US News - News April 6, 2011

$2.4 billion in federal aid up in air (WALA - Mobile, Pensacola)
Twenty-four states, the District of Columbia and Amtrak are vying for $2.4 billion in federal aid that became available when Florida's governor canceled a high-speed rail project in his state, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday.

A Government Shutdown Could Delay Some Tax Refunds (huliq)
The effects of a government shutdown will be varied and widespread, and numerous effects have already been noted, but it seems that a possible shutdown should give those who haven't filed a reason to file electronically, as paper returns may see a slowdown in processing.

The Crisis in a Nutshell: The Budget That Isn't (newyorker)
"The White House has increased the likelihood of a shutdown." - Eric Cantor , the House majority leader "A deal with $33 billion in spending cuts is right there for the taking. But the House leadership will need to stand up to the Tea Party." —Charles Schumer, "I've made clear that their thirty-three billion dollars is not enough." —John Boehner, the Speaker of the House

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GOP budget seen raising health costs for retirees (sunherald)
Most future retirees would pay more for health care under a new House Republican budget proposal, according to an analysis by nonpartisan experts for Congress that could be an obstacle to GOP ambitions to tame federal deficits.

Congress: Shutdown looms (firstread.msnbc.msn)
"A White House push for a budget deal yesterday devolved into an exchange of accusations over spending priorities and political gamesmanship, increasing the odds of a partial government shutdown on Friday," the Boston Globe reports.

The Breakdown: Are Antitrust Laws a Thing of the Past? (thenation)
Christopher Hayes April 1, 2011 This past month AT&T announced plans to buy T-Mobile for $39 billion.

Fed Minutes Show Differing Views on Inflation and Exit Strategy (theatlantic)
Fed Minutes Show Differing Views on Inflation and Exit Strategy By Apr 5 2011, 4:06 PM ET When the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee met in mid-March, it had a lot of new developments to consider.

Ryan's Plan Puts Republican Presidential Hopefuls in a Tough Spot (theatlantic)
The GOP budget proposal would end Medicare, but fiscal hawks will attack anyone who opposes it. With its big-dollar numbers and radical program changes, the budget proposal released Tuesday by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is daring policy-making of the highest order, but it is as a political document that Ryan's budget might have its most far-reaching implications.

Cops defend use of pepper spray on 8-year-old during tantrum; boy threatened to stab teachers (nydailynews)
Police pepper sprayed Aiden, a second-grader in Colorado, after the boy threw a violent tantrum at school and threatened to stab teachers.

Two Tennessee workers die in sewage plant collapse (reuters)
Two workers were killed in Tennessee on Tuesday when the wall of a basin that holds up to 1.5 million gallons of sewage at a treatment plant collapsed on them, authorities said.The bodies of the two workers from the Veolia Water North America plant were found under a section of the collapsed wall Tuesday evening, Gatlinburg Fire Chief Greg Miller said in a statement.

grim sleeper (latimesblogs.latimes)
Los Angeles police detectives are investigating the possibility that eight additional women were victims of the man accused of being the Grim Sleeper serial killer.

Novack, held in killing of wealthy husband, now charged in mother-in-law's death (lohud)
A widow already charged with plotting her millionaire husband's slaying at the Hilton Rye Town is now facing federal charges in the killing of her mother-in-law in Florida months before the hotel slaying.

Planned wireless Internet network threatens GPS (The Topeka Capital-Journal)
In this July 10, 2010, a cockpit GPS shows the search area as scientists participate in a marine mammal/sea turtle survey flight related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration twin otter DHC-6, over the Gulf of Mexico near the Chandeleur Islands off the Louisiana coast.

Ex-congressman to pitch exit plan to Gadhafi (MSNBC)
'I've met him enough times to know that it will be very hard to simply bomb him into submission,' Curt Weldon says AP Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi accepts a plaque from Curt Weldon R-Pa., during a meeting with an American bi-partisan congressional delegation in Tripoli, Libya, Jan.

Wisconsin judicial election testing GOP's power is a nail-biter (Portland's CW32 KRCW -TV)
A normally humdrum Wisconsin election that became a referendum on Republican Gov.