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	<title>Swampland &#124; TIME.com</title>
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	<description>Political insight from the Beltway and beyond</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:38:15 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Swampland &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>IRS Draws New Criticism Over $70M Employee Bonuses</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/irs-draws-new-criticism-over-70m-employee-bonuses/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/irs-draws-new-criticism-over-70m-employee-bonuses/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:04:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Stephen Ohlemacher</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Jobs]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98246</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — Already reeling from a pair of scandals, the Internal Revenue Service is drawing new criticism over plans to hand out millions of dollars in employee bonuses. The Obama administration has ordered agencies to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts, but the IRS says it&#8217;s merely following legal obligations under a union contract. The agency is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses, said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over the IRS. Grassley says his office has learned that the IRS was to execute an agreement with the employees&#8217; union Wednesday to pay the bonuses. Grassley says the bonuses should be canceled under an April directive from the White House budget office. The directive was written by Danny Werfel, a former budget official who has since been appointed acting IRS commissioner. &#8220;The IRS always claims to be short on resources,&#8221; Grassley said. &#8220;But it appears to have $70 million for union bonuses. And it appears to be making an extra effort to give the bonuses despite opportunities to renegotiate with the union and federal instruction to cease discretionary bonuses during sequestration.&#8221; The IRS said it is negotiating with the union over the matter but did not dispute Grassley&#8217;s claim that the bonuses are imminent. Under the union contract, employees can get individual performance bonuses of up to $3,500 a year. Office of Management and Budget &#8220;guidance directs that agencies should not pay discretionary monetary awards at this time, unless legally required,&#8221; IRS spokeswoman Michelle Eldridge said in a statement. &#8220;IRS is under a legal obligation to comply with its collective bargaining agreement, which specifies the terms by which awards are paid to bargaining-unit employees.&#8221; Eldridge, however, would not say whether the IRS believes it is contractually obligated to pay the bonuses. &#8220;In accordance with OMB guidance, the IRS is actively engaged with NTEU on these matters in recognition of our current budgetary constraints,&#8221; Eldridge said. The National Treasury Employees Union did not respond to requests<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98246&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Jobs</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/jobs-domestic-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/irs-bonuses_grod.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">IRS Bonuses</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Fed Says It Will Continue $85B in Bond Purchases</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/fed-says-it-will-continue-85b-in-bond-purchases/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/fed-says-it-will-continue-85b-in-bond-purchases/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:29:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Martin Crutsinger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Federal Reserve]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98242</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it will maintain the pace of its bond-buying program to keep long-term interest rates at record lows. But it offered a more optimistic outlook for the U.S. economy and job market. The brighter view of the economy could be a hint that the Fed is moving closer to reducing its bond purchases. But the statement issued after its two-day policy meeting gave no indication of when that might happen. Investors reacted initially by selling both stocks and bonds. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 70 points shortly after the statement came out; minutes earlier, it had been down just 16. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note shot up to 2.27 percent from 2.21 percent just before the statement came out. In the statement, the Fed says the economy is growing moderately. And for the first time it said the &#8220;downside risks to the outlook&#8221; had diminished since fall. Timothy Duy, a University of Oregon economist who tracks the Fed, calls the statement &#8220;an open door for scaling back asset purchases as early as September.&#8221; The fact that the Fed foresees less downside risk to the job market &#8220;gives them a reason to pull back&#8221; on its bond purchases, Duy says. The Fed says it will keep buying $85 billion a month in bonds until the outlook for the job market improves substantially. The goal is to lower long-term interest rates to encourage borrowing, spending and investing. It hasn&#8217;t defined substantially. The central bank also said that it would maintain its plan to keep short-term rates at record lows at least until unemployment reaches 6.5 percent. The Fed also said that inflation was running below its 2 percent long-run objective, but noted that temporary factors were partly the reason. The Fed also released its latest economic projections on Wednesday, which predicted that unemployment will fall a little faster this year, to 7.2 percent or 7.3 percent at the end of 2013 from 7.6 percent now. It thinks the rate will be<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98242&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Federal Reserve</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/federal-reserve-domestic-policy/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Boehner in a Bind on Immigration</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/boehner-in-a-bind-on-immigration/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/boehner-in-a-bind-on-immigration/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:03:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Altman</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98227</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s a cliche to say that John Boehner has the toughest job in Washington, but like many cliches, it has a kernel of truth. Consigned to running a caucus that has little interest in governing (and even less in being governed), Boehner&#8217;s House has lurched from one crisis to the next. The immigration bill expected to reach House desks next month may be Boehner&#8217;s trickiest challenge yet. Boehner&#8217;s bind is this: passing immigration reform could bolster his party&#8217;s dismal relationship with Hispanics. Yet much of his caucus appears bent on killing the bill, then proudly flashing the murder weapon. And the Speaker, never much in command of his own troops, finds his own job &#8212; and the fortunes of his party &#8212; hanging in the balance. &#8220;The fate of the Republican Party,&#8221; says Frank Sharry, executive director of America&#8217;s Voice, &#8220;may rest in Boehner&#8217;s hands.&#8221; If Boehner calculates, as many savvy Republicans have, that passing immigration is in the GOP&#8216;s interest, he could thread legislation through with mostly Democratic support, plus a rump faction of Republicans. (He has done this on other occasions, including the fiscal cliff deal on New Year&#8217;s Day and a Hurricane Sandy relief measure, to the chagrin of some colleagues.) But immigration is a charged issue, and Boehner could face an insurrection on his right if he brings a bill to the floor without support from a majority of Republicans, which would violate the so-called Hastert Rule. One House Republican warned the move could cost Boehner his speakership. Asked about the threat Tuesday, Boehner acknowledged it might. So far the Speaker has been coy about his intentions. On Tuesday he seemed to assure his colleagues that he would not pass a bill without them, but left himself plenty of outs. &#8220;Any immigration reform bill that is going to go into law ought to have a majority of both parties’ support,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And so I don’t see any way of bringing an immigration bill to the floor that doesn’t have a majority support of Republicans.&#8221; Ought to; not will. And<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98227&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Immigration</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/immigration/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/170038507.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">House Speaker Boehner Holds Weekly Briefing</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/41a5f1af68b9fd647df540c67f1a464a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Alex Altman</media:title>
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		<title>Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski Endorses Gay Marriage</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/republican-senator-lisa-murkowski-endorses-gay-marriage/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/republican-senator-lisa-murkowski-endorses-gay-marriage/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:13:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Rogers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Gay Marriage]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98215</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski endorsed gay marriage Wednesday, becoming the third GOP senator to do so after Ohio&#8217;s Rob Portman and Illinois&#8217; Mark Kirk. Murkowski referenced President Reagan in her letter to Alaskans explaining her decision. &#8220;Like Reagan, Alaskans believe that government works best when it gets out of the way&#8230;I support marriage equality and support the government getting out of the way to let that happen.&#8221; Murkowski had stated earlier this year that she was &#8220;evolving&#8221; on the issue. In 1996 the Alaska legislature became the first state to pass a law specifically banning same-sex marriages, and in 1998 about 68% of the public voted for a referendum upholding that law. Alaska determined that state and local benefits must also apply to same sex partners in 2005. According to Public Policy Polling, 67% of Alaskans support some form of legal recognition, but 51% do not endorse same-sex marriage. After Murkowski&#8217;s announcement, Marc Solomon, national campaign director of Freedom to Marry, said, &#8220;With a solid majority of the American public supporting same-sex couples&#8217; right to marry, along with a majority of Republican voters under 50, we&#8217;ll see more and more leaders like Senator Murkowski &#8212; from all parties and all states across the nation &#8212; moving to be in line with the electorate and on the right side of history.&#8221; Alaska&#8217;s other Senator, Democrat Mark Begich, endorsed gay marriage last year.  <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98215&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Gay Marriage</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/gay-marriage-domestic-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ap235749347036.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Lisa Murkowski</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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		<title>District of Columbia Joins States with Statue Representative in Capitol</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/district-of-columbia-joins-states-with-statue-representative-in-capitol/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/district-of-columbia-joins-states-with-statue-representative-in-capitol/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:51:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>TIME Staff</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[D.C.]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98208</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The District of Columbia may not have a vote in Congress, but as of today it at least has a statue in the Capitol. For years, the legislature barred the District of Columbia from joining the states in placing statue representatives in the Capitol. No longer—today a sculpted likeness of Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave turned famous orator, will take its place among the hundred other state-donated statues dispersed throughout the Capitol. After the statue cleared final legislative hurdles in May, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D – D.C.) said in a statement: There is no better figure to represent our city than Frederick Douglass, who made the city his home and was deeply involved in D.C. government and in the civic affairs of the city. Douglass is not only one of the great international icons of human rights, he is remembered in the District also for his outspoken dedication to democratic self-government and congressional representation for the city. Douglass served D. C. as a U.S. marshal and a Recorder of Deeds in the years following Reconstruction. He died in Washington on February 20, 1895. Watch the live dedication ceremony here at 11 AM ET. Fun facts about Frederick Douglass: Douglass, raised Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, never knew his exact date of birth and chose February 14th, 1818 as an adult. His mother Harriet Bailey was a slave, and all he knew of his father was that he was white. When he was 8 years old, Douglass was sold to the family of Hugh Auld in Baltimore, Maryland. Auld&#8217;s wife, Sophia, consciously broke state law when she decided to teach Douglass how to read. After being rebuked by her husband, who thought that slaves who knew how to read were dangerously prone to insurrection, Sophia stopped her lessons. Douglass continued to read newspapers, books, and political material in secret. He later cited The Columbian Orator as a heavy influence on his earliest opinions about human rights. In 1838, after a number of different masters in the Chesapeake area, Douglass completed a<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98208&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>D.C.</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/d-c/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeadmin</media:title>
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		<title>Morning Must Reads: June 19</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/morning-must-reads-june-19/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/morning-must-reads-june-19/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:01:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Rogers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Must Reads]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98197</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Obama will speak Wednesday at the Brandenburg Gate just days before the 50th Anniversary of John F. Kennedy&#8217;s speech of Cold War solidarity with all of West Germany. Obama will make symbolic history of his own as the first president to speak from the eastern side of the gate. Obama will say he wants to go beyond reductions outlined in the New START treaty, seeking an additional one-third cut in the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads in the U.S. arsenal, if the Russians agree to do the same. Battleland&#8216;s reaction. Obama: NSA programs have saved lives. Washington Post-ABC poll: Nearly two-thirds of Americans want open, public congressional hearings on the previously secret NSA programs. CBO: Senate immigration plan reduces the deficit by $197 billion from 2013 to 2023. Afghanistan suspends security talks with the U.S. After Bernake From 1993 to early 2011, F.B.I. agents fatally shot about 70 “subjects” and wounded about 80 others — and every one of those episodes was deemed justified. Health-insurance exchanges are falling behind schedule. The Obama administration is ramping up a plan to use the federal government’s social media accounts and websites to help convince millions of Americans, including those who “mistrust government,” to sign up for health insurance through Obamacare. Raising the next Bill Gates Missing Michael Hastings<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98197&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Must Reads</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/miscellany/must-reads-miscellany/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/morning-must-reads1.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Morning Must Reads</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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		<title>Obama: &#8216;Lives Have Been Saved&#8217; by NSA Programs</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/obama-lives-have-been-saved-by-nsa-programs/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/obama-lives-have-been-saved-by-nsa-programs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:55:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Associated Press</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Domestic Policy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98198</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(BERLIN) — Trying to tamp down concerns about government over-reach, President Barack Obama on Wednesday defended U.S. Internet and phone surveillance programs as narrowly targeted efforts that have saved lives and thwarted at least 50 terror threats. &#8220;This is not a situation in which we are rifling through ordinary emails&#8221; of huge numbers of citizens in the United States or elsewhere, the president declared during a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He called it as a &#8220;circumscribed, narrow&#8221; surveillance program. &#8220;Lives have been saved,&#8221; Obama said, adding that the program has been closely supervised by the courts to ensure that any encroachment of privacy is strictly limited. Merkel, for her part, said it was important to continue debate about how to strike &#8220;an equitable balance&#8221; between providing security and protecting personal freedoms. &#8220;There has to be proportionality,&#8221; she said. She added that their discussion on the matter Wednesday was &#8220;an important first step&#8221; over striking a balance. (MORE:   In China, Surveillance Outrage Falls Flat) The two leaders spoke to the media after meeting privately on a range of issues confronting U.S. and European leaders, including the fragile effort to bring peace in Afghanistan, where peace talks with the Taliban are in the offing to find ways to end the nearly 12-year war. Earlier Wednesday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai suspended talks with the United States on a new security deal to protest the way his government was being left out of the initial peace negotiations with the Taliban. Obama said the U.S. had anticipated &#8220;there were going to be some areas of friction, to put it mildly, in getting this thing off the ground. That&#8217;s not surprising. They&#8217;ve been fighting there for a long time&#8221; and mistrust is rampant. But he said it was important to pursue a parallel track toward reconciliation even as the fighting continues, and it would up to the Afghan people whether that effort ultimately bears fruit.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98198&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Domestic Policy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/sl_obama_merkel_061913.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Image: Barack Obama, Angela Merkel</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbef58d71daefb9ddab6c6b20018290c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Gov&#8217;t Report: Smooth Launch Unsure for Health Law</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/govt-report-smooth-launch-unsure-for-health-law/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/govt-report-smooth-launch-unsure-for-health-law/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:48:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98190</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — There&#8217;s no guarantee that President Barack Obama&#8216;s health care law will launch smoothly and on time, congressional investigators say in the first in-depth independent look at its progress. But in a report to be released Wednesday, the congressional Government Accountability Office also sees positive signs as the Oct. 1 deadline approaches for new health insurance markets called exchanges to open in each state — in many cases over the objections of Republican governors. Additionally, the report discloses that the administration had spent nearly $400 million as of March to set up the infrastructure of a sprawling system involving major federal agencies, every state, hundreds of insurance companies, and millions of citizens, among them many individuals seeking coverage for the first time. &#8220;Whether (the administration&#8217;s) contingency planning will assure the timely and smooth implementation of the exchanges by Oct. 2013 cannot yet be determined,&#8221; the report concluded. A copy was provided to The Associated Press. The administration is taking the lead in setting up the markets in 34 states, the report said — a heavy lift unforeseen when the law was passed. The computerized clearinghouse for the entire system — a federal &#8220;data hub&#8221; designed to deliver real-time eligibility rulings — has only undergone initial testing. And states have yet to complete many of their assignments. &#8220;Much progress has been made in establishing the regulatory framework and guidance required for this undertaking, and (the administration) is currently taking steps to implement key activities of the (exchanges),&#8221; the report said. &#8220;Nevertheless, much remains to be accomplished within a relatively short period of time.&#8221; Translation: most of the specs have been written, but the all wiring hasn&#8217;t been laid, and what will happen when they flip the switch nobody really knows. And remember, Oct. 1 is less than four months away. (Cover Story: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us) GAO also issued a similar assessment for small-business health insurance markets scheduled to open concurrently. The study shows &#8220;this law isn&#8217;t ready for prime time, and come October millions of Americans and<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98190&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Health Care</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/health-care/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbef58d71daefb9ddab6c6b20018290c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Border Security: Will it Block a Final Deal on Immigration?</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/border-security-will-it-block-a-final-deal-on-immigration/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/border-security-will-it-block-a-final-deal-on-immigration/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:45:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Altman</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98118</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As the bill to rewrite U.S. immigration laws edges closer to a vote in the Senate, its architects are wrestling with a familiar dilemma: how far should they go to mollify critics and attract new supporters, without wrecking the bipartisan compromise that took months to forge? In the days since the landmark legislation made its way to the Senate floor, border security has emerged as a flashpoint. GOP Senator Marco Rubio, one of eight negotiators to craft the legislation and its chief envoy to conservatives, says the bill can&#8217;t pass without tougher border security. While Democrats aren&#8217;t happy about Rubio&#8217;s pronouncement, they&#8217;re willing to make concessions to lure teetering members and win a striking bipartisan majority that could pave the way for passage in the Republican-controlled House. But despite ongoing discussions, the two sides have yet to find a sweet spot between Republicans&#8217; desire for tougher security standards and negotiators&#8217; insistence on preserving the core of the bill. (PHOTOS: Fatal Frontier, The Perils of Crossing the Rio Grande) Last week much of the GOP rallied around an amendment filed by John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, which would block undocumented immigrants from applying for green cards until government agencies certify that the border is secure. Cornyn&#8217;s amendment has stringent standards for measuring a secure border, including a 90% apprehension rate for illegal crossings, an operational biometric ID system and the capability to fully monitor the 1,900-mile Southern border. Supporters balked, arguing the plan would jeopardize the path to citizenship, an essential component of the bill. Both Democrats and Republicans called the proposal a &#8220;poison pill.&#8221; Cornyn tells TIME he hopes his amendment will receive a vote on Wednesday, though he acknowledged it didn&#8217;t have the votes to pass yet. &#8220;One non-negotiable item,&#8221; he says, is tying the legalization process to tougher border enforcement, &#8220;which guarantees that everybody is highly incentivized to get the border security piece done. Absent that, I think it’s just another hollow promise.&#8221; Since this is a common refrain on the GOP side, negotiators have<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98118&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/19/border-security-will-it-block-a-final-deal-on-immigration/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Immigration</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/immigration/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/rtxznhx.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">A U.S. Border Patrol agent looks out at the desert near Falfurrias, Texas, on March 29, 2013.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/41a5f1af68b9fd647df540c67f1a464a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Alex Altman</media:title>
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		<title>House Passes 20-Week Abortion Ban</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/house-passes-20-week-abortion-ban/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/house-passes-20-week-abortion-ban/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:46:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kate Pickert</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Abortion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98105</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In what some conservatives are calling the most important abortion measure to be considered by Congress since 2003’s partial birth abortion ban, the House today passed a bill that would make it illegal to terminate pregnancies after 20 weeks. The bill, which passed 228-196, is not expected to have an impact on federal abortion law. The Senate is unlikely to take up the bill and the White House has already threatened to veto such legislation if it ever lands on President Obama’s desk. Championed by Arizona Rep. Trent Franks, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is symbolic. Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country have passed similar legislation, which has been sometimes struck down by the courts or tangled in ongoing litigation. The House effort is meant to add federal firepower to the slow and steady quest to challenge and eventually overturn the 40-year-old Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling, which held that abortion should be legal until a fetus is viable, generally understood to be around 24 weeks. Roe opponents say their momentum is building, especially on the heels of the high-profile murder trial of Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, who performed illegal and sometimes gruesome late-term abortions and was recently sentenced to life in prison. Not all Republicans endorsed the idea of bringing the 20-week abortion ban to a floor vote. Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, told the New York Times that doing so was a “stupid idea” that risks alienating voters with more moderate views on abortion at a time of economic uncertainty. The measure attracted six Democratic votes; six Republicans voted against the bill.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98105&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/house-passes-20-week-abortion-ban/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Abortion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/abortion-domestic-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ap13061802310.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ap13061802310.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ap13061802310.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Trent Franks</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d40234a6843419b1a17b2c08b6848561?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">katepickert</media:title>
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		<title>Talking With the Taliban</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/talking-with-the-taliban/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/talking-with-the-taliban/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:06:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Massimo Calabresi</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Afghanistan]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98122</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With the announcement Tuesday that the U.S. will engage in direct talks with the Taliban in coming days, the Obama Administration has moved one step closer to implementing it&#8217;s slow-motion version of Vermont Republican Senator George Aiken&#8217;s famous 1966 suggestion for ending the war in Vietnam: declare victory and go home. The question is whether that strategy will be any more successful this time around. There are some reasons to think so. The Taliban have made concessions in beginning formal peace talks. Previously they said they wouldn’t engage with Afghan President Hamid Karzai; now they will. And the U.S. hasn’t met all the Taliban’s conditions, including the release of several Taliban leaders held at Guantánamo Bay, though that possibility is on the table. Kenneth Katzman of the Congressional Research Service says the Taliban&#8217;s flexibility is the result of the successful negotiation of a long-term security agreement between the U.S. and Afghanistan that will keep American forces in Afghanistan after Washington ends its combat missions there in 2014. Also pushing the Taliban to talks is their lack of popularity at home. (MORE: NATO Hands Over Control to Afghan Forces as U.S. Plans Talks With the Taliban) But there&#8217;s a long way to go before anything like stability in Afghanistan will be possible. Previously Washington had been adamant that negotiations would only work if the Taliban met three conditions for peace. Said then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2011: “They must renounce violence; they must abandon their alliance with al-Qaeda; and they must abide by the constitution of Afghanistan.” A representative of the Taliban did say Tuesday that the Taliban “would not allow anyone to threaten the security of other countries from the soil of Afghanistan” and that they would seek “a political and peaceful solution” to the war. A senior U.S. official told reporters, &#8220;We didn’t expect immediately for them to break ties with al-Qaeda&#8221; because “that’s an outcome of the process.&#8221; He said the expected Taliban statement opposing the use of Afghan soil for foreign attacks was &#8220;a first step<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98122&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Afghanistan</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/afghanistan/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/rtx10sbh.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Naeem, a spokesman for the Office of the Taliban of Afghanistan, stands next to a translator speaking during the opening of the Taliban Afghanistan Political Office in Doha</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/afd9484b1bca74216e145d2c49c8af45?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">calabresim</media:title>
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		<title>Report Says Immigration Bill Cuts Deficit</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/report-says-immigration-bill-cuts-deficit/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/report-says-immigration-bill-cuts-deficit/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:54:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / David Espo and Erica Werner</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98157</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — The Congressional Budget Office says a sweeping immigration bill before the Senate would cut deficits by $197 billion over 10 years. The bill would add $262 billion in new spending and tax credits over 10 years, a sum more than covered by $459 billion in increased revenues, according to the report Tuesday by Congress&#8217; nonpartisan scorekeepers. The bill would cut deficits by an additional $700 billion in the second 10 years after taking effect, the CBO says. Some 8 million people in the U.S. illegally would initially gain legal status under the legislation, according to the CBO analysis. That&#8217;s compared with a population of about 11 million immigrants now in the country illegally.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98157&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/report-says-immigration-bill-cuts-deficit/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Immigration</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/immigration/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/immigration_grod1.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/immigration_grod1.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/immigration_grod1.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Immigration</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbef58d71daefb9ddab6c6b20018290c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Michele Bachmann, Voice of Reason on Surveillance?</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/michele-bachmann-voice-of-reason-on-surveillance/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/michele-bachmann-voice-of-reason-on-surveillance/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:52:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Crowley</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Domestic Surveillance]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98130</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This might come as a surprise to many readers, but one of the most effective lines of questioning about the government&#8217;s secret anti-terror surveillance programs at today&#8217;s House Intelligence Committee hearing came from a woman famous for repeating false information and fringe theories: Michele Bachmann. In lawyerly style, the GOP Congresswoman and former 2012 presidential candidate asked three witnesses&#8211;NSA director Gen. Keith Alexander, NSA deputy director John Inglis, and deputy FBI Director Sean Joyce&#8211;a series of questions designed to show that that federal surveillance is not as broad, intrusive or alarming as many Americans&#8211;presumably including many of the Tea Partiers who supported her 2012 presidential bid, seem to believe. Indeed, Bachmann almost seemed to be directly refuting the conspiracist rhetoric of libertarian Republicans like Rand Paul. You may not agree with Bachmann&#8217;s embrace of these programs, or her characterization of Edward Snowden as a &#8220;traitor,&#8221; but the exchange was among the day&#8217;s most interesting and effective. Here&#8217;s a transcript, slightly edited for concision: REPRESENTATIVE MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN): Thank you, Mr. Chair&#8230; I just have a series of short questions. My first one is, you had mentioned earlier in your testimony that data must be destroyed within five years of acquisition. I believe that&#8217;s in Section 215, phone records. Is that &#8212; that&#8217;s true, within five years? MR. INGLIS: That is true. It&#8217;s destroyed when it reaches five years of age. REP. BACHMANN: And how long do the phone companies on their own maintain data? MR. INGLIS: That varies&#8230;. I think that it ranges from six to 18 months and that the data that they hold is, again, useful for their purposes, not necessarily the government&#8217;s. REP. BACHMANN: So then my question is, did the FISA orders give the United States companies a choice in whether to participate in the NSA business records or in the PRISM  programs? Was this voluntarily compliance on the part of these companies? MR. INGLIS: No, these are court orders that require their compliance with the terms of the court order. REP. BACHMANN: So let me<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98130&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/michele-bachmann-voice-of-reason-on-surveillance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Domestic Surveillance</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/domestic-surveillance/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/168871298.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/168871298.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/168871298.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Michele Bachmann after a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 16, 2013.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/25edc643b57a776abbc75835c699af51?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">crowley100</media:title>
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		<title>CBO: Senate Immigration Plan Reduces Deficit, Would Put 8 Million On Path To Legal Status</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/cbo-senate-immigration-plan-reduces-deficit-would-put-8-million-on-path-to-legal-status/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/cbo-senate-immigration-plan-reduces-deficit-would-put-8-million-on-path-to-legal-status/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:23:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zeke Miller and Alex Rogers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98135</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Senate immigration reform bill released Tuesday found major savings to the federal budget and positive economic effects if the bill is enacted, providing a major boost to supporters of the &#8220;Gang of Eight&#8221; bill. The CBO found that that changes in direct spending and revenues under the legislation would decrease federal budget deficits by $197 billion over the 2014–2023 period and by an estimated $700 billion over the 2024–2033 period. CBO also found that the bill would increase the size of the labor force, increase average wages after 2025 (but decrease them before), raise unemployment through 2020, boost capital investment, and raise productivity and capital. The bill would increase inflation-adjusted GDP relative by 3.3 percent in 2023 and by 5.4 percent in 2033. It also shows that average wages for the entire labor force would be 0.1 percent lower in 2023 and 0.5 percent higher in 2033, as the amount of capital available to workers would not increase as rapidly as the number of workers and because the new workers would be less skilled and have lower wages, on average, than the labor force under current law. Supporters of reform have long argued for the economic benefits of fixing the nation&#8217;s immigration system, and the CBO report adds additional credence to those claims. According to the budget office, much of the additional federal revenues would come from new immigrants admitted to the country under a reformed highly skilled immigrant program and other provisions. Additionally, the change in status for current working illegal immigrants, as well as fines and application costs on the path to citizenship are expected to bring in significant revenues. (MORE: Border Security Stands as Main Roadblock in Immigration Deal) CBO estimates that the bill would result in a 10.4 million increase in the U.S. population by 2023, with roughly eight million illegal immigrants gaining temporary or permanent status. The budget office estimates that border security efforts authorized by the bill would cost the federal government $5 billion, with an additional $1.5 billion for fencing along the southern U.S. border, and $750 million to<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98135&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Immigration</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/immigration/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/cbo_0522.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/cbo_0522.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/cbo_0522.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Congressional Budget Office</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/b456c5209a547a000e0b869f3333aa77?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">zekemiller</media:title>
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		<title>After Slow Start, Obama Administration Finds its Voice on Surveillance</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/after-slow-start-obama-administration-finds-its-voice-on-surveillance/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/after-slow-start-obama-administration-finds-its-voice-on-surveillance/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:10:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Crowley</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Domestic Surveillance]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98111</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After a week of mostly ad hoc, often cryptic and generally ineffectual responses to leaked details about its anti-terror surveillance programs, the Obama administration has finally begun articulating a clearer defense of those programs. It amounts to a two pronged-message: The snooping isn&#8217;t as bad as it sounds, and your civil liberties are scrupulously protected. President Obama kicked off the counteroffensive in a Monday night interview with PBS&#8217;s Charlie Rose. The president&#8211;who&#8217;d been criticized last week for not more directly defending his surveillance policies in the wake of Edward Snowden&#8216;s bombshell leaks&#8211;insisted that he wrestles with the balance between national security and civil liberties. And at a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday afternoon, top intelligence and law enforcement officials testified that their snooping has prevented specific terror attacks, and refuted some important misconceptions about their covert work. Speaking with Charlie Rose, Obama portrayed himself&#8211;as he did in his recent address on his drone and detention policies&#8211;as copiously working to strike a balance. &#8220;[W]e don&#8217;t have to sacrifice our freedom in order to achieve security. That&#8217;s a false choice,&#8221; Obama told Rose. &#8220;And so every program that we engage in, what I&#8217;ve said is, &#8216;Let&#8217;s examine and make sure that we&#8217;re making the right tradeoffs.&#8217;&#8221; Obama also clarified key points that may be lost on people who only follow the surveillance debate casually&#8211;namely that &#8220;if you are a U.S. person, the NSA cannot listen to your telephone calls, and the NSA cannot target your emails,&#8221; as he put it. A longtime critic of fear-mongering about terrorism, Obama was tonally measured about the threat. (Where George W. Bush liked to refer to &#8220;the evildoers,&#8221; Obama told Rose about &#8220;folks who are trying to do us harm.&#8221;) But real and present danger was the thrust at the House hearing, where a crew of top officials&#8211;including NSA chief Keith Alexander and deputy FBI director Sean Joyce&#8211;said that U.S. surveillance had prevented more than 50 terror plots since 9/11, including at least 10 &#8220;homeland-based threats.&#8221; Among those were two cases the officials discussed publicly<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98111&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Domestic Surveillance</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/domestic-surveillance/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/0e98c2c587f34692a684dc6d0499e7f7-0.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">James Cole, Chris Inglis, Keith Alexander, Sean Joyce, Robert Litt</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/25edc643b57a776abbc75835c699af51?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">crowley100</media:title>
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		<title>First Senator Endorses Ready for Hillary Group</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/first-senator-endorses-ready-for-hillary-group/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/first-senator-endorses-ready-for-hillary-group/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:30:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Ken Thomas</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[2016 Election]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98125</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Claire McCaskill endorsed an outside political group encouraging Hillary Rodham Clinton to run for president in 2016, saying it was important for Democrats to build a groundswell of support for the former secretary of state. The Missouri Democrat&#8217;s support of the Ready for Hillary PAC on Tuesday marked the first time a member of Congress has endorsed the group. The organization does not have official ties to the former first lady, but it&#8217;s trying to lay the foundation for another Clinton campaign. McCaskill, an early supporter of Barack Obama when he was running for president in 2008, said Clinton had to give up her political operation when she joined Obama&#8217;s Cabinet in 2009. &#8220;It&#8217;s important that we start early, building a grassroots army from the ground up, and effectively using the tools of the Internet — all things that President Obama did so successfully — so that if Hillary does decide to run, we&#8217;ll be ready to help her win,&#8221; the senator said. (MORE: Terror, Security, and Hillary 2016) Clinton has not said whether she will undertake another White House bid, but she would be considered the party&#8217;s leading contender for the Democratic nomination should she run. The wife of former President Bill Clinton has been traveling the country delivering paid speeches and is writing a book on her time at the State Department. She recently outlined plans to promote early childhood development issues, women&#8217;s equality and economic development through her family&#8217;s foundation. The Ready for Hillary PAC has recruited a number of Clinton supporters, including political strategist James Carville and former Clinton adviser Craig T. Smith, to help its cause and recently started a fresh fundraising campaign. The super PAC, which can accept and spend unlimited amounts of money, will release its first fundraising report in July. The group is the most prominent effort by Democrats to rally behind Clinton — in ways large and small — more than three years before the next presidential election. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., was asked Tuesday at an event<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98125&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/first-senator-endorses-ready-for-hillary-group/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>2016 Election</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/2012-election/2016-election/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>House Committee Takes Up Tough Immigration Bill</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/house-committee-takes-up-tough-immigration-bill/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/house-committee-takes-up-tough-immigration-bill/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:24:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Erica Werner</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98113</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — A key committee in the Republican-led House moved Tuesday toward approving a tough enforcement-focused immigration bill, over objections from Democrats and disruptions from protesters shouting &#8220;Shame, shame, shame!&#8221; Meanwhile in the Senate, a Republican lawmaker floated a compromise border security proposal he hopes can win over support for sweeping immigration legislation under consideration there that opens the door to citizenship for 11 million immigrants now here illegally. And on a day of fast-paced developments on an issue that is a top priority for President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, moved to quiet speculation that he might bring the Senate immigration legislation up for a vote despite opposition from many conservatives in his chamber. &#8220;Any immigration reform bill that is going to go into law ought to have a majority of both parties&#8217; support if we&#8217;re really serious about making that happen. And so I don&#8217;t see any way of bringing an immigration bill to the floor that doesn&#8217;t have a majority support of Republicans,&#8221; Boehner said. He added that border enforcement would be key for any immigration bill, &#8220;And I frankly think the Senate bill is weak on border security.&#8221; As Boehner addressed reporters, the House Judiciary Committee was meeting to consider a bill, called the Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act, by Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C. It would empower state and local officials to enforce federal immigration laws, make passport and visa fraud into aggravated felonies subject to deportation, funnel money into building more detention centers, and crack down on immigrants suspected of posing dangers. As soon as Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., gaveled the proceedings open, more than a dozen protesters who had been seated in the hearing room stood up and began clapping and chanting, &#8220;Shame, shame, shame! More of the same!&#8221; They were ushered out but their cries could still be heard in the hallway and Goodlatte stopped the proceedings until the protesters had been dispersed. Goodlatte said that the bill under consideration — the first immigration bill to come to a vote<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98113&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Immigration</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/immigration/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/immigration_grod.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Trey Gowdy, Luis Gutierrez</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>NSA Director Says Plot Against Wall Street Foiled</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/nsa-director-says-plot-against-wall-street-foiled/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/nsa-director-says-plot-against-wall-street-foiled/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:31:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Kimberly Dozier</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98106</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — The director of the National Security Agency said Tuesday the government&#8217;s sweeping surveillance programs have foiled some 50 terrorist plots worldwide, including one directed at the New York Stock Exchange, in a forceful defense of spy operations that was echoed by the leaders of the House Intelligence Committee. Army Gen. Keith Alexander said the two recently disclosed programs — one that gathers U.S. phone records and another that is designed to track the use of U.S.-based Internet servers by foreigners with possible links to terrorism — are critical in the terrorism fight. Intelligence officials have disclosed some details on two thwarted attacks, and Alexander offered some information on other attempts. (MORE: PRISM by the Numbers: A Guide to the Government’s Secret Data Mining Program) He said the NSA was monitoring a known extremist in Yemen who was in contact with an individual in the United States. Identifying that person and other individuals, Alexander said, officials &#8220;were able to detect a nascent plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange. &#8230; The FBI disrupted and arrested these individuals.&#8221; The programs &#8220;assist the intelligence community to connect the dots,&#8221; Alexander told the committee in a rare, open Capitol Hill hearing. Alexander got no disagreement from the leaders of the panel, who have been outspoken in backing the programs since Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former contractor with Booz Allen Hamilton, disclosed information to The Washington Post and the Guardian newspapers. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the committee, and Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the panel&#8217;s top Democrat, said the programs were vital to the intelligence community and assailed Snowden&#8217;s actions as criminal. &#8220;It is at times like these where our enemies within become almost as damaging as our enemies on the outside,&#8221; Rogers said. Ruppersberger said the &#8220;brazen disclosures&#8221; put the United States and its allies at risk. The general counsel for the intelligence community said the NSA cannot target phone conversations between callers inside the U.S. — even if one of those callers was someone they were targeted for<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98106&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/nsa-director-says-plot-against-wall-street-foiled/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>National Security</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/national-security/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>U.S. and Taliban to Start Talks in Qatar Office</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/u-s-to-begin-meetings-with-taliban/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/u-s-to-begin-meetings-with-taliban/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:33:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Patrick Quinn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98098</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(KABUL, Afghanistan) — In a major breakthrough, the Taliban and the U.S. announced Tuesday that they will hold talks on finding a political solution to ending nearly 12 years of war in Afghanistan as the Islamic militant movement opened an office in Qatar. American officials with the Obama administration said the office in the Qatari capital of Doha was the first step toward the ultimate U.S.-Afghan goal of a full Taliban renouncement of links with al-Qaeda. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record, said U.S. representatives will begin formal meetings with the Taliban at the office in a few days. The decision was a reversal of months of failed efforts to start peace talks while Taliban militants intensified a campaign targeting urban centers and government installations. In Doha, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naim said the group opposes the use of Afghan soil to threaten other countries and supports the negotiating process, two key demands of both the U.S. and Afghan governments before talks could begin. He made the statement shortly after the deputy foreign minister of Qatar said the Emir of the gulf state had given the go ahead for the office to open. Naim said the Taliban are willing to use all legal means to end what they called the occupation of Afghanistan. He thanked the leader of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani for allowing them to open the office. The Obama administration officials say the U.S. and Taliban representatives will hold bilateral meetings, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai&#8217;s High Peace Council is expected to follow up with its own talks a few days later. (MORE: Unease in Afghanistan as Foreign Troops WIthdraw and Aid Shrinks) The administration officials acknowledged the process will be &#8220;complex, long and messy&#8221; because of the ongoing level of distrust between the parties. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record, vowed to continue to push the Taliban further and said that ultimately the Taliban must also break ties with al Qaida, end violence and accept Afghanistan&#8217;s constitution — including protections for<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98098&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>National Security</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/national-security/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/afghanistan_yang.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Hamid Karzai, Fogh Rasmussen</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Morning Must Reads: June 18</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/morning-must-reads-june-18/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/18/morning-must-reads-june-18/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:07:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Rogers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Must Reads]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=98067</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Afghan troops are now taking the lead on security in every province of Afghanistan Miami Herald FOIA suit reveals Guantánamo’s ‘indefinite detainees’ Behind the slide in Obama&#8217;s poll numbers Putin and Obama clash over Assad&#8217;s fate Former NATO supreme allied commander Wesley Clark on escalating US involvement in Syria Syrian refugees find little help in Greece White House threatens to veto the farm bill as the House Democrats caucus Sen. Rand Paul makes his move on immigration reform The 9 most important quotes from the Obama-Charlie Rose interview<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=98067&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Must Reads</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/miscellany/must-reads-miscellany/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/morning-must-reads1.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Morning Must Reads</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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