House-passed bill lets judges alter loans
WASHINGTON, March 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow bankruptcy judges to rewrite mortgage terms so they are more affordable for homeowners.
The House passed the legislation 234-191 Thursday. The Senate is expected to consider its version in the coming weeks, USA Today reported.
The legislation was passed against the backdrop of millions of foreclosure and delinquencies nationwide. Nearly 12 percent of homeowners -- 5.4 million -- were delinquent or in foreclosure, a report by the Mortgage Bankers Association released Thursday indicated.
The measure would allow bankruptcy judges to alter existing loans only. Changes could include reducing the principal or interest rate and extending the life of the loan.
Before the judge can alter the mortgage, homeowners must try working with lenders to modify their loans at least 30 days before seeking relief through bankruptcy, USA Today said. To avoid bankruptcy judge-ordered changes, lenders would have to make modifications outlined in U.S. President Barack Obama's housing rescue plan.
'Americans all agree that homeowners bear personal responsibility for their actions and their debts,' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said. 'But lenders must also act in good faith.'
Supporters said giving judges the ability to make changes, currently not allowed, could reduce foreclosures by 20 percent. Critics counter that the change, if enacted, would be abused by homeowners, encourage bankruptcies and lead to higher costs.
Panel rejects special election for Burris
SPRINGFIELD, Ill., March 6 (UPI) -- A special election to replace embattled U.S. Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., now seems unlikely after Illinois Senate Democrats rejected the idea in committee.
Meanwhile, new information has resurrected the possibility of a quid-pro-quo arrangement between Burris and impeached former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who appointed Burris to the seat after being arrested on a federal corruption complaint, the Chicago Sun-Times reported
On the day Blagojevich named Burris to fill President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat, a key Burris aide, Fred Lebed, phoned an associate and said, 'We'll have to do some things for the governor,' the associate, John Ruff, recalled for the Sun-Times.
Ruff also recalled Lebed saying he had had discussions about Burris' interest in the seat with Blagojevich representatives in October, which contradicts Burris's sworn statement that is part of a state perjury investigation.
Lebed acknowledged speaking with Ruff, but called Ruff's claims 'totally false,' the Sun-Times said.
In Springfield, the failure of an Illinois Senate subcommittee to pass a measure calling for a special election Thursday takes some of the heat off Burris, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Burris, who is African-American, has been rocked by controversy over affidavits in which he revealed broader discussions with Blagojevich aides, allies and family members about getting appointed to the seat than he previously disclosed. Burris also acknowledged that he tried and failed to raise money for Blagojevich.
Race entered the debate when state Sen. Rickey Hendon criticized Republicans for being 'hellbent on targeting Roland Burris.'
'Why target the only black U.S. senator in the country?' Hendon asked.
Ginsburg says she plans to stay on bench
WASHINGTON, March 6 (UPI) -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer in February, says she doesn't plan to retire any time soon.
'First, I wanted people to see that the Supreme Court isn't all male,' the only sitting female justice told USA Today. 'I also wanted them to see I was alive and well, contrary to that senator who said I'd be dead within nine months.'
Ginsburg was referring to comments by U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., who said she likely would die from the pancreatic cancer within nine months. Bunning later apologized.
Ginsburg underwent surgery Feb. 5, when doctors removed a small malignant lesion from her pancreas, proving lymph nodes negative for cancer and finding no metastasis.
Her second day back included attending U.S. President Barack Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress Feb. 24.
Ginsburg, appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1993, indicated she hasn't backed away from her oft-stated goal of matching the tenure of Justice Louis Brandeis, who served from 1916-39, the newspaper reported Friday. She joined the court at age 60, about the same age as Brandeis when he was named to the bench. He served until he was 82. Ginsburg is 75.
Former spies upset over CIA inquiry
NEW YORK, March 6 (UPI) -- Some ex-CIA operatives on the front lines during the Bush-era war on terror are reported highly critical of planned U.S. Senate probes into their activities.
Some say the investigations smack of politics and hypocrisy, that congressional leaders knew all along what was going on and that questionable tactics wouldn't have been used without explicit legal guidance from the Bush administration, Time magazine reported.
U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., confirmed Thursday that her Senate Intelligence Committee will investigate the CIA's interrogation and detention programs under the Bush administration,
Earlier, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., reiterated his call for an investigation into the Bush administration's national security policies, including wiretapping, treatment of detainees and the reported politicization of the Justice Department.
U.S. President Barack Obama has shown little desire to get into that arena, saying he'd rather 'move forward,' the Time article said.
A former senior CIA official was quoted by Time as saying Feinstein's investigation would have a 'chilling effect on people who are asked to do risky things for this administration.'
Another said staff members will wonder why they are singled out for carrying out Bush administration policies 'while those who made those policies are busy writing their memoirs,' Time reported.
Kyrgyzstan ends 11 airbase contracts
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, March 6 (UPI) -- Kyrgyzstan lawmakers approved ending agreements with 11 countries deploying their military contingents at the Manas airbase staffed mainly by U.S. troops.
The bills that would terminate agreements with Australia, Denmark, Italy, Spain, South Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Turkey and France, will become final after Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signs them into law, Russian news agency ITAR-Tass reported Friday.
In February, Bakiyev signed a decree to close the Manas airbase, staffed principally by U.S. Air Force personnel and used since 2001 to support NATO operations in nearby Afghanistan.
Since the agreement with the United States has ended, the Kyrgyz parliament said compacts with other countries were 'senseless,' RIA Novosti reported.
Bakiyev said the decision to end the contract with the United States was over Washington's refusal to pay more for the base and the conduct of U.S. military personnel, including the killing of a Kyrgyz national by a U.S. soldier in December 2006.
Officials denied that the decision was connected to a recent financial package Kyrgyzstan received from Russia that included writing off Kyrgyzstan's $180 million debt and granting the country a $2 billion soft loan and $150 million in financial assistance.
Israel reports more rocket and mortar fire
JERUSALEM, March 6 (UPI) -- Israeli forces hit four smuggling tunnels in Gaza following a series of rocket and mortar fire in the western Negev, officials say.
The Israeli military says the shelling began shortly after Islamic Jihad vowed revenge for airstrikes that killed three of its operatives, The Jerusalem Post reported Friday.
Overnight Thursday a Qassam rocket slammed into an open field south of Ashkelon but it caused no casualties or damage.
Thursday evening a Grad rocket struck near a synagogue in Netivot causing minor damage but no casualties.
'Our rockets and our resistance will not stop,' said Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Ahmed. 'We know where and when we will take revenge for these crimes.'
Palestinians have continued to fire rockets and mortar shells into Israeli territory since the Israeli military incursion into the Gaza Strip in January, which Israel said was undertaken to stop such attacks.