Pope decries slaughter of 'defenseless' Syrians

Pope Benedict XVI wished Christmas peace to the world Tuesday, decrying the slaughter of the "defenseless" in Syria, urging Israelis and Palestinians to find the courage to negotiate and encouraging China's new leaders to allow more religious freedom.
Delivering the Vatican's traditional Christmas day message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Benedict also encouraged Arab spring nations, especially Egypt, to build just and respectful societies.
May China's new leadership "esteem the contribution of the religions, in respect for each other" to help build a "fraternal society for the benefit of that noble people," the pope prayed.
It was a clear reference to the Chinese government's often harsh treatment of Catholics loyal to the pontiff instead of to the state-sanctioned church. Earlier this month, the Vatican refused to accept the decision by Chinese authorities to revoke the title of a Shanghai bishop, who had been appointed in a rare show of consensus between the Holy See and China.
As the 85-year-old pontiff, bundled up in an ermine-trimmed red cape, gingerly stepped foot on the balcony, the pilgrims, tourists and Romans below backing St. Peter's Square erupted in cheers.
Less than 12 hours earlier, Benedict had led a two-hour long Christmas Eve ceremony in the basilica. He sounded hoarse and looked weary as he read his Christmas message and then holiday greetings in 65 languages.
In his "Urbi et Orbi" speech, which traditionally reviews world events and global challenges, Benedict prayed that "peace spring up for the people of Syria, deeply wounded and divided by a conflict that does not spare even the defenseless and reaps innocent victims."
He called for easier access to help refugees and for "dialogue in the pursuit of a political solution to the conflict."
Benedict prayed that God "grant Israelis and Palestinians courage to end long years of conflict and division, and to embark resolutely on the path to negotiation."
Israel, backed by the United States, opposed the Palestinian statehood bid, saying it was a ploy to bypass negotiations, something the Palestinians deny. Talks stalled four years ago.
Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said that in a meeting with the pope last week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "emphasized our total readiness to resume negotiations." The Palestinians have not dropped their demand that Israel first stop settlement activities before returning to the negotiating table.
Hours earlier, in the ancient Bethlehem church built over the site where tradition holds Jesus was born, candles illuminated the sacred site and the joyous sound of prayer filled its overflowing halls.
Overcast skies and a cold wind in the Holy Land didn't dampen the spirits of worshippers in the biblical West Bank town. Bells pealed and long lines formed inside the fourth-century Church of the Nativity complex as Christian faithful waited to see the grotto that is Jesus' traditional birthplace.
Duncan Hardock, 24, a writer from MacLean, Va., traveled to Bethlehem from the republic of Georgia, where he had been teaching English. After passing through the separation barrier Israel built to ward off West Bank attackers, he walked to Bethlehem's Manger Square where the church stands.
"I feel we got to see both sides of Bethlehem in a really short period of time," Hardock said. "On our walk from the wall, we got to see the lonesome, closed side of Bethlehem ... But the moment we got into town, we're suddenly in the middle of the party."
Bethlehem lies 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Jerusalem. Entry to the city is controlled by Israel, which occupied the West Bank in 1967.
For those who couldn't fit into the cavernous Bethlehem church, a loudspeaker outside broadcast the Christmas day service to hundreds of faithful in the square.
Their Palestinian hosts, who welcome this holiday as the high point of their city's year, were especially joyous this season, proud of the United Nations' recognition of an independent state of Palestine just last month.
"From this holy place, I invite politicians and men of good will to work with determination for peace and reconciliation that encompasses Palestine and Israel in the midst of all the suffering in the Middle East," said the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal in his annual address.
Back at the Vatican, Benedict offered encouragement to countries after the Arab spring of democracy protests. He had a special word for Egypt, "blessed by the childhood of Jesus."
Without citing the tumultuous politics and clashes in the region, he urged the North African region to build societies "founded on justice and respect for the dignity of every person."
Benedict prayed for the return of peace in Mali and harmony in Nigeria, where, he recalled "savage acts of terrorism continue to reap victims, particularly among Christians."
The Vatican for decades has been worried about the well-being of its flock in China, who are loyal to the pope in defiance of the communist's government support of an officially sponsored church, and relations between Beijing and the Holy See are often tense.
Speaking about China's newly installed regime leaders, Benedict expressed hope that "they will esteem the contribution of the religions, in respect for each other, in such a way that they can help to build a fraternal society for the benefit of that noble people and of the whole world."
Acknowledging Latin America's predominant Christian population, he urged government leaders to carry out commitments to development and to fighting organized crime.
In Britain, the royal family was attending Christmas Day church services at St. Mary Magdelene Church on Queen Elizabeth II's sprawling Sandringham estate, though there were a few notable absences. Prince William is spending the holiday with his pregnant wife Kate and his in-laws in the southern England village of Bucklebury, while Prince Harry is serving with British troops in Afghanistan.
Later Tuesday, the queen delivered her traditional, prerecorded Christmas message, which for the first time was broadcast in 3D.
At Canterbury cathedral, Anglican leader Rowan Williams delivered his final Christmas day sermon as archbishop of Canterbury. He acknowledged how the church's General Synod's vote against allowing women to become bishops had cost credibility and said the faithful felt a "real sense of loss" over the decision.

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Cameroon archbishop calls same-sex marriage crime against humanity

One of Cameroon's most senior Christian leaders on Tuesday called same-sex marriages a "crime against humanity", ramping up anti-gay rhetoric in the Central African state.
As in most African nations, homosexuality is illegal in Cameroon. But a number of incidents have highlighted the clash between a largely conservative culture backed by draconian law and youth for some of whom it is less of an issue.
"Marriage of persons of the same sex is a serious crime against humanity," Victor Tonye Bakot, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Yaounde, told followers at Christmas Day mass.
"We need to stand up to combat it with all our energy. I am particularly thankful to our local media that has been spreading this message of it as a criminality against mankind."
The comments follow a three-year jail sentence handed earlier this month to 32-year-old Jean-Claude Roger Mbede, who was found guilty of homosexual conduct because he sent a text message to another man telling him he loved him.
At least 12 people were convicted this year of being gay in Cameroon, where jail terms range from six months to five years.
Other African countries have seen fierce debate over anti-gay measures, which are often popular in societies where homosexuality is largely taboo but have drawn criticism from rights groups and threats of aid cuts from donors.
Ugandan politicians are seeking to pass an anti-gay law that initially sought the death penalty for homosexuals before it was watered down in the face of opposition.
Meanwhile, earlier on Tuesday the Roman Catholic Church's leader in England and Wales, Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, said the government's plans to allow gay marriage were a "shambles" and had no mandate.

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Eight killed in Yemen clashes; attacks in capital target officers

SANAA (Reuters) - At least six militants and two soldiers were killed in Yemen on Tuesday in fighting near a damaged oil pipeline east of the capital Sanaa, a defense ministry official and residents said.
Separately, gunmen and bombers targeted three senior military officers and the transport minister in a series of attacks in the capital Sanaa.
In one incident, two gunmen riding a motorbike shot dead Brigadier Fadel Mohammed Ali, an adviser to the minister of defense, outside the ministry's offices in Sanaa, a police source said. Further details were not immediately available.
Gunmen fired at the home of Transport Minister Waed Batheeb, wounding two of his guards, a transport ministry official said. A colonel was seriously wounded in an attack by gunmen and another officer survived a thwarted bomb attack on his car.
The fighting in turbulent Maarib province broke out when government troops backed by air strikes tried to secure the pipeline and repair damage inflicted last month by local militants, the official said.
He added that the army controlled the area surrounding the pipeline after Tuesday's clashes.
Yemen's oil and gas pipelines have repeatedly been sabotaged by Islamist fighters or tribesmen since an uprising erupted last year, causing fuel shortages and slashing export earnings for the impoverished country.
Yemen's stability is a leading security goal for the United States and Gulf Arab allies because of its strategic position next to top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and shipping lanes, and because it is home to one of the most active wings of al Qaeda.
Under an agreement reached earlier this month between tribal chiefs and the government, tribes in Maarib were meant to stop militants from attacking the pipeline in return for a halt to air strikes in the area.
A local official said troops were deployed on Tuesday after tribesmen failed to secure the pipeline or to hand over fighters involved in the killings of 17 army officers and soldiers in an ambush earlier in December. They were killed while inspecting the pipeline.
The affiliation of the militants in Maarib is unclear. Local sources said some had links to al Qaeda, while others were involved in kidnapping foreigners to pressure the government to release jailed kinsmen.
OFFICER WOUNDED IN CAPITAL
Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has mounted operations in Saudi Arabia and attempted attacks against the United States, which has stepped up strikes by drones.
In the capital, the ministry of defense said one man was arrested on Tuesday for planting a bomb in the car of an officer at the Central Security Forces. The attempt to blow up the car was foiled, the ministry said. Colonel Sameer al-Gharbani, an officer in the Republican Guard, was critically wounded in an attack by unidentified gunmen, a source at the Guard said.
The string of attacks happened less than a week after President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi overhauled the armed forces as part of a Gulf-brokered power-transfer plan that helped ease former President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power in February.

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Health care tax hikes for 2013 may be just a start

New taxes are coming Jan. 1 to help finance President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Most people may not notice. But they will pay attention if Congress decides to start taxing employer-sponsored health insurance, one option in play if lawmakers can ever agree on a budget deal to reduce federal deficits.
The tax hikes already on the books, taking effect in 2013, fall mainly on people who make lots of money and on the health care industry. But about half of Americans benefit from the tax-free status of employer health insurance. Workers pay no income or payroll taxes on what their employer contributes for health insurance, and in most cases on their own share of premiums as well.
It's the single biggest tax break the government allows, outstripping the mortgage interest deduction, the deduction for charitable giving and other better-known benefits. If the value of job-based health insurance were taxed like regular income, it would raise nearly $150 billion in 2013, according to congressional estimates. By comparison, wiping away the mortgage interest deduction would bring in only about $90 billion.
"If you are looking to raise revenue to pay for tax reform, that is the biggest pot of money of all," said Martin Sullivan, chief economist with Tax Analysts, a nonpartisan publisher of tax information.
It's hard to see how lawmakers can avoid touching health insurance if they want to eliminate loopholes and curtail deductions so as to raise revenue and lower tax rates. Congress probably wouldn't do away with the health care tax break, but limit it in some form. Such limits could be keyed to the cost of a particular health insurance plan, the income level of taxpayers or a combination.
Many economists think some kind of limit would be a good thing because it would force consumers to watch costs, and that could help keep health care spending in check. Obama's health law took a tentative step toward limits by imposing a tax on high-value health insurance plans. But that doesn't start until 2018.
Next spring will be three years since Congress passed the health care overhaul but, because of a long phase-in, many of the taxes to finance the plan are only now coming into effect. Medicare spending cuts that help pay for covering the uninsured have started to take effect, but they also are staggered. The law's main benefit, coverage for 30 million uninsured people, will take a little longer. It doesn't start until Jan. 1, 2014.
The biggest tax hike from the health care law has a bit of mystery to it. The legislation calls it a "Medicare contribution," but none of the revenue will go to the Medicare trust fund. Instead, it's funneled into the government's general fund, which does pay the lion's share of Medicare outpatient and prescription costs, but also covers most other things the government does.
The new tax is a 3.8 percent levy on investment income that applies to individuals making more than $200,000 or married couples above $250,000. Projected to raise $123 billion from 2013-2019, it comes on top of other taxes on investment income. While it does apply to profits from home sales, the vast majority of sellers will not have to worry since another law allows individuals to shield up to $250,000 in gains on their home from taxation. (Married couples can exclude up to $500,000 in home sale gains.)
Investors have already been taking steps to avoid the tax, selling assets this year before it takes effect. The impact of the investment tax will be compounded if Obama and Republicans can't stave off the automatic tax increases coming next year if there's no budget agreement.
High earners will face another new tax under the health care law Jan. 1. It's an additional Medicare payroll tax of 0.9 percent on wage income above $200,000 for an individual or $250,000 for couples. This one does go to the Medicare trust fund.
Donald Marron, director of the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, says the health care law's tax increases are medium-sized by historical standards. The center, a joint project of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, provides in-depth analyses on tax issues.
They also foreshadow the current debate about raising taxes on people with high incomes. "These were an example of the president winning, and raising taxes on upper-income people," said Marron. "They are going to happen."
Other health care law tax increases taking effect Jan. 1:
— A 2.3 percent sales tax on medical devices used by hospitals and doctors. Industry is trying to delay or repeal the tax, saying it will lead to a loss of jobs. Several economists say manufacturers should be able to pass on most of the cost.
— A limit on the amount employees can contribute to tax-free flexible spending accounts for medical expenses. It's set at $2,500 for 2013, and indexed thereafter for inflation.

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Partial list of taxes and fees in health overhaul

Partial list of taxes and fees in health overhaul
Starting in 2014, President Barack Obama's health care law will expand coverage to some 30 million uninsured people. At the same time, insurers no longer will be allowed to turn away those in poor health, and virtually every American will be required to have health insurance — through an employer or a government program or by buying it on their own.
For the vast majority of people, the health care law won't mean sending more money to the Internal Revenue Service. But the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans will take the biggest hit, starting next year.
And roughly 20 million people eventually will benefit from tax credits that start in 2014 to help them pay insurance premiums.
A look at some of the major taxes and fees, estimated to raise nearly $700 billion over 10 years.
— Upper-income households. Starting Jan. 1, individuals making more than $200,000 per year, and couples making more than $250,000, will face a 0.9 percent Medicare tax increase on wages above those threshold amounts. They'll also face an additional 3.8 percent tax on investment income. Together these are the biggest tax increase in the health care law.
— Employer penalties. Starting in 2014, companies with 50 or more employees that do not offer coverage will face penalties if at least one of their employees receives government-subsidized coverage. The penalty is $2,000 per employee, but a company's first 30 workers don't count toward the total.
— Health care industries. Insurers, drug companies and medical device manufacturers face new fees and taxes. Companies that make medical equipment sold chiefly through doctors and hospitals, such as pacemakers, artificial hips and coronary stents, will pay a 2.3 percent excise tax on their sales, expected to total $1.7 billion in its first year, 2013. They're trying to get it repealed.
The insurance industry faces an annual fee that starts at $8 billion in its first year, 2014.
Pharmaceutical companies that make or import brand-name drugs are already paying fees; they totaled $2.5 billion in 2011, the first year.
— People who don't get health insurance. Nearly 6 million people who don't get health insurance will face tax penalties starting in 2014. The fines are estimated to raise $6.9 billion in 2016. Average penalty in that year: about $1,200.
— Indoor tanning devotees. The 10 percent sales tax on indoor tanning sessions took effect in 2010. It's expected to raise $1.5 billion over 10 years.
The 28 million people who visit tanning booths and beds each year — mostly women under 30, according to the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology — are already paying. Tanning salons were singled out because of strong medical evidence that exposure to ultraviolet lights increases the risk of skin cancer.

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For charity, Axelrod shaves his mustache on MSNBC

Senior Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod started his Friday facing a straight razor as he made good on his promise to shave his mustache for charity live on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "I just wanna leave with the same woman I came in with," Axelrod quipped as his wife looked on in the studio. In November, Axelrod, who has sported facial hair for 40 years, pledged to "Morning Joe" co-host Joe Scarborough that he'd cut off his mustache if President Barack Obama lost Minnesota, Michigan or Pennsylvania. Though the president carried each state, Axelrod kept the bet going, turning it into a charity cause through his "Slash the 'Stache" drive. The bet: If $1 million was raised for CureEpilepsy.org, the 'stache would go. As the lather was wiped off and Axelrod's naked lip made its national debut, CureEpilepsy donor Donald Trump called in and expressed his support for the charity. Axelrod said, "There are people who've lost a lot more than a mustache to epilepsy," adding that he was happy to see so much money going to research. Both Axelrod's daughter and "Morning Joe" contributor Mike Barnicle's daughter have the disorder.

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Fiscal-Cliff Showdown Mirrors Payroll-Tax Fight

The fight over the fiscal cliff, politically at least, is starting to look a lot like last December’s message wars over the payroll-tax holiday. You remember that scene, don’t you? President Obama received a huge political boost when he managed to isolate the House Republicans politically and sought to blame them for increasing payroll taxes on 160 million Americans just days before Christmas. Even the Wall Street Journal editorial board balked at the House Republicans' stance, calling the fight a “fiasco.” And, in those days in mid-December, the president stopped just short of calling the Republicans the Grinches who stole Christmas. A repeat of that scenario is fast-approaching, if Congress and the White House cannot cut a deal in the next few weeks on the fiscal cliff’s mix of more than $500 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts. Even before the president won reelection, the Democrats had the 2011 payroll-tax fight in mind as a potential playbook, says one Democratic congressional aide familiar with the negotiations. The payroll-tax fight had a far better ending for Democrats than the debt-ceiling debacle in the summer of 2011. This strategy also keeps the focus of the fiscal cliff fight squarely on the question of tax rates, as opposed to the the broader menu of spending cuts, unemployment benefits, the alternative-minimum patch, or business tax breaks. It maintains the pressure on the Republicans to agree to a single tenet—politically challenging for them but easily boiled down to a nice slogan for normal, outside-the-beltway Americans: "Raise taxes on the richest Americans." “The Democrats went from asking the rich to pay more in the days after the election to locking in on increasing marginal tax rates,” says Alex Brill, a former policy director of the House Ways and Means Committee and a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. “A lot of the rank-and-file Republicans draw the line on statutory rates. I think that’s really hard.” Yet, tax rates were the president’s primary focus this week, as they've been since he won the election and gained additional leverage in the fiscal-cliff showdown. On Thursday, Obama upped the ante by heading to Fall Church, Va., to meet with a high school teacher named Tiffany Santana and her family, including her 6-year-old son, to talk about the importance of extending the Bush-era tax cuts for households with annual incomes below $250,000. The president sat at the family’s round kitchen table and spoke about the need for higher taxes for the rich. "Everyone is going to have to share in some sacrifice. But it starts with folks who are in the best position to sacrifice,” he said, according to pool reports. The visit came toward the end of a week in which the president waged a huge outside campaign to pressure the Republicans to cave. In addition to tweeting about the need for middle-class tax cuts with the hash tag #my2K, the president met with business leaders. He told them that if the Republicans moved on tax rates, the White House and Congress could easily reach a deal—as if that were the only component at stake. The business leaders left the meeting thinking the president was totally reasonable and sensible, says one financial-services industry leader, who asked not to be named to preserve his ties to the administration. Though the business community cannot dictate the terms of the deal to the tiny number of negotiators, the business community can “urge them to reach a deal and dissuade them of the notion that going over the cliff is OK,” the financial-services leader said. “They can also provide cover for the deal.” Privately, lobbyists with close ties to the Republicans predict that the GOP will cave in some way on taxes. Republican politicians and staffers on the Hill have been trying to combat the president’s effort to repeat the payroll-tax strategy by talking about the way income-tax hikes would hurt small businesses;kill off investment for businesses; or hurt the prospects for tax reform in 2013. So far, these messages do not seem to resonate with American voters. A poll from the Pew Research Center and The Washington Post, released on Tuesday, showed that 53 percent of respondents say they would blame congressional Republicans if the parties failed to reach a deal on the fiscal cliff by the end of the year. Just 27 percent would blame Obama, according to the polling data. House Speaker John Boehner “may be forced to pivot and the rates will go up,” Brill says. Most likely, if the Republicans do agree to any rate increases, the tax rates will not return to a top rate of 39.6 percent, and the two parties will find additional revenue by capping itemized deductions either through a dollar cap or a percentage of a person’s adjusted gross income. “I always thought there was an obvious deal, if the parties don’t take the top rate as high as 39.6 percent. It’s just about numbers,” says Ken Kies, managing director of the lobbying shop Federal Policy Group and a former chief of staff for the Joint Committee on Taxation. “The problem with all of this is that we’re rapidly running out of time.” The To Do list is lengthy, as Congress and the White House wrap up week four of the fiscal-cliff negotiations. Still, one should never doubt the way the threat of a cancelled vacation—and the optics of raising taxes on middle-class people right before Christmas—motivates politicians. That, at least, seems to be what White House officials are betting on, based on the lessons they learned from last December's payroll-tax standoff.

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