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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 5, 2005)
| Global update | Today Thursday Friday ' . ‘ j 1 High: 43 High: 44 High: 40 Low: 30 Low: 34 Low: 32 Precip: 0% Precip: 30% Precip: 70% IN BRIEF Bush Administration focuses on Social Security WASHINGTON — The Bush Ad ministration is focusing on a Social Se curity proposal that would allow younger workers to invest nearly two thirds of their payroll taxes in private accounts, with contributions limited to about $1,000 to $1,300 a year, an Ad ministration official said Tliesday. A final plan is expected to be un veiled in late February. President Bush has not made a final decision on the plan’s details. The official, who spoke on condi tion of anonymity, said the size of the private accounts could be similar to a proposal by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R S.C., and a plan from Bush’s 2001 So cial Security Commission. The federal 12.4 percent payroll tax is split between workers and employ ers. Workers could divert 4 percentage points, while the remaining 2.2 per centage points in taxes would contin ue going into the system. Graham’s plan calls for the annual contributions to be capped at $1,300, while the commission proposed a low er limit of $1,000. Americans donate more than $200 million for relief NEW YORK — From antibiotics to clothes to cash — lots of it — U.S. based relief groups report an over whelming response from donors moved by the devastation of the r Indian Ocean tsunami, with more than $200 million raised as of Tues day. One charity said online pledges were coming in at the rate of $100,000 an hour. Donors contributing to what one official called a “tidal wave of gen erosity” ranged from actress Sandra Bullock, who gave $1 million, to 3 year-old Antonio Cabrera, who joined his brothers in dropping off cash-filled sandwich bags at the American Red Cross office in Denver. Firm statistics for such relief campaigns are elusive. But charity officials said they expected dona tions to continue streaming in for weeks to come, putting the tsunami in the company of the Ethiopian famine of the mid-1980s and Cen tral America’s Hurricane Mitch of 1998 as the foreign disasters prompting the largest contributions from U.S. citizens. The private donations are in addi tion to the $350 million pledged thus far by the U.S. government. Two ex presidents renowned for their fund raising prowess — Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush — have been re cruited to spur more private giving. Indonesia, U.N. fear for children in tsunami's wake JAKARTA, Indonesia — Fearing child-trafficking gangs will exploit the chaos of the tsunami disaster, Indone sia has placed restrictions on young sters leaving the country, ordered po lice commanders to be on the lookout for trafficking and posted special guards in refugee camps. UNICEF and other child welfare groups warn that the gangs — who are well-established in Indonesia — may well be whisking orphaned chil dren into trafficking networks, sell ing them into forced labor or even sexual slavery in wealthier neigh boring countries such as Malaysia and Singapore. Such trafficking, if confirmed, would vastly deepen the suffering of children already struck hard by the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami. In donesia estimates that 35,000 chil dren on Sumatra island’s Aceh province lost one or both parents to the disaster. Fueling the suspicions, many In donesians have received mobile phone text messages this week invit ing them to adopt orphans from Aceh. The police are investigating the messages. Pomp, promises as new Congress convenes WASHINGTON — In a show of strength at the dawn of a new Con gress, majority Republicans passed new ethics standards opposed by House Democrats on Tbesday and threatened to change Senate rules if necessary to confirm President Bush’s court appointees. “In this Congress, big plans will stir men’s blood,” pledged Rep. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, re-elected speaker. He vowed to spend the next two years pursuing key ele ments of Bush’s ambitious second term agenda. He mentioned Social Security, including Bush’s call to allow indi viduals to invest a portion of their payroll taxes on their own. The Illinois Republican also pledged ac tion on energy and transportation bills and a measure to crack down on lawsuits. “We must also start a national de bate on completely overhauling our tax code,” he added, leaving unclear whether another key presidential ob jective would become law over the next two years. Hastert will preside over a House majority bigger by three as a result of the Nov. 2 elections. Senate Ma jority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee leads a group of 55 Republicans — four more than the GOP had in the old Congress. Gov. Kulongoski discontented with direction of war He also stated his position on gambling addictions, saying he would urge an increase in treatment funding BY BRAD CAIN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SALEM — Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski, an early backer of Presi dent Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, expressed growing discontent Tues day with the toll the war is having on Oregon and its citizens. “If you tell me the exit strategy is five years, it’s probably four-and-a half years too long,” the governor said in an interview looking at the year ahead. On another issue, Kulongoski said he would urge the Legislature to spend more money on gam bling addiction treatment to han dle the expected increase in case load when the state begins offering video slot games. Kulongoski, a former U.S. Marine, has attended the funerals of more than two dozen Oregon soldiers who have been killed in Iraq. He said the task is becoming more emotionally draining with each new casualty. “It’s a very tough issue to deal with, and I have to tell you, it’s be coming more and more difficult for the public,” he said. “People want to know what the end game is. And what is the exit strategy.” When Bush launched the Iraq war, Kulongoski applauded the move as a way to free the Iraqi people from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein. He later said he had doubts about the way intelligence data was used to justify the invasion. “All of this stuff about whether we should or shouldn’t have gotten in there, the historians can fight that out,” he said Tiiesday. “All I know is that I now have over 1,300 Oregon National Guard troops there plus all the other kids from Oregon there. ” Kulongoski, who took part in a two-day White House-organized trip to Iraq last February, said the upcom ing Jan. 30 elections in Iraq could be a good beginning point for an even tual drawdown of U.S. forces. “I think there is an opportunity for us after the election to bring in the United Nations and bring in more in ternational help and downsize the role of America” in the Iraqi conflict, he said. Meanwhile, Kulongoski has ordered the Oregon Lottery to begin offering video slot machine games by July 1, which are expected to boost net revenues from state gambling by $120 million. Kulongoski says the money is needed to fund state police patrols, but officials with the state’s gam bling addiction treatment program predict the new games could create an additional 8,000 problem gam blers in Oregon. However, they say they are barely able to meet current demand because the Legislature never came through with its 1999 pledge to dedicate 1 per cent of the lottery’s net proceeds for gambling addiction treatment. BUY YOUR TEXTBOOKS AT HALF.COM AND SAVE UP TO 40% OFF* THE LIST PRICE. How great is this? Find great savings on new or used textbooks you need this semester. Go to half.com and enter the titles or ISBN numbers. That’s it! Save $C ! an additional ! on a purchase of $50 or more. Redeem this coupon by entering this code: OREGON2005 at half.com ; For a limited time, first-time buyers only. 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