red ink.
Mandel said he still believes the Oilers are getting a good deal on the rink, which ultimately would cost more than $700 million when land costs and other related infrastructure kicked in.
Under the deal, taxpayers and ticket-buyers would build the facility. The city would own it and try to recoup the cost by extra property taxes from new office towers, restaurants and condos to be built up around the 18,400-seat facility.
In return, the Oilers would pay to run and maintain the facility for 35 years (estimated at $10 million a year) in addition to an annual $5.5-million payment to the city.
The team would keep all food and ticket revenue from Oiler games and other events at the arena for 11 months out of the year. Katz would also get naming rights (worth $1 million a year or more) and $2 million in advertising from the city for each of the first 10 years.
Katz says in recent months he has had a second look at the deal and insists it needs to be changed.
On Dec. 12, Katz negotiator John Karvellas told council there's no guarantee Alberta's petro-powered economy will stay strong, adding there's concern that out-of-towners may not want to drive downtown to a hockey game.
"We learned (from research) that the shine wears off a new arena in a hurry," said Karvellas.
He said while Oilers will no longer insist on a $6-million a year subsidy, any extra revenue from taxes should go into a fund for the team.
How is that not a subsidy? asked Counillor Amarjeet Sohi.
"I understand that if it walks like a duck, talk or quacks like a duck, then it's a duck, replied Karvellas.
"But I don't think this is a duck."
While the duck is debatable, there remains a $100-million elephant in the room.
Even if the two sides come to agreement, they still need to pry that nine-figure sum out of Premier Alison Redford's provincial government to fully fund the deal.
It's a problem that became more problematic in October when election documents showed Katz, his family, and business associates donated an eye-popping $430,000 to Redford's Progressive Conservatives in the spring 2012 election campaign.
Katz has never spoken about it. Redford maintains, as the Tory government has for years, that there will be no direct subsidy to the arena.
Karvellas, when asked about his contribution, said it was for good government, nothing more, nothing less.
Mandel is now trying to de-Katzify the debate, insisting the issue is not about personalities but about a new rink that all of northern Alberta can enjoy.
Redford's opponents, nevertheless, are poised to pounce on any perceived favouritism for Katz.
The NDP says the help has already begun.
Under provincial funding rules, health clinics can charge the province $10 for every flu shot. But in October NDP leader Brian Mason pointed out that new rules from Redford that kicked in after the election now allow pharmacies like Rexall to deliver the same flu shot at twice the price.
Critics say the $100-million shoe has yet to fall but have two words for taxpayers: Stay tuned.

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The 9 worst political gaffes of 2012

In an election season riddled with gaffes, flubs, and verbal miscues, here are the lowlights
The arguably most damaging verbal flub of the 2012 election season — Mitt Romney's covertly recorded comments to wealthy donors that 47 percent of Americans are government-addicted moochers — wasn't even a classic inadvertent gaffe: He meant to say it, and even revisited the theme after he lost the presidential race, griping that President Obama won re-election by handing out "gifts" to young, minority, and female voters. But gaffes of a more traditional nature played an unusually active role in the 2012 election — starting long before the calendar flipped to 2012 — helping define Romney as an out-of-touch plutocrat and Vice President Joe Biden as a buffoon, and very possibly costing Republicans control of the Senate. Here, nine of the most consequential political gaffes of 2012:
1. A key Romney adviser forecasts an "Etch-a-Sketch" moment
On March 21, just as Romney was on the verge of wrapping up the Republican nomination, top adviser Eric Fehnstrom went on CNN and seemed to celebrate Romney's reputation for opportunistic flip-flopping. Asked if the primaries hadn't pushed Romney too far to the Right, Fenhstrom answered: "Well, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes. It's almost like an Etch-A-Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again." The Etch-a-Sketch imagery haunted Romney the rest of the campaign (although he very skillfully did "shake it up and start all over again" in his first debate against Obama).
SEE MORE: Democrats hold the Senate: What it means

2. Senate hopeful Todd Akin mangles "legitimate rape" and biology
Republicans had justifiably high hopes of seizing control of the Senate in November, but the wheels started coming off on Aug. 19, when Todd Akin, a Missouri Republican facing vulnerable incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill (D), was asked about his opposition to all abortions, including those conducted after cases of rape. He memorably told the local TV interviewer that pregnancy from rape is "really rare," because "if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." His poll numbers sank and never recovered, and McCaskill won re-election.
SEE MORE: The failed 'war on women': 5 big election victories for women

3. Senate hopeful Richard Mourdock says rape babies are "what God intended"
After Akin's blunder, other Republicans with similar hardline view on abortion started getting the rape question. Richard Mourdock, who defeated shoo-in GOP incumbent Sen. Richard Lugar in Indiana's Republican primary, was so queried at an Oct. 23 debate against Democratic challenger Rep. Joe Donnelly. It didn't go well. Mourdock said that, after struggling with the rape-abortion question for a long time, "I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen." His slim lead disappeared in the polls, and, with it, any hope the GOP had of retaking the Senate. Donnelly won.
SEE MORE: Secession threats, aggravated assault, and more overreactions to the election [Updated]

4. Romney says he's "not concerned about the very poor"
The Republican presidential nominee had his own share of gaffes on the campaign trail, many of them tied to his seeming inability to artfully answer questions relating to his massive wealth. So his consultants must have been "gnashing their teeth," said Washington Monthly's Ed Kilgore, when in a Feb. 1 interview on CNN, Romney told Soledad O'Brien, "I'm not concerned about the very poor." He added, "we have a safety net" for the poor, and he wasn't worried about the very rich, either. Still, said Kilgore, presciently, "it's this tone-deafness that makes a lot of Republicans nervous about Mitt Romney as a general-election candidate."
SEE MORE: The multibillion-dollar 2012 election: By the numbers

5. Romney likes "being able to fire people"
On Jan. 9, as he was facing intra-Republican fire over job losses at companies taken over by his former company, Bain Capital, Romney chose an unfortunate way to describe his prescription for health insurance reform. Your insurer should be determined by your job, he said, so "if you don't like what they do, you could fire them. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me." The "I like being able to fire people" part of that quote, combined with the satisfaction on his face when he said it, helped perpetuate an image of Romney as a heartless capitalist out of touch with average Americans.
SEE MORE: The funniest tweets from Election Night 2012

6. Joe Biden suggests Obama has "buried the middle class"
The vice president stuck his foot in his mouth, possibly admitted an awkward truth, and certainly did no favors to Obama at an Oct. 2 campaign rally in Charlotte, N.C. Explaining why Romney's plan to cut taxes on the rich would burden the middle class, Biden said: "How they can justify — how they can justify raising taxes on the middle class that's been buried the last four years. How in Lord's name can they justify raising their taxes with these tax cuts?" The problem, of course, is that Obama has been president for most of the past four years. Coincidentally or not, Obama didn't win North Carolina.
SEE MORE: Recall-mania: Why American voters are increasingly eager to oust lawmakers

7. Romney trash-talks the London Olympics... in London
Romney's résumé includes an impressive stint turning around the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, but includes very little foreign-policy experience. To boost his international credentials, he visited some of America's closest allies — Britain, Israel, and Poland — during a week-long trip in July. Things got off to a rocky start in London when he unintentionally lobbed a number of minor insults at our former colonial overlords. The most damaging was his questioning of how prepared London was to host the summer Olympics, saying he saw several "disconcerting" signs. That earned him public rebukes from Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson, both Conservatives, and some pointed ribbing from Obama in the October debates.
SEE MORE: Is Puerto Rico on the verge of becoming the 51st state?

8. Obama tells Russia he'll have "more flexibility" after the election
The president wasn't entirely gaffe-free during the campaign. The indiscretion that haunted him the longest was a dreaded hot-mic comment he made to then–Russian President Dmitri Medvedev at a March 26 summit in South Korea. Obama and Medvedev — who was about to switch jobs with then–Prime Minister Vladimir Putin — were discussing a number of issues, including a U.S. missile defense plan to which Russia objects. "Give me space," Obama said, unaware his microphone was on. "This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility" to deal with missile defense." Romney pounced, saying Obama is "telling us one thing and doing something else." He added, "I don't think he can recover from it." (He did, though Republicans brought it up for the rest of the campaign.)
SEE MORE: Virginia Senate race: First reactions to Democrat Tim Kaine's victory

9. Karl Rove challenges Fox's election-night math
This one isn't so much a gaffe as a general-purpose blunder. Rove, who became a Fox News commentator and Wall Street Journal columnist after George W. Bush's presidency, played a prominent role in Fox's 2012 election-night coverage. When the network's decision desk called Ohio for Obama, sealing his re-election, Rove disagreed passionately, arguing that it was too soon to call the state. This led host Megyn Kelly to walk down the hall to discuss the Ohio call with Fox's vote tabulators, and an embarrassing detour into partisanship for the GOP-leaning network. The dispute was a hit to Rove's stature and his pocketbook — Fox benched him after the election (at least for a spell).

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Best of 2012: The Year of Comedy, Citizens United, Health Care Competition, and Trolls

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
Red lights illuminate Pennsylvania Avenue as the U.S. Capitol glows in the twilight, in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, as talks continue on the looming fiscal cliff.
The Political Landscape is a weekly conversation with National Journal writers, editors, and outside experts on the news of the day.
2012 was a year of ineffable change domestically and abroad. At home: historic elections, a shifting demographic, evolving technologies, and tragic shootings. Abroad: political upheaval and unrest across the Middle East, changing U.S. military strategies, and the threat of a nuclear-capable Iran.
On this week's episode, we focus on the domestic issues covered by Political Landscape in 2012. We'll play back the highlights from some of the best interviews of the year. If you'd like to skip around to different topics, note the timestamps below. They represent when each topic comes up on this week's episode.
We investigated the impact of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision on the 2012 election. (2:20-6:58)
We examined Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's jobs plan. (6:58-11:07)
We dug into the advanced data-mining techniques used by both presidential campaigns. (11:07-15:47)
We explored the ways the presidential candidates were strategically using (or not using) comedic appearances to curry favor with voters. (32:08-35:49)
After Election Day, we spun the story forward.
We discussed the ramifications of results up and down the ballot. (15:47-20:57)
We talked about the coming changes for health care policy (20:57-26:20), net neutrality (26:20-32:08), and gun control.

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‘iPhone 5S’ could feature new ‘touch-on display’ technology

The display Apple (AAPL) uses in the iPhone 5 could be replaced as soon as this year. It has been reported that the panel’s in-cell touch technology, which allows for a thinner design by combining the touch sensor and display into one panel, has been causing interference problems with the touchscreen and is also part of the reason behind recent supply shortages. According to a report from The China Times, Apple intends to switch to a new technology for the “iPhone 5S” — possibly “touch-on display” tech from panel maker Chimei Innolux. The technology is said to be both thin and durable, and it will offer better touch sensing capabilities than the current in-cell display. A recent report suggested the iPhone 5S will launch by June with multiple color options and two different display sizes.

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APPLE’S Q1 IPHONE SALES MAY HIT 50 MILLION AS IPAD SALES CLIMB TO 24 MILLION

Shares of Apple (AAPL) are down more than 20% in the past three months from highs in the $700 range. Despite guiding for a record holiday quarter, Wall Street continues to be split on Apple’s future. Some analysts expect the company’s success to continue while othershave argued that “people overbelieved in Apple.” Rob Cihra of Evercore Partners thinks the company will report record sales on January 23rd when it posts its fourth quarter earnings results.

In a recent note to investors picked up by Apple Insider, the analyst estimated that Apple could report having sold 50 million iPhones in the fiscal first quarter, representing a 35% year-over-year increase and 86% growth from the previous quarter. He also believes the company may have sold 24 million iPads during the quarter, a 56% year-over-year increase and a 71% boost from the third quarter.

Cihra expects Apple’s tablet growth to be driven largely by the iPad mini, which he believes could account for as many as 10 million units. He notes that the smaller device is still seeing strong demand following its “booming launch.”

The strong growth of the iPhone and iPad won’t be matched by the company’s Mac line of computers, however, with sales estimated to have decreased 3% year-over-year with a mere 5 million units sold in the December quarter. The analyst attributed the low numbers to supply constraints regarding the new iMacs.

While Cihra believes the company’s December quarter will be massive, he notes that its rapid roll-out of the iPhone 5 could lead to production cuts in the March quarter, when sales are expected to drop to 39 million units. The analyst trimmed his price target on shares of Apple to $750, down from $775, although he maintained his Overweight rating and noted that his sales figures are “wholly conservative.”

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NY pension fund sues Qualcomm for political records

 New York State's $150-billion public pension fund has sued Qualcomm Inc., seeking to force the chipmaker to reveal its political spending, according to the state comptroller.
The suit was filed late on Wednesday in Delaware Court of Chancery, after Qualcomm refused the request by the New York State Common Retirement Fund -- a Qualcomm shareholder -- to inspect records detailing the use of corporate resources for political activities, said state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who oversees the fund.
"Without disclosure, there is no way to know whether corporate funds are being used in ways that go against shareholder interests," DiNapoli, a Democrat who is up for re-election in 2014, said in a statement.
The suit opens a new front in the fight over corporate political spending, which has risen dramatically since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 ruling in Citizens United.
That decision lifted restrictions on corporate political spending and led in part to an unprecedented $6 billion of spending on the recently held U.S. elections.
While other companies have agreed to increase their disclosure of political spending, Qualcomm has not, the lawsuit said.
A spokeswoman for San Diego, California-based Qualcomm said the company had no immediate comment.
The New York State fund, the third-biggest public pension plan in the United States, owns more than 6.1 million Qualcomm shares, which are valued at about $396 million, based on Thursday's share price. The stake represents 0.36 percent of outstanding Qualcomm shares and makes the fund the company's 52nd largest shareholder, according to Thomson Reuters data.
New York is Qualcomm's largest U.S. public pension fund shareholder. The California Public Employees Retirement System, the largest U.S. pension fund with $241 billion in assets, owns about 4.3 million Qualcomm shares.
Since at least August 2012, the pension fund has repeatedly attempted to get the information from Qualcomm, but the company has refused to divulge it, the suit claimed.
New York's pension fund is "concerned that it cannot determine whether senior executives and directors of Qualcomm are spending corporate resources to support their favored political candidates" or on causes that aren't focused on boosting shareholder value, the complaint said.
Other sources show that in 2012, Qualcomm spent more than $4.7 million on federal lobbying efforts, according to the complaint.
The precise total is not known, DiNapoli told Reuters.
"Qualcomm has been particularly resistant in terms of disclosure," he said.
"The real question is we don't know what kind of spending they're doing," he said. "We have the right to have access to books to see where the spending is going."
In 2010, the fund and a group of other institutional investors asked most of the 500 biggest U.S. companies to disclose contributions.
Over the past two years, the group filed 27 related shareholder resolutions seeking more transparency, reaching deals with 10 companies, the comptroller said.
WITH NOVEL APPROACH, SUCCESS UNCERTAIN
The suit is believed to be the first in Delaware, where Qualcomm and most major U.S. companies are incorporated, to use the state's books-and-records law to compel political spending disclosures, a DiNapoli spokesman said.
As an institutional investor, the fund could attempt to remove directors from Qualcomm's board or sue board members if they were found to have wasted assets, the complaint said.
DiNapoli's office previously asked Qualcomm to provide documents that identified the date, recipient and amount of each political expenditure the company has made since January 21, 2010, as well as documents detailing the company's expenses for trade associations and other tax-exempt groups.
DiNapoli's office also asked for minutes of board meetings during which political causes or candidates were discussed.
The case would be tough to win if New York State claims that shareholders are entitled broadly to all documentation about political spending, according to Larry Hamermesh, a professor at Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware.
"I can't see a court saying that is correct any more than what a company spends on business in China are a legitimate subject for shareholder inspections," he said.
Hamermesh said investors might gain access if they take a targeted approach such as seeking contributions to specific races or contributions approved by the CEO.
Charles Elson, director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, said that if DiNapoli's legal team cannot point to evidence -- such as news reports that raised suspicions about the company's spending -- the lawsuit might not survive scrutiny by a judge who sees it as a fishing expedition,
But if it passes muster, the suit could become a model for other shareholders, Elson said.
DiNapoli's complaint said that studies indicate that corporate political spending is, in general, negatively correlated with enterprise value and can indicate widespread deficiencies in corporate governance.
Political donations can also backfire on corporations. For instance, Target Corp. in 2010 donated $150,000 to a political group that supported Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, who opposed same-sex marriage. The contribution sparked backlash and led Target to later apologize, the suit noted.

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6 takeaways from Google's antitrust settlement

Google Inc. has settled an U.S. antitrust probe that largely leaves its search practices alone. In a major win for Google, the Federal Trade Commission unanimously concluded that there is not enough evidence to support complaints from rivals that the company shows unfair bias in its search results toward its own products.
Below are six of the biggest takeaways from the decision announced Thursday:
— Google promised to license hundreds of important mobile device patents to rivals that make gadgets such as smartphones, tablets and gaming devices, on "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms," the FTC said. Google got the patents as part of its $12.4 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility last year. The patents cover wireless connectivity and other Internet technologies.
— Upon receiving a request to do so, the online search leader pledged to stop using snippets of content from other websites, such as the reviews site Yelp Inc., in its search results. It had already scaled back this practice before the FTC settlement after a complaint from Yelp that triggered the FTC probe. Under the agreement, specialty websites such as those on shopping and travel can request that Google stop including such snippets in the search results, while still providing links to those websites.
— Google pledged to adjust its online advertising system so marketing campaigns can be more easily managed on rival networks. Some FTC officials had worried that Google's existing service terms with advertisers make that difficult.
— The FTC's unanimous conclusion that Google does not practice unfair "search bias" to promote its own properties against competitors is a major victory for the online search leader. It means it won't have to change its search formula, considered to be the company's crown jewel.
— Not everyone was happy with the results. FairSearch, a group whose members include rival Microsoft Corp., said the FTC's "inaction on the core question of search bias will only embolden Google to act more aggressively to misuse its monopoly power to harm other innovators."
— Next up, European regulators are expected to wrap up a similar investigation of Google's business practices in the coming weeks.

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The Milky Way Is Home to 100 Billion Scary Alien Planets

A new study published in the peer-reviewed Astrophysical Journal presents evidence that approximately 100 billion "alien planets" — that is, astronomical objects determined to be orbiting a star — reside in the Milky Way, the galactic home of planet Earth. The Caltech astrophysicists who authored the study say their estimate is "conservative"; there could very well be 200 billion alien planets, many of them circling their stars' "temperate zone," a distance far enough from the star's heat (but not too far) for liquid water to exist naturally, like it does on Earth. One of the study's authors thinks the discovery will help "unlock" the mysterious process by which planets, and planetary systems, take shape:

"I usually try not to call things 'Rosetta stones,' but this is as close to a Rosetta stone as anything I've seen," said co-author John Johnson, also of Caltech. "It's like unlocking a language that we're trying to understand — the language of planet formation."

The study produced a number large enough to trigger a kind of existential anxiety, too:

"It's a staggering number, if you think about it," lead author Jonathan Swift, of Caltech in Pasadena, said in a statement. "Basically there's one of these planets per star.

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Venezuela VP: Chavez suffers 'new complications'

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Hugo Chavez has suffered "new complications" following his cancer surgery in Cuba, his vice president said Sunday, describing the Venezuelan leader's condition as delicate.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro spoke with a solemn expression in a televised address from Havana, saying he had spoken with Chavez and that the president sent greetings to his homeland. Maduro did not give details about the complications, which he said came amid a respiratory infection.
"Several minutes ago we were with President Chavez. We greeted each other and he himself referred to these complications," Maduro said, reading from a prepared statement. The vice president was seated alongside Chavez's eldest daughter, Rosa, and son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, as well as Attorney General Cilia Flores.
Maduro's comments suggest an increasingly difficult fight for the ailing president. The Venezuelan leader has not been seen or heard from since undergoing his fourth cancer-related surgery Dec. 11, and government officials have said he might not return in time for his scheduled Jan. 10 inauguration for a new six-year term.
"The president gave us precise instructions so that, after finishing the visit, we would tell the (Venezuelan) people about his current health condition," Maduro said. "President Chavez's state of health continues to be delicate, with complications that are being attended to, in a process not without risks."
Maduro held up a copy of a newspaper confirming that his message was recorded on Sunday.
"Thanks to his physical and spiritual strength, Comandante Chavez is facing this difficult situation," Maduro said.
Maduro said he had met various times with Chavez's medical team and relatives. He said he would remain in Havana "for the coming hours" but didn't specify how long.
Maduro, who arrived in Havana on Saturday for a sudden and unexpected trip, is the highest-ranking Venezuelan official to see Chavez since the surgery in Cuba, where the president's mentor Fidel Castro has reportedly made regular visits to check on him.
Before flying to Cuba, Maduro said that Energy Minister Hector Navarro would be in charge of government affairs in the meantime.
"The situation does not look good. The fact that Maduro himself would go to Cuba, leaving Hector Navarro in charge only seems understandable if Chavez's health is precarious," said David Smilde, a University of Georgia sociologist and analyst for the Washington Office on Latin America think tank.
Smilde said that Maduro probably made the trip "to be able to talk to Chavez himself and perhaps to talk to the Castros and other Cuban advisers about how to navigate the possibility of Chavez not being able to be sworn in on Jan. 10."
"Mentioning twice in his nationally televised speech that Chavez has suffered new complications only reinforces the appearance that the situation is serious," Smilde said.
Before his operation, Chavez acknowledged he faced risks and designated Maduro as his successor, telling supporters they should vote for the vice president if a new presidential election were necessary.
Chavez said at the time that his cancer had come back despite previous surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatment. He has been fighting an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer since June 2011.
Medical experts say that it's common for patients who have undergone major surgeries to suffer respiratory infections and that how a patient fares can vary widely from a quick recovery in a couple of days to a fight for life on a respirator.
Maduro's latest update differed markedly from last Monday, when he had said he received a phone call from the president and that Chavez was up and walking.
The vice president spoke on Sunday below a picture of 19th century independence hero Simon Bolivar, the inspiration of Chavez's leftist Bolivarian Revolution movement.
Maduro expressed faith that Chavez's "immense will to live and the care of the best medical specialists will help our president successfully fight this new battle." He concluded his message saying: "Long live Chavez."
Chavez has been in office since 1999 and was re-elected in October, three months after he had announced that his latest tests showed he was cancer-free.
Opposition politicians have criticized a lack of detailed information about Chavez's condition, and last week repeated their demands for a full medical report.
Information Minister Ernesto Villegas defended the government's handling of the situation, saying during a televised panel discussion on Sunday night that Chavez "has told the truth in his worst moments" throughout his presidency.
Villegas said a government-organized New Year's Eve concert in a downtown Caracas plaza had been canceled, and he urged Venezuelans to pray for Chavez.
Chavez's daughter Maria, who has been with the president since his surgery, said in a message on her Twitter account: "Thank you people of Venezuela. Thank you people of the world. You and your love have always been our greatest strength! God is with us! We love you!"
Allies of the president also responded on Twitter, repeating the phrase: "Chavez lives and will triumph."

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Venezuela's official statement on Chavez's health

English translation of statement read by Vice President Nicolas Maduro in Havana on Sunday about the health of President Hugo Chavez:
"The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela fulfills its duty by informing the Venezuelan people about the course of President Hugo Chavez's medical treatment after the surgery performed in Havana, Cuba on Dec. 11.
"As is known, on December 28 we traveled to Havana on the instructions of the President Commander, and I proceed to make the following report:
"Arriving in Havana, we went immediately to the hospital to update ourselves firsthand on the situation of the Commander President's health.
"We were informed of new complications arising from the already known respiratory infection.
"Yesterday, we kept abreast of the evolution of the situation and the response to treatment. We met several times with his medical team and his closest relatives.
"A few minutes ago we were with President Chavez, we greeted each other and he himself referred to these complications.
"We had the opportunity to share with the current national situation, the successful inaugurations of Bolivarian governors in 20 departments, and the satisfactory reception of his New Year message to the Bolivarian National Armed Forces.
"In particular, Commander Chavez wanted his New Year greeting transmitted to all Venezuelan families, who are gathering together in these days along the length and breadth of the country; he especially sent a warm hug to all the boys and girls of Venezuela, reminding them that he always holds them close to his heart. The embrace was extended to all our people, so that they receive love in 2013, a year which should be of the greatest happiness for our homeland, of definitive consolidation of our independence and national unity.
"The President gave us precise instructions so that, after finishing the visit, we would tell the (Venezuelan) people about his current health condition.
"Nineteen days after his complex surgery, President Chavez's state of health continues to be delicate, with complications that are being attended to, in a process not without risks. Thanks to his physical and spiritual strength, Commander Chavez is facing this difficult situation.
"At the same time, we have decided to announce that we will stay in Havana for the next few hours, accompanying the Commander and his family, very attentive to how the current situation is evolving.
"Confident that the global outpouring of love and solidarity for Commander Chavez, along with his immense will to live and the care of the best medical specialists will help our president successfully fight this new battle."
"Long Live Chavez!

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A lesson in pop culture via Guantanamo

 al-Afghani, Muhammed Rahim al-Afghani poses …more
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — An Afghan man who is being held with the most significant terrorism suspects in U.S. custody has apparently gained extensive knowledge of western pop culture in an unlikely place: the top secret prison-within-a-prison in Guantanamo Bay.
Nearly five years ago, Mohammed Rahim al-Afghani became the last prisoner sent to Guantanamo. He was accused of helping Osama bin Laden elude capture, and the CIA had interrogated him for months at an undisclosed location before he was locked away in Guantanamo's Camp 7, a prison unit shrouded in secrecy that holds about 15 men who have been designated "high value" detainees by the U.S. government.
With no court appearances, or even charges filed, nothing was heard from Rahim and he has remained largely a mystery. So, it was a surprise when his lawyer, Carlos Warner, released letters from the detainee described by the head of the CIA as a "tough, seasoned jihadist." More surprising still was the content: quirky notes peppered with references to Howard Stern, Fox News and the global video hit of South Korean singer PSY.
"Dear Mr. Warner," he wrote. "I like this new song Gangnam Style. I want to do the dance for you but cannot because of my shackles."
In another letter, the multilingual Rahim shows some familiarity with American slang. He tells his lawyer, most likely in jest, that he has adopted a banana rat, a rodent commonly spotted around the U.S. base in Cuba. "Tell the guards to leave my friend alone. They need to chillax."
It's hardly what one would expect from a middle-age Afghan who has never been to the U.S. While there is still little public information about Rahim, the letters provide some insight into the man — and suggest that the prisoners in Camp 7, a group that includes five charged with aiding and orchestrating the Sept. 11 terror attack, are not completely isolated from the outside world.
To Warner, a federal public defender for the Northern District of Ohio, the letters humanize a man who he contends has been demonized by U.S. authorities, who allege he worked as a translator and assistant to bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders. The lawyer says the letters demonstrate a surprising amount of resilience.
"It shows he's different and he's intelligent," Warner said. "Just think that he's doing this under all the restrictions that's he's under down there. He has an incredibly good sense of humor."
There have been letters released to the media in the past from other detainees at Guantanamo, often providing valuable information about a prison that will have been open for 11 years on Jan. 11. Sami al-Haj, an Al-Jazeera journalist when he was captured and sent to Guantanamo, provided detailed accounts of a hunger strike before he was eventually released. Shaker Aamer, the last resident of Britain still held at the prison, has given an insider's view on confinement conditions.
Rahim's are different because he is in Camp 7, and the content departs so sharply from what one might expect from a jihadist. "I want you to contact Amanda Palmer," he wrote Nov. 6, referring to the American singer. "... Ask her to write a song about me and my family."
Warner and U.S. officials are prohibited from publicly discussing Rahim's life and the allegations against him, but the broad outlines are in a public document filed in federal court by the government in response to Warner's filing of a civil writ of habeas corpus seeking the prisoner's release.
The document says Rahim is about 47 and was born in eastern Afghanistan. He fled with his family over the border to Pakistan when the Soviet Union invaded in 1979. Rahim has told authorities that he returned temporarily to fight the invaders, a war that killed two of his brothers, and moved back permanently once they retreated from the country.
A younger brother, Abdul Basit, told The Associated Press in London, where he is seeking asylum, that Rahim eventually got a job working for an Afghan government committee responsible for eradicating opium poppies, but that he was forced from the job by members of the Taliban, the Islamic fundamentalist movement that emerged in the 1990s.
Basit, who was detained by the U.S. military for five years in Afghanistan, says his brother is a well-educated man who was not particularly interested in global politics. He suggests his brother is being held more for who he might know rather than what he has done. "There is no reason to put him in Guantanamo for this long time," Basit said in broken English.
The Justice Department document says Rahim began helping the Taliban in the 1990s and that job morphed into working for al-Qaida. It cites two other prisoners and an undisclosed source identifying Rahim as a close associate of bin Laden. Rahim was captured in Pakistan in 2007 and turned over to the CIA, in whose custody he was subjected to prolonged sleep deprivation. He was transferred to Guantanamo in March 2008.
In photos taken by the Red Cross at Camp 7, and obtained by the AP from the prisoner's family in Afghanistan, Rahim has a long flowing beard. In one, he smiles broadly at the camera.
The first letters from Rahim released by Warner were in June, including one in which he disclosed that Majid Khan, a former Maryland resident who pleaded guilty to aiding al-Qaida, had acquired a cat at Camp 7, which AP reported at the time. The Pentagon and prison officials declined comment and said they could not discuss conditions of confinement for high-value detainees, although they added that prisoners are not permitted to have pets.
The rest of the letters came during or after subsequent visits by Warner, who had them cleared by the military before releasing them to the AP. None are more than a few sentences, and contain many typographical errors, which have been corrected for this story for the sake of clarity.
In one, Rahim returns to the theme of his fellow prisoner's alleged cat. "I want a dog," he writes. "I will train my dog to chase Majid Khan's cat."
In separate notes, he asks Warner to appeal for help from radio personality Howard Stern. "If he is the 'King of All Media' he can help me."
In another, he criticizes Fox News' "Fair and Balanced" slogan, writing that if that were true the channel "would not have to say it every five minutes."
How he came by this information is not clear. A prison spokesman, Navy Capt. Robert Durand, won't discuss life in Camp 7 but he says that "where satellite television and radio is available for detainees," they have access to a wide variety of channels in Arabic, Farsi, English, Russian, Spanish and other languages. The line-up, however, apparently does not include Howard Stern or Fox.
With no Internet access, he could have picked up such information from other shows or through Warner, who has spent hours with him and delivered magazines such as Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated and The Economist.
The U.S. military will not say when or if Rahim will be charged. His name does not appear on the list of detainees who have been cleared for release from Guantanamo and his name was not among those mentioned as possible candidates for an exchange with the Taliban as part of a peace deal.

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Chavez suffers new complications in cancer fight

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez's new complications after cancer surgery prompted his closest allies to call for Venezuelans to pray for him on Monday, presenting an increasingly bleak outlook and prompting growing speculation about whether the ailing leader has much longer to live.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro looked weary and spoke with a solemn expression as he announced in a televised address from Havana on Sunday that Chavez now confronts "new complications" due to a respiratory infection nearly three weeks after his operation. He described Chavez's condition as delicate.
The streets of Caracas were abuzz on Monday with talk of Chavez's increasingly tough fight, while the news topped the front pages of the country's newspapers.
"He's history now," said Cesar Amaro, a street vendor selling newspapers and snacks at a kiosk in downtown Caracas. He motioned to a daily on the rack showing side-by-side photos of Maduro and National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, and said politics will now turn to them.
Amaro said he expects a new election soon to replace Chavez. "For an illness like the one the president has, his days are numbered now," he said matter-of-factly.
In Bolivar Plaza in downtown Caracas, Chavez's supporters strummed guitars and read poetry in his honor on New Year's Eve. They sang along with a recording of the president belting out the national anthem.
About 300 people filled a Caracas church for a Mass to pray for Chavez.
"This country would be terrible without Chavez. He's the president of the poor," said Josefa Carvajal, a 75-year-old former maid who sat in the pews. "They say the president is very sick. I believe he's going to get better."
The president's aides held a Mass at the presidential palace, while government officials urged Venezuelans to keep their president in their prayers.
Political analyst Ricardo Sucre said the outlook for Chavez appears grim, saying Maduro's body language during his televised appearance spoke volumes.
"Everything suggests Chavez's health situation hasn't evolved as hoped," Sucre said. He said Maduro likely remained in Havana to keep close watch on how Chavez's condition develops.
"These hours should be key to having a more definitive prognosis of Chavez's health, and as a consequence make the corresponding political decisions according to the constitution," Sucre said.
Sucre and other Venezuelans said it seems increasingly unlikely that Chavez would be able to be sworn in as scheduled on Jan. 10.
The Venezuelan leader has not been seen or heard from since undergoing his fourth cancer-related surgery Dec. 11, and government officials have said he might not return in time for his inauguration for a new six-year term.
If Chavez dies or is unable to continue in office, the Venezuelan Constitution says that a new election should be held within 30 days.
Before his operation, Chavez acknowledged he faced risks and designated Maduro as his successor, telling supporters they should vote for the vice president if a new presidential election were necessary.
Chavez said at the time that his cancer had come back despite previous surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatment. He has been fighting an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer since June 2011.
Maduro said on Sunday that he had met with Chavez. "We greeted each other and he himself referred to these complications," Maduro said, reading from a prepared statement.
"The president gave us precise instructions so that, after finishing the visit, we would tell the (Venezuelan) people about his current health condition," Maduro said. "President Chavez's state of health continues to be delicate, with complications that are being attended to, in a process not without risks."
Maduro was seated alongside Chavez's eldest daughter, Rosa, and son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, as well as Attorney General Cilia Flores. He held up a copy of a newspaper confirming that his message was recorded on Sunday.
"Thanks to his physical and spiritual strength, Comandante Chavez is facing this difficult situation," Maduro said.
Maduro said he had met various times with Chavez's medical team and relatives. He said he would remain in Havana "for the coming hours" but didn't specify how long.
Maduro, who arrived in Havana on Saturday for the sudden and unexpected trip, is the highest-ranking Venezuelan official to see Chavez since the surgery in Cuba, where the president's mentor Fidel Castro has reportedly made regular visits to check on him.
Before flying to Cuba, Maduro said that Energy Minister Hector Navarro would be in charge of government affairs in the meantime.
"The situation does not look good. The fact that Maduro himself would go to Cuba, leaving Hector Navarro in charge only seems understandable if Chavez's health is precarious," said David Smilde, a University of Georgia sociologist and analyst for the Washington Office on Latin America think tank.
Smilde said that Maduro probably made the trip "to be able to talk to Chavez himself and perhaps to talk to the Castros and other Cuban advisers about how to navigate the possibility of Chavez not being able to be sworn in on Jan. 10."
"Mentioning twice in his nationally televised speech that Chavez has suffered new complications only reinforces the appearance that the situation is serious," Smilde said.
Medical experts say that it's common for patients who have undergone major surgeries to suffer respiratory infections and that how a patient fares can vary widely from a quick recovery in a couple of days to a fight for life on a respirator.
Maduro's latest update differed markedly from a week ago, when he had said he received a phone call from the president and that Chavez was up and walking.
The vice president spoke on Sunday below a picture of 19th century independence hero Simon Bolivar, the inspiration of Chavez's leftist Bolivarian Revolution movement.
Maduro said that Chavez had sent year-end greetings to his homeland and a "warm hug to the boys and girls of Venezuela."
The vice president expressed faith that Chavez would "successfully fight this new battle." He concluded his message saying: "Long live Chavez."
On the streets of Caracas, images of Chavez smiling and saluting are emblazoned on campaign signs and murals. One newly painted mural reads: "Be strong, Chavez."
State television played video of Chavez campaigning for re-election, including a speech when he shouted: "I am a nation!"
A new government sign atop a high-rise apartment complex reads: "YOU ALSO ARE CHAVEZ."
Chavez has been in office since 1999 and was re-elected in October, three months after he had announced that his latest tests showed he was cancer-free.
Opposition politicians have criticized a lack of detailed information about Chavez's condition, and last week repeated their demands for a full medical report.
Information Minister Ernesto Villegas defended the government's handling of the situation, saying during a televised panel discussion on Sunday night that Chavez "has told the truth in his worst moments" throughout his presidency.
He also referred to a new surge of rumors about Chavez's condition and called for respect for the president and his family.
Chavez's daughter Maria, who has been with the president since his surgery, said in a message on her Twitter account: "Thank you people of Venezuela. Thank you people of the world. You and your love have always been our greatest strength! God is with us! We love you!"
Chavez's son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, who is the government's science minister and has been with the president in Cuba, urged Venezuelans in a Twitter message Monday night not to believe "bad-intentioned rumors" circulating online. "President Chavez has spent the day calm and stable, accompanied by his children," Arreaza said in the message.
Some who stood in the Caracas plaza on Monday night held pictures of the president. Speaking to the crowd, lawmaker Earle Herrera said that Chavez "is continuing to fight the battle he has to fight."

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Venezuelans offer prayers, songs for Hugo Chavez

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans gathered on plazas and in churches to pray for President Hugo Chavez amid what seems an increasingly gloomy outlook for the ailing leader in his fight against cancer.
Following an announcement that Chavez had suffered "new complications" from a respiratory infection after undergoing cancer surgery in Cuba, people were out in the streets of Caracas on Monday talking about the leftist president's chances of surviving.
"He's history now," said Cesar Amaro, a street vendor selling newspapers and snacks at a kiosk downtown. He motioned to a daily on the rack showing side-by-side photos of Vice President Nicolas Maduro and National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, and said politics will now turn to them.
The vendor said he expected a new election soon to replace Chavez, who won re-election in October. "For an illness like the one the president has, his days are numbered now," Amaro said.
In Bolivar Plaza in downtown Caracas, Chavez's supporters strummed guitars and read poetry in his honor on New Year's Eve. They sang along with a recording of the president belting out the national anthem.
About 300 people filled a Caracas church for a Mass to pray for Chavez.
"This country would be terrible without Chavez. He's the president of the poor," said Josefa Carvajal, a 75-year-old former maid who sat in the pews. "They say the president is very sick. I believe he's going to get better."
Chavez's aides held a Mass at the presidential palace, while government officials urged Venezuelans to keep their leader in their prayers.
Some who stood in Bolivar Plaza held pictures of Chavez. Speaking to the crowd, lawmaker Earle Herrera said that Chavez "is continuing to fight the battle he has to fight."
"He's an undefeated president, and he'll continue to be undefeated," Herrera said.
Political analyst Ricardo Sucre said the outlook for Chavez appeared grim. Noting that Maduro appeared weary during a solemn televised appearance Sunday night to announce the latest setback for Chavez, Sucre said that spoke volumes about the situation.
"Everything suggests Chavez's health situation hasn't evolved as hoped," Sucre said. He said Maduro likely remained in Havana to keep close watch on how Chavez's condition develops.
"These hours should be key to having a more definitive prognosis of Chavez's health, and as a consequence to making the corresponding political decisions according to the constitution," Sucre said.
Sucre and other Venezuelans said it seems increasingly unlikely that Chavez would be able to be sworn in as scheduled Jan. 10 for his new term.
The Venezuelan leader has not been seen or heard from since undergoing his fourth cancer-related surgery on Dec. 11, and government officials have said he might not return in time for his inauguration for a new six-year term.
If Chavez dies or is unable to continue in office, the Venezuelan Constitution says that a new election should be held within 30 days.
Before his operation, Chavez acknowledged he faced risks and designated Maduro as his successor, telling supporters they should vote for the vice president if a new presidential election were necessary.
Chavez said at the time that his cancer had come back despite previous surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatment. He has been fighting an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer since June 2011.
"The situation does not look good," said David Smilde, a University of Georgia sociologist and analyst for the Washington Office on Latin America think tank.
"Mentioning twice in his nationally televised speech that Chavez has suffered new complications only reinforces the appearance that the situation is serious," he added.
Smilde said Maduro probably made the trip "to be able to talk to Chavez himself and perhaps to talk to the Castros and other Cuban advisers about how to navigate the possibility of Chavez not being able to be sworn in on Jan. 10."
Medical experts say that it's common for patients who have undergone major surgeries to suffer respiratory infections and that how a patient fares can vary widely from a quick recovery in a couple of days to a fight for life on a respirator.
On the streets of Caracas, images of Chavez smiling and saluting are emblazoned on campaign signs and murals. One newly painted mural reads: "Be strong, Chavez."
Venezuelans rang in the New Year as usual with fireworks raining down all over the capital of Caracas. But one government-organized outdoor party that had been scheduled in Bolivar Plaza with a lineup of Venezuela bands was canceled due to Chavez's precarious condition.
State television played video of Chavez campaigning for re-election, including a speech when he shouted: "I am a nation!"
A new government sign atop a high-rise apartment complex reads: "YOU ALSO ARE CHAVEZ."
Norelys Araque, who was selling holiday cakes on a sidewalk Monday, said she has been praying for Chavez. But, she added, "I don't think he will last long."
Araque said that her family has benefited from state-run subsidized food markets and education programs started by Chavez, and that she hopes the government carries on with the president's programs if he doesn't survive.
Chavez has been in office since 1999 and was re-elected in October, three months after he had announced that his latest tests showed he was cancer-free.
Opposition politicians have criticized a lack of detailed information about Chavez's condition, and last week repeated their demands for a full medical report.
Chavez's son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, who is the government's science minister and has been with the president in Cuba, urged Venezuelans in a Twitter message Monday night not to believe "bad-intentioned rumors" circulating online. "President Chavez has spent the day calm and stable, accompanied by his children," Arreaza said in the message.

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White House defends offer as 'good faith effort'

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is defending President Barack Obama's proposal to set a higher threshold for tax increases than what he vowed to do during his presidential campaign. The White House says Obama has moved halfway to meet House Speaker John Boehner on a "fiscal cliff" deal that raises $1.2 trillion in tax revenue, down from the $1.6 trillion Obama had initially requested.
White House spokesman Jay Carney says that offering to raise taxes on taxpayers earning more than $400,000 rather than the $200,000 he ran on demonstrates, in Carney's words, Obama's good faith effort to reach a compromise.
The new tax proposal is contained in a broader plan that Obama gave Boehner Monday that would cut spending further and lower cost-of-living increases for most Social Security beneficiaries.

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Factbox: U.S. House "Plan B" tax bill likely to have short shelf life

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives is likely to vote this week on what is being called "Plan B" on avoiding the "fiscal cliff."
The Republican-sponsored legislation aims to extend current low tax rates for most families. Without such action by Congress, across-the-board income tax rates will rise on January 1.
The combination of $500 billion in tax hikes and $100 billion in spending cuts, which are scheduled to start in the new year, could push the U.S. economy into recession, according to experts.
House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, and Democratic President Barack Obama have been trying for weeks to avoid the fiscal cliff with an alternative tax and spending-cut deal. Boehner says he is offering this very limited alternative in case negotiations with Obama fail.
Here are key elements of Boehner's Plan B:
* A House vote is expected on Thursday.
* Boehner expressed confidence on Wednesday that the measure would pass but some House Republican aides were not yet predicting that.
* The White House has said Obama would veto the Boehner Plan B in the unlikely event it made it to his desk.
* Democrats are viewing Plan B as nothing more than a diversion from attempts to reach a broad deficit-reduction deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. They see it as a way for Boehner to give his conservatives a vote on a measure that they can tout as a tax-cut bill for all but the wealthiest and inoculate them against Democratic accusations of obstruction.
* Republicans argue that they are acting responsibly by providing a backstop against massive tax increases in case the Obama-Boehner negotiations fail.
* Once Plan B is dealt with, all attention will shift to whether Obama and Boehner can work out a broad agreement by December 31 or whether the country will go off the cliff. If that happens, there is speculation that some sort of deal might be worked out in the early weeks of January to avoid the full brunt of the tax hikes and spending cuts.
* Under Boehner's Plan B, current low tax rates would be made permanent for families with net annual incomes of up to $1 million. The measure would let tax rates rise on income above $1 million. Without action by Congress, all income tax rates are set to rise on January 1 with the expiration of tax cuts enacted a decade ago by then-President George W. Bush.
* Plan B includes a grab bag of other expiring tax provisions. It would permanently fix the alternative minimum tax so that middle-class taxpayers do not creep into a tax bracket intended for the wealthiest. Annual AMT fixes have prevented tens of millions of households from paying a higher tax rate.
Also included are moves to maintain estate taxes at their current 35 percent rate per individual after a $5 million exemption. The White House backs reverting to the 2009 estate tax levels of 45 percent tax after a $3.5 million exemption per individual, though some moderate Democrats back keeping the current law.
Plan B legislation would raise dividend and capital gains tax rates for those earning $1 million and over to 20 percent, from its current 15 percent for most who pay such taxes. Most Democrats back raising the current 15 percent tax rate on investment income to 20 percent for households earning more than $250,000.
* The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the plan would reduce U.S. revenues by around $4 trillion over 10 years.
* The plan does not address spending issues, including automatic across-the-board spending cuts also looming at year's end.
* The bill does not address how to resolve a looming stand-off over the government's borrowing authority. The government will need to raise the "debt ceiling" in the next few months to avoid default, and Obama wants higher borrowing authority approved promptly. House Republicans continue to want to hold back and use it as leverage in ongoing fiscal cliff talks, according to aides.
* Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid already has warned there are not the votes in his chamber to pass Boehner's plan. But if the House sent the Senate such a bill, Reid could respond in one of a few ways. He could declare that the Senate in July passed its version of this legislation, but with a $250,000 threshold, and take no further action. Or, he could offer a variation of the Senate-passed bill. Obama has proposed a $400,000 cut-off for maintaining low income tax rates. Reid could embrace that level or another one.
* The legislation is being inserted into an existing bill that originally had to do with Burma trade policy. A House Rules Committee spokesman said this was being done to avoid some potential procedural delays.

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U.S. charges three Swiss bankers in offshore account case

 Three Swiss bankers accused of conspiring with American clients to hide more than $420 million from the tax-collecting U.S. Internal Revenue Service were indicted, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan said on Wednesday.
The indictment named Stephan Fellmann, Otto Huppi and Christof Reist, all former client advisers with an unnamed Swiss bank. None of the bankers have been arrested, authorities said.
Their attorneys were not immediately known.
The indictment said the unnamed bank did not have offices in the United States.
Banking secrecy is enshrined in Swiss law and tradition, but it has recently come under pressure as the United States and other nations have moved aggressively to tighten tax law enforcement and demanded more openness and cooperation.
In April, two Swiss financial advisers were indicted on U.S. charges of conspiring to help Americans hide $267 million in secret bank accounts.
In January, prosecutors charged three Swiss bankers with conspiring with wealthy taxpayers to hide more than $1.2 billion in assets from tax authorities.
UBS AG, the largest Swiss bank, in 2009 paid a $780 million fine as part of a settlement with U.S. authorities who charged the bank helped thousands of wealthy Americans hide billions of dollars in assets in secret Swiss accounts.

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"Fiscal cliff" turmoil could hit 100 million taxpayers: U.S. IRS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. tax authorities warned on Wednesday that as many as 100 million taxpayers - far more than previously estimated - could face refund delays if lawmakers' "fiscal cliff" negotiations fail to fix the alternative minimum tax (AMT) before year-end.
The Internal Revenue Service said in a letter to lawmakers that it was raising its estimate on AMT impact from 60 million.
"It is becoming apparent that an even larger number of taxpayers - 80 to 100 million of the 150 million total returns expected to be filed - may be unable to file," IRS Acting Commissioner Steven Miller wrote.
The AMT is a levy designed to ensure that high-income taxpayers pay a minimum tax. Democrats and Republican typically agree to adjust the tax for inflation to prevent unintended taxpayers from being hit by it.
This year, however, its fate is tied to heated negotiations - primarily between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner - over future taxes and federal spending as they try to avoid the automatic tax increases and spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff.
The AMT fix for calculating 2012 income tax has broad bipartisan support, but so far been drowned out by the larger federal budget questions.
Without action soon to fix the AMT, there could be "lengthy delays of tax refunds and unexpectedly higher taxes for many taxpayers," Miller said.
The IRS needs congressional authority to update tax-filing software and forms so that Americans can start their tax returns next year. Inaction by Congress on the AMT has left IRS unsure which taxpayers will need to pay the AMT tax.
An IRS spokesman declined to comment on the agency's AMT preparations to date.
"Failure to act on the fiscal cliff will throw the 2013 tax filing season into chaos," Representative Sander Levin, a Michigan Democrat, said in a statement.
About 4 million taxpayers pay the AMT now because Congress routinely "patches" it for inflation to keep it from reaching down into middle-income tax brackets.
Without a patch for 2012, up to 33 million taxpayers will have to pay the AMT, according to IRS.
Obama's most recent offer to Republicans included a permanent AMT patch.
House Republicans plan to vote Thursday on a bill to address the fiscal cliff that also includes an AMT patch.

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What's on the table now in 'fiscal cliff' talks

An update on the latest offers on the table in negotiations to avert a year-end avalanche of federal tax increases and spending cuts known as the "fiscal cliff":
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INCOME TAXES
House Speaker John Boehner would allow income tax rates to rise for people making more than $1 million per year and would hold rates where they are for everyone making less. The top rate on income exceeding $1 million would go from 35 percent to 39.6 percent.
President Barack Obama would freeze income tax rates for taxpayers making $400,000 or less and raise them for people making more.
The two sides are moving closer together. Previously, the Republican House leader opposed allowing any tax rates to go up; Obama wanted higher taxes for individual income above $200,000, or $250,000 for couples.
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PAYROLL TAX
Obama has dropped his proposal to extend a temporary cut in Social Security payroll taxes paid by 163 million workers. Republicans want that tax to go back up.
Raising the payroll tax by 2 percentage points to its old level would cost a worker making $50,000 a year another $1,000 — or a little more than $19 per week — during 2013.
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SOCIAL SECURITY
Obama is offering to reduce cost-of-living increases for Social Security recipients. Republicans have been seeking this as a key to long-term deficit reduction. But many congressional Democrats oppose it.
Government pensions and veterans' benefits would also get smaller cost-of-living increases.
In addition, taxpayers, especially low- and middle-income families, would pay more because of changes in the way that tax brackets are adjusted for inflation.
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MEDICARE
Obama continues to reject Republicans' plan to raise the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67. Boehner now says raising the eligibility age is not essential to a deal.
Obama wants to limit cuts in Medicare and other health care programs to about $400 billion over 10 years; Republicans want to overhaul Medicare to save even more money.
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DEBT LIMIT
Obama wants a deal that would raise the amount the government is allowed to borrow to cover the next two years, to avoid another debt showdown with Congress until after the 2014 midterm elections.
Previously, Obama had demanded permanent authority to increase the debt ceiling without congressional approval. Republicans want Congress to be part of the decision-making process so they can demand budget-cutting in exchange for additional borrowing.
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OTHER TAXES
Obama and Boehner both propose raising taxes on dividends and capital gains from 15 percent to 20 percent.
Both sides would reduce the number of deductions and exemptions that wealthy taxpayers can claim.
Obama would also let estate taxes revert to a 45 percent rate, after the first $3.5 million of an estate is exempted. Boehner backs a plan for a 35 percent rate and $5 million exemption.

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