Obama proposes high tax revenue

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is proposing $1.5 trillion in new tax revenue as part of his long-term deficit reduction plan, according to senior administration officials, a plan that will draw a bright line with congressional Republicans.

The president on Monday will announce a proposal that includes the new taxes, nearly $250 billion in reductions in spending on Medicare, the federal health care program that primarily benefits the elderly; $330 billion in cuts in other mandatory benefit programs, and savings of $1 trillion from the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The plan includes no changes in Social Security and does not include an increase in the Medicare eligibility age, which the president had considered this summer.

All in all, the president's plan is as much an opening bid as it is a political statement designed to draw contrasts with Republicans, who control the House of Representatives.

The new taxes in particular have little or no chance of passing Congress as proposed. Republicans were already lining up against the president's tax proposal before they even knew the magnitude of what he intended to recommend.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-propose-1-5-trillion-tax-revenue-024632167.html

Shalani Soledad is engaged

MANILA, Philippines - Valenzuela City councilor Shalani Soledad has received a diamond ring from no less than Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo.

This was confirmed by Romulo’s sister, Agriculture Undersecretary Berna Romulo-Puyat, who was in a tete-a tete with reporters at the sidelines of her agency’s budget hearing at the House of Representatives plenary.

Romulo-Puyat was reacting to media reports that Soleded was seen wearing a diamond ring. She told media she texted her brother if that meant she was engaged. 

At that exact time, her brother called back and within earshot of the media, confirmed that he did give Soledad with a diamond ring. He even asked: “Masama ba?”

ABS-CBN News later asked Romulo if the ring is a diamond ring or simply a ring with a diamond but Romulo could not give an answer. A gift of a diamond ring is usually taken to be an engagement ring.

source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/09/14/11/shalani-soledad-gets-diamond-ring-romulo