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Another side of Ai Weiwei shown in Sundance film


PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) – A new documentary film offers a glimpse into the life of Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei, conveying a creative, brave, yet humble man who has become more cautious following his 81-day government detention in 2011.

"Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry," which premiered at the Sundance film festival on Sunday, features interviews China's leading artists and activists and people who surround Ai in is life.

It includes footage that humanizes the man, showing suprising tears from his mother worried about his safety, the artist playing with his young son, and highlights from his projects such as a poor response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

Ai, who was named the world's most powerful artist by U.K-based ArtReview magazine in October since his release, appears in interviews only before his detention, but not after his release.

The 54-year-old bearded, burly Chinese artist wanted to attend the Sundance screening "but felt it was just going to invite too much trouble," the film's director Alison Klayman told the audience after a standing ovation in Park City, Utah, where the festival takes place.

Ai became a symbol for China's crackdown on artists and dissidents when his disappearance and secret detention after battling Chinese authorities sparked an international outcry.

Last November he paid a bond of 8.4 million yuan (then $1.3 million) on a tax evasion charge, which he denies, while his supporters continued to raise the full, combined bill of 15 million yuan (then $2.4 million.)

Klayman spent several years chronicling his rise to prominence and told the audience she believed the detention of the artist, which became a rallying point for China's free speech and other movements, had changed him.

"There was absolutely a change. I really think about it as: there was the time before the detention and there was the time after," she said. "The big thing is that he is constantly changing, he always has been, so I don't know where it is going to end up."

INSIGHT INTO AI

The film offers audiences some insight into Ai's childhood, family, formative time spent living for years in New York and his reasons for often criticizing China's government, which is expressed in many of his contemporary works.

"If you don't act, the danger becomes stronger," says Ai, who had a hand in designing the Bird's Nest stadium at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and has had installations at some of the world's major museums including London's Tate Modern Gallery.

"Never Sorry" shows his efforts gathering and listing more than 5,000 names of students who died in the Sichuan earthquake,

pointing to shoddy school construction and claiming that he was punched in the head by police in Sichuan's capital Chengdu.

But it also offers glimpses of a loving father and stoic son rarely publicly separated from his art and activism.

"Every night I can't sleep," his mother, Gao Ying, says to him in the film before breaking down in tears because she is worried she will not see him again.

"We'll endure what we can," he answers calmly, before later calling himself "an eternal optimist."

Klayman, who doubted there would be a public screening of the film in China, told the audience it was clear that being a father had altered Ai's life, too, along with detention.


He seems more careful, she said, when talking about footage in the documentary showing that upon his release, Ai uncharacteristically speaks little to reporters.


"He does have to be a lot more cautious. If this was a year ago he would be here," said Klayman.


(Reporting By Christine Kearney; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

January 23, 2012 | 5:08 PM Comments  0 comments



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U.S. housing more affordable than other English countries: study


(Reuters) – Would-be American home-buyers can take heart: U.S. housing is more affordable than in other English-speaking countries, according to a study of metropolitan areas around the world.

The median home price in the United States as a whole was three times pre-tax household income in the third quarter of 2011, on the cusp of what Demographia, a public policy firm which conducted the survey, deems "affordable."

In major U.S. metropolitan areas, the ratio was 3.1, down from 4.6 in 2007, before the worst of the U.S. housing market slump that dragged the economy into recession, and 3.3 in 2010.

Detroit, at 1.4 times, was the most affordable big city in any of the 325 areas surveyed in six countries and in the Chinese territory of Hong Kong.

In contrast, the index was 12.6 in Hong Kong, by far the priciest market. And Canada, despite being larger in size than the United States with just one ninth of the population, continues to grow less affordable.

A ratio of 3 or less is considered "affordable," according to Demographia which surveyed 325 metropolitan areas in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the U.K., the United States, Canada and Hong Kong.

"The bubble is over - prices have continued to decline. We have housing prices back to where they're supposed to be," said Wendell Cox, principal of Demographia which is based in Belleville, Illinois.

Not everywhere in the United States is housing looking like a good deal: the most unaffordable U.S. markets were San Jose (6.9), San Francisco (6.7), San Diego (6.1), New York (6.1), Los Angeles (5.7) and Boston (5.3), according to the survey.

Cox blamed stringent land use regulations for choking supply in many of the "unaffordable" U.S. markets, driving up prices.

Signs have appeared in recent months that the U.S. housing slump may have touched bottom and economists mostly expect prices to remain flat in 2012 before small gains next year.

After Hong Kong, Australia's major cities were the most expensive at 6.7 times pretax median household income, followed by New Zealand at 6.4 and Britain at 5.0.

(Reporting By Phil Wahba; Editing by Kim Coghill)


January 23, 2012 | 4:08 PM Comments  0 comments

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Romney to release taxes, Gingrich ready for Obama


WASHINGTON – Newt Gingrich worked to capitalize Sunday on his upset victory in South Carolina's Republican presidential primary, while Mitt Romney moved quickly to cut his losses before the next contest with a promise to release his income tax returns within 48 hours.
Gingrich said in a round of television interviews that his win, both unexpected and unexpectedly large, showed he was the Republican best able to go toe to toe with President Barack Obama in the fall. "I think virtually everybody who looks at the campaign knows I represent the largest amount of change of any candidate, and I think that's why they see me as representing their interest and their concerns, not representing Wall Street or representing the politicians of Washington," he said.
Romney argued that point, but not another, agreeing in a television interview that he had made a mistake by refusing to release his tax returns before the South Carolina vote. "If it was a distraction, we want to get back to the real issues in the campaign -- leadership, character and vision for America, how to get jobs in America, and how to rein in the excessive scale of the federal government," he said.
The former Massachusetts governor, who made millions in business, said he will make his 2010 return and an estimate for 2011 available online on Tuesday.
The decision marked a concession, as if one were needed, that Romney had stumbled on his way through South Carolina, a state where he led handsomely in the polls several days before the primary.
Florida votes next, on Jan. 31, a 50-delegate contest in one of the most expensive campaign states in the country, and one that Romney can ill afford to lose.
The former governor was an easy winner in the New Hampshire primary earlier in the month. Before that, he was a close runner-up behind former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in Iowa caucuses where the vote count was so confused that he was originally announced the victor.
Despite his loss on Saturday, Romney remains the contender with the largest and best-funded organization. "Three states in now, we got 47 more to go," he said, adding he was looking forward to the rest.
For all the political momentum gained in South Carolina, Gingrich made it immediately obvious that he is short on funds. He urged supporters via Tweet Saturday night to donate money, and then announced the name of his campaign website while making a nationally televised victory speech.
With their comments, both Romney and Gingrich indicated the race was a two-way competition, likely to go into the spring if not longer.
Santorum had other ideas.
"We're going to Florida and beyond," he said. As he did in a pair of debates in South Carolina, he criticized both Gingrich — calling him a "very high-risk candidate" — and Romney, whom he called a moderate ill-suited to appeal to conservative voters.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul, the fourth contender, has already said he will skip Florida and focus on Nevada and other caucus states.
Gingrich won South Carolina despite being outspent. But in addition to the prohibitive cost of campaigning in Florida, a long-term shortage of funds can cripple efforts to compete in the fast-paced series of primaries and caucuses ahead.
Aides say the former speaker raised $9 million in the final quarter of 2011.
Romney has reported taking in $24 million over the same period.
In addition, both men are supported by outside groups that have paid for millions in television advertising. So far, though, Romney's has spent more, and to greater evident effect.
When Gingrich surged in the polls two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, Restore Our Future responded with hard-hitting ads that knocked the former speaker off-stride and protected Romney's standing.

Gingrich lacked the funds to respond effectively, lashed out angrily, and sank to a poor fourth place finish. He did not begin to recover until the final days of the race in South Carolina, when he was aided by Romney's missteps, Texas Gov. Rick Perry's mid-week withdrawal and endorsement, and his own strong debate performances.

Also in the interim, Gingrich supporters said that casino magnate Sheldon Adelson had written a $5 million check to an outside group set up to help the former speaker.

Allies of Gingrich have made no secret of their hope that Adelson will help again in Florida, where the pro-Romney organization shows no signs of slowing down.

Even before the polls closed in South Carolina, Romney and a group supporting him had spent $7 million on television advertising in Florida. So far, the only other political ads to run in the state were financed by ASCME, a labor union working to weaken the standing of the former Massachusetts governor.

While a protracted battle for the nomination could benefit Obama, the signs pointed toward a particularly bruising struggle in Florida.

"I don't think that the people of this country are going to choose as the next president of the United States a person who spent 40 years in Washington as a congressman and a lobbyist," Romney said. "That is not going to be, in my opinion, be the most effective way to replace the current president who also spent his career in politics."

Said Gingrich: "I think South Carolinians were the first state to really understand how liberal Governor Romney's record was" as Massachusetts governor said Gingrich. He said his main rival lost ground "as people began to realize that he'd been pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-tax increase in a whole range of areas that despite his advertising and his pretending, it was clear that he was way to the left of South Carolinians."

With votes counted from all of South Carolina's precincts, Gingrich had 40 percent to Romney's 28 percent. Santorum won 17 percent to Paul's 13 percent.

Gingrich won at least 23 of the 25 delegates at stake. The other two have yet to be allocated.

Gingrich appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," CBS' "Face the Nation" and CNN's "State of the Union." Romney was on "Fox News Sunday," while Santorum was on ABC's "This Week" and CNN.

_____

Eds: AP reporter Jack Gillum in Washington and Shannon McCaffrey in South Carolina contributed to this story.

January 23, 2012 | 3:13 PM Comments  0 comments

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Analysis: History repeats itself in euro crisis debt spat


PARIS (Reuters) – There are weeks when it can sound as if the European sovereign debt crisis is going round in circles.

Barbed exchanges between Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and German Chancellor Angela Merkel carry echoes of a prolonged dialogue of the deaf between Greece and Germany two years ago when Berlin was resisting calls to bail out Athens.

Then as now, a debt-stricken government pushing through spending cuts, tax rises and economic reforms pleaded for lower interest rates and stronger European (read German) support to convince citizens the pain is worthwhile.

Now as then, a chancellor constrained by public hostility to bailouts and convinced only market pressure can keep profligate nations on a path of righteousness is turning a deaf ear, saying there is no need to act since no one is requesting aid.

The delay in acting to help Greece in early 2010 undermined financial market confidence in the 17-nation single European currency, which has still not been wholly restored, and raised the cost of the eventual rescue.

But it's not all deja vu, because Germany has far more confidence in Monti's Italy than it ever had in Greece.

As a result, EU officials expect Merkel to relent and agree to a bigger European financial firewall in March once euro zone leaders have signed two key treaties sought by Berlin on budget discipline and the rules of a permanent rescue fund.

In the meantime, Italians fretting about tax rises and public spending cuts can draw some consolation from their country's declining borrowing costs on the bond market despite Standard & Poor's double-notch downgrade of Italy's credit rating to BBB+ on Jan 13.

"The problem is that despite these sacrifices, we do not see any concessions from the EU, such as in the form of lower interest rates," Monti complained to the German newspaper Die Welt on the eve of a visit to Berlin earlier this month.

If there was no tangible reward for their efforts, Italians could turn against Europe and against Germany, "seen as the leader of EU intolerance," he warned.

He has also voiced support for common euro zone bonds as a longer-term solution, which is anathema to Merkel.

In the short-term, Monti wants Berlin to increase the size of the euro zone's rescue fund for countries shut out of capital markets. The more money is pledged to the fund, he said, the less likely it is to have to spend a single euro.

That drew a gruff response from the chancellery.

"I am still searching for what more Germany should do for other euro zone countries," Merkel said when asked if Berlin should show more solidarity after S&P cut the credit ratings of Italy and eight other euro zone states.

Government spokesmen ruled out raising the German contribution to the rescue fund.

In public, Merkel has expressed admiration for Monti's bold pension and business reforms, and the Italian leader has lauded Germany's social market economy as a model for all of Europe.

Privately, German and Italian officials are sometimes less complimentary about each other.

While they respect Monti, the Germans are quick to recall that his predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi, went back on promised deficit reduction steps as soon as the European Central Bank stepped in to rescue Rome last August by buying its bonds.


Italy could apply for the European Financial Stability Facility to buy or insure its new bonds. But some in Berlin say Rome wants to avoid the stigma and the strict conditions and intrusive supervision that would come with such assistance.


In German eyes, it seems perverse to press for a bigger firewall when the money in the existing temporary rescue fund is not being tapped. Increasing the amount available might only whet the market's appetite for more.


Besides, it would be difficult to get Merkel's centre-right coalition to approve another increase in parliament after she repeatedly promised lawmakers last year that Germany's total liability would be pegged at 211 billion euros.


The Italians voice private frustration at perceived German intransigence and question Merkel's pursuit of the fiscal pact to enforce stricter budget discipline in the euro zone when bond markets are more concerned to see a stronger financial backstop.


The German leader's insistence that European help for countries in difficulty must only be a "last resort" means the political will in Berlin to agree to additional measures tends to evaporate each time the markets are calm for a weak or two, an Italian diplomat said.


Unlike French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has argued that the European Central Bank should act as a lender of last resort to underpin the euro zone, Monti shares the German view of the treaty limits on the ECB's role.


His focus on strengthening the EU rescue fund shows a keen sense of what is politically feasible in Germany.


European officials expect Berlin will eventually allow the two rescue funds -- the temporary European Financial Stability Facility and the permanent European Stability Mechanism -- to run in parallel from July for an extended period.


That would provide a combined capacity of nearly 1 trillion euros, even if the EFSF has to live with a AA+ rather than a triple-A credit rating after some of its key guarantors, especially France, were downgraded.


Such a move might convince the world's major economies in the G20 that the euro zone is doing more to rescue itself, and hence enable the International Monetary Fund to increase its fire-fighting capacity by the requested $600 billion.


So the public sparring between Monti and Merkel may turn out to have been more of a safety valve to assuage public pressure on both sides of the euro zone divide until such a deal emerges than a venting of profound differences.


(Writing by Paul Taylor; Editing by Alison Birrane)

January 23, 2012 | 2:19 PM Comments  0 comments

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RIM Co-CEOs Are Out, Heins Is In


Following weeks of speculation, it appears Research in Motion (RIM) is finally ready to oust Co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis. The two are, according to a press release from RIM, stepping aside on Monday and will be replaced by company insider and former COO Thorsten Heins.
Heins, who also joins the company's board, is already listed as President and CEO on RIM's executive bios page. The change in leadership may have come at the behest of Lazaridis who explained in a statement, “There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognize the need to pass the baton to new leadership. Jim [Balsillie] and I went to the Board and told them that we thought that time was now."
[More from Mashable: Is too Much Texting Giving You ‘Text Neck’?]

The move comes after a solid year of miscues and blunders by Balsillie and Lazaridis. 2011 got off to a promising start with the introduction of the Playbook tablets, but RIM bungled the launch, leaving out key features like a native e-mail client. Later in the year the company announced the name for a new combined OS only to learn they didn't have rights to the name. The company also suffered through an extended service outage and took what some believe was too long to respond directly to customers about the situation.

The company has also steadily slipped down the ladder in smartphone market share as Android competitors and Apple released more and more innovative and well-received handsets. The calls for RIM to replace its co-CEOs have been growing steadily, even as RIM gets its house in order. Just this month, the company finally unveiled Playbook OS 2.0 which does feature its own email client. Now the question is what Heins can do to return the Canadian technology company to the front of the mobile technology pack.
[More from Mashable: Foursquare Will Bring 250,000 Restaurant Menus to Your Phone]

What do you think? Did RIM make the right move? If so, did it make it soon enough? Share your take in the comments.

This story originally published on Mashable here.


January 23, 2012 | 1:25 PM Comments  0 comments

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Giffords leaving Congress to recover from shooting


PHOENIX (Reuters) – Representative Gabrielle Giffords, shot in the head during a shooting spree in Tucson, Arizona, last year, said Sunday she will step down this week from Congress to focus on her recovery.

"I have more work to do on my recovery, so to do what is best for Arizona I will step down this week," Giffords said, posting the announcement on social media like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

"I'm getting better. Every day my spirit is high. I will return and we will work together for Arizona and this great country. Thank you very much," she added.

Giffords' office said the congresswoman would submit her letter of resignation this week to House Speaker John Boehner and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.

In her final act in Tucson as a member of Congress, she will meet on Monday with some of the people who were present at the shooting at which she was injured, and then visit a local foodbank, her office said.

Giffords, a Democrat who gained a reputation as a centrist, is serving her third term. She plans to attend President Barack Obama's State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday.

Obama said Giffords represents the very best of what public service should be and that her "cheerful presence" would be missed in Washington.

"She's universally admired for qualities that transcend party or ideology - a dedication to fairness, a willingness to listen to different ideas, and a tireless commitment to the work of perfecting our union," Obama said in a statement.

"We know it is with the best interests of her constituents in mind that Gabby has made the tough decision to step down from Congress," Obama said.

Brewer said Arizona law requires a special election be held to determine Giffords' replacement.

"Her grit and determination continue to inspire," Brewer said in a statement on Facebook.

Giffords was shot through the head on January 8, 2011, when a gunman opened fire at a congressional outreach meeting in Tucson, killing six people and wounding 12. Giffords' office said she would meet privately with some of the people who attended that event before leaving office.

Since the shooting, she has received intensive therapy at a hospital in Houston, Texas, and she has been assisted by her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi hailed Giffords as a "bright star" and "a dynamic and creative public servant," in a statement released on Sunday. "Gabby's message of bipartisanship and civility is one that all in Washington and the nation should honor and emulate.

"She will be missed in the House of Representatives, but her legacy in the Congress and her leadership for our nation will certainly continue," she added.

Jared Loughner, a 23-year-old college dropout, was charged with attempting to assassinate Giffords and other crimes stemming from the incident. He pleaded not guilty and was found unfit to stand trial.

An hour after Giffords posted the announcement, her Facebook page had received over 1,000 comments, with most thanking Giffords for her service and offering good wishes. Many well-wishers said they hoped Giffords would run for political office in the future.

Giffords was seen as a rising political star, one of a few Democrats to survive the Republican sweep of swing districts in the November 2010 elections.


Following intensive physical therapy, Giffords is recovering from the traumatic brain injury she sustained in the shooting. But there were moments in the YouTube video on Sunday where she seemed to struggle for words.


She made a surprise return to the U.S. Congress August 1 for a contentious vote to raise the U.S. debt ceiling. The chamber erupted in applause as Giffords walked in, blew kisses and waved.


(Reporting By Tim Gaynor; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa in Washington and Mary Slosson in Los Angeles.; Editing by Stacey Joyce and Cynthia Osterman)

January 23, 2012 | 12:33 PM Comments  0 comments



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BlackBerry maker's CEOs hand reins to insider


WATERLOO, Ontario (Reuters) – Research In Motion's Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie have bowed to investor pressure and resigned as co-CEOs, handing the top job to an insider with four years at the struggling BlackBerry maker.

Thorsten Heins, a former Siemens AG executive who has risen steadily through RIM's upper management ranks since joining the Canadian company in late 2007, took over as CEO on Saturday, RIM said on Sunday.

The shift ends the two-decade long partnership of Lazaridis and Balsillie atop a once-pioneering technology company that now struggles against Apple and Google.

With RIM's share price plummeting to eight-year lows, a flurry of speculation that RIM was up for sale has enveloped the company in recent months. But investors have pointed to the domineering presence of Lazaridis and Balsillie as one reason a sale would prove difficult.

Activist investors have clamored in recent months for a new, "transformational" leader who could revitalize RIM's product line and resuscitate its once cutting-edge image. It remains to be seen whether RIM has found such a leader in Heins, analysts said.

"It's the first positive thing that they have done in months," said Charter Equity analyst Ed Snyder, even as he expressed caution over the choice of Heins, a longtime lieutenant of Lazaridis and Balsillie. "My feeling is that it's a figure-head change."

Michael Urlocker, an analyst with GMP Securities, questioned whether Heins had the right background for the job that faces him. "I am not sure that an engineer as new CEO really gets to the central issues faced by RIM," he said.

Lazaridis and Balsillie also gave up their shared role as chairman of RIM's board. Barbara Stymiest, an independent board member who once headed the Toronto Stock Exchange, will take over in that capacity.

The pair, who together built Lazaridis' 1985 start-up into a global business with $20 billion in sales last year, have weathered a storm of criticism in recent years as Apple's iPhone and the army of devices powered by Google's innovative Android system eclipsed their email-focused BlackBerry.

"There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognize the need to pass the baton to new leadership. Jim and I went to the board and told them that we thought that time was now," Lazaridis said in a hastily arranged interview at RIM's Waterloo headquarters, flanked by Balsillie and Heins and with Stymiest joining via telephone.

DEPICTED AS ORDERLY TRANSITION

The executives were keen to paint the shuffle as an orderly transition on a succession plan mapped out at least a year ago, and not a retreat in the face of a plummeting share price, shrinking U.S. market share and criticism of their products.

Both Lazaridis and Balsillie - two of RIM's three largest shareholders with more than 5 percent each - will remain board members, with Lazaridis keeping a particularly active role as vice-chair and head of a newly created innovation committee.

Lazaridis said he plans to buy an additional $50 million of RIM shares on the open market.

In the group interview announcing the change, Heins said his most immediate concern is to sell RIM's current lineup of BlackBerry 7 touchscreen devices, deliver on a promised software upgrade for its PlayBook tablet computer by February, and rally RIM's troops to launch the next-generation BlackBerry 10 phones later this year.

"Their problems are deep-rooted, and it's going to take time," Snyder said.

In the longer term, Heins, previously one of RIM's chief operating officers, said he would push for more rigorous product development and place greater emphasis on executing on the company's marketing and development plans.

"We need to get a bit more disciplined in our own processes," he said in a YouTube video posted by RIM. "We are a great, innovative but sometimes we innovate too much while we are building a product." (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUFwhpcrCTw)


Heins said RIM, which suffered a damaging outage of much of its network last year, has embarked on a global search for a chief marketing officer to improve advertising and other communication with consumers. Consumers now account for the majority of RIM's sales even though the BlackBerry built its reputation as a business tool.


For RIM critics, the focus on customers may seem long overdue. The company seemed blindsided by Apple's introduction of the iPhone in 2007 and was also slow to launch a competitor to the iPad. When its PlayBook tablet finally hit the market last spring, it was not equipped with RIM's trademark email service. The reviews were scathing, sales were anemic and the company has been forced to offer steep discounts.


Heins said it would be wrong of RIM to focus on licensing its software or integrated email package, a strategy that many analysts and investors have thought the company might pursue. Even so, the new CEO said the company would certainly be open to discussions of that nature.


Neither Lazaridis nor Basillie detailed any future plans outside RIM, with Lazaridis particularly eager to point out his still-active role as a confidante to the new CEO.


Both have other interests outside of RIM. Lazaridis donated hundreds of millions of dollars to set up an independent theoretical physics institute and also a quantum computing institute attached to his alma mater, the University of Waterloo. Balsillie heads a think-tank in international governance and long dreamed of owning a National Hockey League franchise.


(Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Additional reporting by Edwin Chan in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank McGurty and Janet Guttsman)

January 23, 2012 | 11:29 AM Comments  0 comments

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Giants top 49ers 20-17 in OT to reach Super Bowl


SAN FRANCISCO – The New York Giants have their own Super Bowl formula: in overtime and on the road.
And with Lawrence Tynes' foot.
Five plays after the 49ers' Kyle Williams fumbled a punt, Tynes kicked a game-winning 31-yard field goal in overtime, sending the Giants to the Super Bowl with a 20-17 victory over San Francisco in the NFC championship game on Sunday.
In another tight one in this decades-old postseason rivalry, both defenses made key stops before New York capitalized on a rare mistake in San Francisco's resurgent season. Williams' blunder put the Giants in perfect position for another sensational finish in a season full of them.
"That was a tough game. We had to fight for every yard that we got," Giants quarterback Eli Manning said. "Defense was outstanding, special teams getting us two turnovers was huge. That led to 10 points."
The first three overtime series ended in punts before Williams fumbled. The Giants won it moments later and silenced — for good this time — the towel-waving, poncho-wearing sellout crowd at cold, rainy Candlestick Park.
"It was one of those situations where I tried to turn it upfield and it just didn't work out," Williams said.
Manning and the Giants (12-7) will face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis as 3 1/2-point underdogs. The last time the teams met for the NFL title, 2008, the Giants ended the Patriots' bid for a perfect season.
Tynes had a hand, er, foot in getting the Giants to that one, too, kicking the game-winning field goal in overtime at Green Bay.
Devin Thomas put the Giants in position by recovering his second fumble of the game after Jacquian Williams stripped the ball from fill-in return man Kyle Williams, who also fumbled earlier to set up a New York touchdown.
"It's my second NFC championship game, my second game-winner," Tynes said of his kick 7:54 into overtime. "It's amazing. I had dreams about this last night. It was from 42, not 31, but I was so nervous today before the game just anticipating this kind of game. I'm usually pretty cool, but there was something about tonight where I knew I was going to have to make a kick. Hats off to Eli, offense, defense. Great win."
Manning went 32 of 58 for 316 yards and two touchdowns and overcame six sacks in his record fifth road playoff win, New York's fifth in a row overall.
Manning threw a go-ahead 17-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham with 8:34 remaining after Kyle Williams fumbled for the first time.
The Giants challenged that the ball touched Williams' right knee and Thomas recovered with 11:06 left and coach Tom Coughlin won, giving the Giants the ball back at the 29.
"That was a tremendous football game for those that really enjoy football at it's very basic element," said Coughlin, who matched former Cowboys coach Tom Landry for most road playoff wins with seven. "Just a classic football game that just seemed like no one was going to put themselves into position to win it. Fortunately we were able to do that."
A 12-point underdog in the 2008 title game, the Giants battered Brady and got a last-minute TD pass from Manning to Plaxico Burress to win their third Super Bowl. Five months ago, Manning declared he was in the same class as Tom Brady. Now, he'll get another chance to outdo him on the NFL's biggest stage.
During this playoff run, he's already outplayed Aaron Rodgers and the defending champion Packers, and fellow former No. 1 pick Alex Smith.
Victor Cruz set the tone Sunday with eight of his 10 receptions in the first half and finished with 142 yards.

"It's just been a tremendous effort by all of us, man," Cruz said. "We understand that any one of us can get hot at any moment. As long as we're all on the same page and just playing together, man, we've got a great group of guys."

Vernon Davis caught touchdown passes of 73 and 28 yards and wound up with three catches for 112 yards for the NFC West champions (14-4), who went from 6-10 a year ago to a contender and ended an eight-year playoff drought.

"It will be a tough one. It will take a while to get over," Harbaugh said.

The only other time these two franchises faced off in the conference championship the game finished in memorable fashion. On Jan. 20, 1991, Roger Craig fumbled with the 49ers leading 13-12 late in the fourth quarter and the Giants went on to win 15-13 to deny San Francisco a chance at a third straight Super Bowl title. New York then beat the Bills to capture its second Super Bowl.

These teams met six times in the playoffs between the 1981 and `94 seasons with the winner going on to win the Super Bowl four times.

Smith went 12 for 26 for 196 yards and two touchdowns and was sacked three times. San Francisco converted only one third down, coming on the final play of regulation as the offense was unable to overcome Williams' blunders.

"We all know him. We know how committed he is to winning," Smith said. "It's not on him. I look at the 1-for-13 on third downs. I know he's going to feel bad, but he's still part of our team. We didn't lose the game there. We lost it across the board offensively. We just couldn't get it done."

The Giants appeared on the verge of collapsing and Coughlin's job status in jeopardy just a month ago, when they fell to 7-7 with an embarrassing loss to the Washington Redskins on Dec. 18.

They were facing elimination the following week against the Jets and Rex Ryan, but the Giants won 29-14. They followed with a 31-14 win over Dallas in the regular-season finale to win the NFC East and get to the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

New York dominated Atlanta at home in the opening round, and then came another stunner: a 37-20 victory at Green Bay.

January 23, 2012 | 10:36 AM Comments  0 comments

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Euro zone finance ministers to rule on Greek debt talks


BRUSSELS/ATHENS (Reuters) – Euro zone finance ministers will decide on Monday what terms of a Greek debt restructuring they are ready to accept as part of a second bailout package for Athens after negotiators for private creditors said they could not improve their offer.

Resolving the issue of a Greek debt swap is key to putting Athens' debt on a sustainable path and avoiding a chaotic default that could threaten the whole currency bloc.

After several rounds of talks, Greece and its private creditors are converging on a deal in which private bondholders would take a real loss of 65 to 70 percent on their Greek bonds, officials close to the negotiations said.

But some details of the debt restructuring, which will involve swapping existing Greek bonds for new, longer-term bonds to bring Greek debt down to a more sustainable 120 percent of GDP in 2020 from 160 percent now, are unresolved.

"What I am confident of is that our offer, that was delivered to the prime minister, is the maximum offer consistent with a voluntary PSI deal," Institute of International Finance chief Charles Dallara, who is negotiating on behalf of banks and insurers holding Greek debt, told Antenna TV on Sunday.

"We are at a crossroads and I remain quite hopeful," said Dallara, who left Athens on Saturday without a deal in place.

Once the guidance from the finance ministers, known as the Eurogroup, is clear, talks on the restructuring could be finalized later in the week.

"It is a very delicate moment," Greek government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis told Greek state radio.

"The only thing that I can say as a government spokesman is that tonight, there is a very important meeting at the Eurogroup and we hope that serious steps will be made towards a deal."

Talks on the extent of Private Sector Involvement (PSI) in the Greek debt restructuring are a vital part of a second financing plan for Athens that would keep it funded until 2014.

"We will listen to the report on the negotiations, see how far they have gotten and have the ministers say what is acceptable and what is not in terms of outcome of the negotiations," one Eurogroup official said.

Without the second bailout from the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund, Greece will not be able to pay back 14.5 billion euros in maturing bonds in March, triggering a messy default that would hurt the whole euro zone economy.

"We are working for a deal in time for the January 30 summit of EU leaders. The restructuring offer needs to be made in the course of February," the official said.

"Obviously there is a clear link between the PSI and the next program and what we will be focusing on in the Eurogroup is making the next program operational."

STICKING POINT

There are doubts that even with a new bailout Greece's mountainous debt can be reduced to a still-painful 120 percent of GDP by 2020.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Sunday the crucial factor was that Athens should have a level of debt that was sustainable by then. "This goal must be achieved," he told German public broadcaster ARD.

Euro zone leaders agreed in October that the second bailout would total 130 billion euros, if private bondholders forgave half of what Greece owes them in nominal terms.


But Greek economic prospects have deteriorated since then, which means either euro zone governments or investors will have to contribute more than thought. [ID:nL1E8CBE7W]


The main sticking point is coupon, or interest rate, the new Greek bonds would carry. Officials said the new bonds are likely to be 30 years in maturity and carry a progressively higher coupon, which would average out at around 4 percent.


"The euro zone ministers will examine the proposal and say whether we have a deal. If they say we don't, we're back to the negotiating table," a banking source close to the talks said.


Progress will be presented to euro zone ministers by Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos.


"We then expect a discussion about the coupon," a senior Greek banker close to the negotiations told Reuters.


"I believe that the private sector can accept a lower coupon than the 4 percent average, but the question then is: will the PSI still be on a voluntary basis?" he said.


The voluntary character of the debt restructuring is important to avoid triggering the pay-out of insurance against a Greek default.


While the sums of such insurance appear relatively small, euro zone officials said, such a "credit event" could trigger a chain reaction of events that would entail rapid and large scale contagion in euro zone debt markets, and is thus best avoided.


NEW RESCUE FUND


After dealing with Greece, euro zone ministers will choose a replacement for European Central Bank Board member Jose Manuel Gonzales Paramo, whose term ends in May.


The 17 ministers of the euro zone will then be joined by 10 ministers from the other European Union countries to finalize a treaty setting up the euro zone's permanent bailout fund - the 500 billion euro European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Its predecessor, the EFSF, is widely viewed as insufficient.


The ESM is another crucial element in the bloc's efforts to end the sovereign debt crisis that threatens to engulf Spain and Italy after claiming Greece, Ireland and Portugal.


The fund should boost market confidence in euro zone defenses should Spain or Italy need emergency financing. Separately, the IMF has launched a proposal to boost its war chest by $600 billion.


IMF head Christine Lagarde is to discuss this during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday. She will make a speech on Monday in which she is expected to urge euro zone leaders to act quickly while acknowledging it is not merely Europe's problem because "innocent bystanders" will also be hit by a worsening debt crisis.


The 27 EU finance ministers will also prepare the final draft of another treaty to sharply tighten fiscal discipline in the euro zone, called the fiscal compact, that is designed to ensure another sovereign debt crisis cannot happen in future.


EU leaders are to sign off on both treaties on January 30, allowing the ESM to become operational in July.


To prepare for the January 30 summit, Merkel will meet European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy on Monday evening.


(Additional reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Ingrid Melander in Athens; Reporting By Jan Strupczewski, editing by Mike Peacock)

January 23, 2012 | 9:42 AM Comments  0 comments

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Dan Forsman wins Champions Tour opener


KAUPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii – Dan Forsman won the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship on Sunday for his third Champions Tour title, closing with a 3-under 69 in windy conditions for a two-stroke victory over Jay Don Blake.
The 53-year-old Forsman, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, finished with a 15-under 201 total at Hualalai Resort and earned $307,000 in the 41-man event. He opened with rounds of 67 and 65 to take a two-stroke lead into the final round.
Blake birdied the final hole for a 67. He finished last season with a victory in the Charles Schwab Championship.
John Cook, the 2011 winner, shot a 68 to tie for third with Michael Allen at 12 under.
A warm wind that gusted up to 25 mph kept scores relatively high on one of the senior tour's easiest layouts. It was the first time since 2000 that the winner didn't have a sub-200 score at Hualalai.
Forsman protected his lead with three birdies in the first 11 holes. His first bogey since Friday and only his second of the week still left him with a two-shot edge after 12 holes, and he held off Blake with a birdie and five pars on the closing holes.
Forsman struggled with a painful left hip last year, and had just one top-10 finish. He dropped to 45th on the money list after finishing in the top 10 in his first two seasons on the 50-and-over tour.
Cook eagled the 10th and added three birdies.
Gary Hallberg (68) and Jeff Sluman (71) tied for fifth, four shots behind Forsman.
Mark Calcavecchia, Jay Haas, Brad Bryant and 62-year-old Tom Watson tied for seventh at 10 under. It was Watson's ninth top-10 finish in 12 starts at Hualalai.
Calcavecchia has seven consecutive top-10 finishes on the tour, dating to his win last year at the Boeing Classic. He matched Hallberg for the low round Sunday with a 66.


January 23, 2012 | 8:50 AM Comments  0 comments

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Paterno, Penn State helped unify Pennsylvania


PITTSBURGH – For years, Penn State University game days meant long lines of cars and RVs bearing fans making pilgrimages from all corners of Pennsylvania to a school right in the middle of the state, and by extension, to coach Joe Paterno, the man long regarded as its center.
The school's flagship campus, established in 1855 in the small town of State College and conceived as a place for farmers to receive a scientific education, sits in the state's geographic center. But its physical presence is also woven throughout Pennsylvania, with two dozen campuses scattered across the state.
So Paterno's death from cancer on Sunday has created emotional ripples that have spread throughout the university's broad network of alumni, both within the state and far beyond.
In a state where professional sports loyalties are usually divided between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the Penn State Nittany Lions are a team embraced by all Pennsylvanians.
Many alumni credit Paterno not just with winning national college football titles, but for helping to transform a rural agricultural college into a 21st century scientific and engineering powerhouse.
"He, along with his wife Sue, helped transform a sleepy land grant institution in the center of a blue collar state into an academic giant. Penn State became an elite institution without becoming elitist in large part due to the leadership of this Ivy League-educated man from Brooklyn," said Anthony Lubrano of Glenmoore, Pa., who graduated in 1982 and is seeking a seat on the school's Board of Trustees. "His contributions to humanity far outweigh his notoriety on the gridiron."
Former Penn State receiver Kenny Jackson, who played on the 1982 national title team, recalled a coach who demanded at least as much from his players in the classroom as he did on the field.
"I just remember how important it was that we got educated. I know it sounds cliched, but I saw the man do it every day. That man made sure I got an education," Jackson said.
In a larger sense, Paterno continued a tradition that began when the school's founders challenged the assumptions of the mid-19th century.
"The goal was to apply scientific principles to farming, a radical departure from the traditional curriculum grounded in mathematics, rhetoric, and classical languages," Penn State's official history notes.
And though the last few months of Paterno's life were tarnished by the child sex abuse scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, some said that the time has come to judge him on the full circle of his career. Sandusky is accused of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year span, sometimes in the football building.
Thousands of people paid tribute to Paterno during a candlelight vigil outside Penn State's administration building Sunday night. Former players were among those who spoke, including Oakland Raiders offensive lineman Stefen Wisniewski.
"When I think back on Joe Paterno's legacy, the events of the last two months won't even cross my mind," Wisniewski said.
Today Penn State has more than 557,000 living alumni and it's become one of the largest employers in the state. But Paterno and the school managed to hold on to some admirable small town qualities.
"At the end of the day he was just another dad, too," said Bob Branstetter, who grew up in State College and was on the high school hockey team with Paterno's son, Scott. "There was never an air around Joe Paterno. He was iconic, but he was just a normal guy."
Chris Wesling, 22, a college senior from Pittsburgh studying psychology, said the school has a strong sense of togetherness, despite its far flung physical nature.
"The branch campuses help," Wesling said, "and sports is a universal language."
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said it's true that Penn State alumni and fans are "everywhere" in the state, and that Paterno ran what became known as Pennsylvania's football team.

Paterno balanced football with academia "as well as anybody," Rendell said, but added that "he made a mistake" in the case of Sandusky, who has maintained his innocence.

"He should have inquired about why nothing was done" to Sandusky after the first reports of abuse, Rendell said, while adding that doesn't negate Paterno's good deeds, such as giving millions back to the school.

"He made a mistake, but I think Joe Paterno still lived an incredibly positive life. He goes down in my book as an incredible human being," Rendell said.

___

Associated Press reporter Mark Scolforo contributed to this story from State College.

January 23, 2012 | 7:59 AM Comments  0 comments

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Obama's health overhaul lags in many states


WASHINGTON – Here's a reality check for President Barack Obama's health overhaul: Three out of four uninsured Americans live in states that have yet to figure out how to deliver on its promise of affordable medical care.
This is the year that will make or break the health care law. States were supposed to be partners in carrying out the biggest safety net expansion since Medicare and Medicaid, and the White House claims they're making steady progress.
But an analysis by The Associated Press shows that states are moving in fits and starts. Combined with new insurance coverage estimates from the nonpartisan Urban Institute, it reveals a patchwork nation.
Such uneven progress could have real consequences.
If it continues, it will mean disparities and delays from state to state in carrying out an immense expansion of health insurance scheduled in the law for 2014. That could happen even if the Supreme Court upholds Obama's law, called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
"There will be something there, but if it doesn't mesh with the state's culture and if the state is not really supporting it, that certainly won't help it succeed," said Urban Institute senior researcher Matthew Buettgens.
The 13 states that have adopted a plan are home to only 1 in 4 of the uninsured. An additional 17 states are making headway, but it's not clear all will succeed. The 20 states lagging behind account for the biggest share of the uninsured, 42 percent.
Among the lagging states are four with arguably the most to gain. Texas, Florida, Georgia and Ohio together would add more than 7 million people to the insurance rolls, according to Urban Institute estimates, reducing the annual burden of charity care by $10.7 billion.
"It's not that we want something for free, but we want something we can afford," said Vicki McCuistion of Driftwood, Texas, who works two part-time jobs and is uninsured. With the nation's highest uninsured rate, her state has made little progress.
The Obama administration says McCuistion and others in the same predicament have nothing to fear. "The fact of states moving at different rates does not create disparities for a particular state's uninsured population," said Steve Larsen, director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the federal Department of Health and Human Services.
That's because the law says that if a state isn't ready, the federal government will step in. Larsen insists the government will be ready, but it's not as easy as handing out insurance cards.
Someone has to set up health insurance exchanges, new one-stop supermarkets with online and landline capabilities for those who buy coverage individually.
A secure infrastructure must be created to verify income, legal residency and other personal information, and smooth enrollment in private insurance plans or Medicaid. Many middle-class households will be eligible for tax credits to help pay premiums for private coverage. Separate exchanges must be created for small businesses.
"It's a very heavy lift," said California's health secretary, Diana Dooley, whose state was one of the first to approve a plan. "Coverage is certainly important, but it's not the only part. It is very complex."
California has nearly 7.5 million residents without coverage, more than half of the 12.7 million uninsured in the states with a plan. An estimated 2.9 million Californians would gain coverage, according to the Urban Institute's research, funded by the nonpartisan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Democrats who wrote the overhaul law had hoped that most states would be willing partners, putting aside partisan differences to build the exchanges and help cover more than 30 million uninsured nationally. It's not turning out that way.
Some states, mainly those led by Democrats, are far along. Others, usually led by Republicans, have done little. Separately, about half the states are suing to overturn the law.
Time is running out for states, which must have their plans ready for a federal approval deadline of Jan. 1, 2013. Those not ready risk triggering the default requirement that Washington run their exchange.

Yet in states where Republican repudiation of the health care law has blocked exchanges, there's little incentive to advance before the Supreme Court rules. A decision is expected this summer, and many state legislatures aren't scheduled to meet past late spring.

The result if the law is upheld could be greater federal sway over health care in the states, the very outcome conservatives say they want to prevent.

"If you give states the opportunity to decide their own destiny, and some choose to ignore it for partisan reasons, they almost make the case against themselves for more federal intervention," said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb.

A conservative, Nelson was on the winning side of a heated argument among Democrats over who should run exchanges, the feds or the states. Liberals lost their demand for a federal exchange, insulated from state politics.

"It's pretty hard to take care of the states when they don't take care of themselves," said Nelson, who regrets that the concession he fought for has been dismissed by so many states.

The AP's analysis divided states into four broad groups: those that have adopted a plan for exchanges, those that made substantial progress, those where the outlook is unclear, and those with no significant progress. AP statehouse reporters were consulted in cases of conflicting information.

Thirteen states, plus the District of Columbia, have adopted a plan.

By contrast, in 20 states either the outlook is unclear or there has been no significant progress. Those states include more than 21 million of the 50 million uninsured Americans.

Four have made no significant progress. They are Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and New Hampshire. The last three returned planning money to the federal government. In Arkansas, Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe ran into immovable GOP opposition in the Legislature. Beebe acknowledges that the federal government will have to run the exchange, but is exploring a fallback option.

In the other 16 states, the outlook is unclear because of failure to advance legislation or paralyzing political disputes that often pit Republicans fervently trying to stop what they deride as "Obamacare" against fellow Republicans who are more pragmatic.

In Kansas, for example, Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger is pushing hard for a state exchange, but Gov. Sam Brownback returned a $31 million federal grant, saying the state would not act before the Supreme Court rules. Both officials are Republicans.

"It's just presidential politics," said Praeger, discussing the situation nationally. "It's less about whether exchanges make sense and more about trying to repeal the whole law." As a result, outlook is unclear for a state with 361,000 uninsured residents.

There is a bright spot for Obama and backers of the law.

An additional 17 states have made substantial progress, although that's no guarantee of success. Last week in Wisconsin, GOP Gov. Scott Walker abruptly halted planning and announced he will return $38 million in federal money.

The AP defined states making substantial progress as ones where governors or legislatures have made a significant commitment to set up exchanges. Another important factor was state acceptance of a federal exchange establishment grant.

That group accounts for just under one-third of the uninsured, about 16 million people.

It includes populous states such as New York, Illinois, North Carolina and New Jersey, which combined would add more than 3 million people to the insurance rolls.

Several are led by Republican governors, including Virginia and Indiana, which have declared their intent to establish insurance exchanges under certain conditions. Other states that have advanced under Republican governors include Arizona and New Mexico.

For uninsured people living in states that have done little, the situation is demoralizing.

Gov. Rick Perry's opposition to the law scuttled plans to advance an exchange bill in the Texas Legislature last year, when Perry was contemplating his presidential run. The Legislature doesn't meet this year, so the situation is unclear.

McCuistion and her husband, Dan, are among the nearly 6.7 million Texans who lack coverage. Dan is self-employed as the owner of a specialty tree service. Vicki works part time for two nonprofit organizations. The McCuistions have been uninsured throughout their 17-year marriage, although their three daughters now have coverage through the Children's Health Insurance Program. Dan McCuistion has been nursing a bad back for years, and it only seems to get worse.

"For me it almost feels like a ticking time bomb," his wife said.

Dan McCuistion says he doesn't believe Americans have a constitutional right to health care, but he would take advantage of affordable coverage if it was offered to him. He's exasperated with Perry and other Texas politicians. "They give a lot of rhetoric toward families, but their actions don't meet up with what they are saying," he said.

Perry's office says it's principle, not lack of compassion.

"Gov. Perry believes `Obamacare' is unconstitutional, misguided and unsustainable, and Texas, along with other states, is taking legal action to end this massive government overreach," said spokeswoman Lucy Nashed. "There are no plans to implement an exchange."

___

Online:

AP interactive: http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2011/healthcare

Urban Institute estimates: http://tinyurl.com/86py8nd

Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight: http://cciio.cms.gov

January 23, 2012 | 7:05 AM Comments  0 comments

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Mitt Romney now says he'll make public his tax returns


Under pressure over his wealth at a time when many Americans are struggling, and coming off a drubbing in the South Carolina primary, Mitt Romney says he’ll release his tax returns this week.
"We made a mistake holding off as long as we did and it just was a distraction," Romney said on Fox News Sunday.
A “major distraction,â€
Romney and South Carolina primary winner Newt Gingrich are both millionaires. But with an estimated net worth upwards of a quarter billion dollars, Romney is one of the wealthiest presidential candidates in US history – certainly near the top of the “one percent” that Occupy Wall Street protesters (and President Obama) have been harping on.
Gingrich had been needling him about that, critical of the way Romney made his millions running a controversial investment firm that may have helped create jobs but that also led to bankruptcies and many layoffs.
RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Mitt Romney? A quiz.
Gingrich got the jump on Romney last week by revealing that he and his wife Callista had paid nearly $1 million in taxes on about $3 million in income in 2011 – an effective tax rate of about 32 percent, which is what many Americans pay.
Romney paints his financial success as a positive, suggesting that any criticism is an attack on capitalism – a bedrock value in Republican politics.
"I think what the American people are going to see is someone who's been extraordinarily successful in his life," New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a prominent Romney supporter, said Sunday on NBC. "And I don't think the American people want a failure as president. I think they like somebody who's succeeded in whatever they've tried to do, and I think that's what you're going to see with Governor Romney."  
But it’s been hard for the former Massachusetts governor to shake the Richie Rich image when he’s paying about 15 percent in capital gains taxes, has some of his investments in the Cayman Islands (albeit perfectly legal and as part of a blind family trust), and recently suggested that earning more than $370,000 just in speaking fees was “not much.”
Most recently, it was the tax issue that brought focus to that image.
“What hurt him was he wasn’t definitive in his answer,” Senator Jim DeMint (R) of South Carolina (who’s neutral in the race so far) said Sunday on CNN's State of the Union. “He should have said immediately, ‘I’m going to do it in April, or I’m not going to do it,’ but the fact that he wasn't clear is, I think, what hurt him."
As the clear front-runner in the GOP presidential nominating contest, Gingrich can afford to be gracious about it.
"I think that's a very good thing he's doing and I commend him for it," Gingrich said on NBC's "Meet the Press” Sunday. "And as far as I'm concerned, that particular issue is now set aside and we can go on and talk about other bigger and more important things."
Gingrich may well hope so. But that’s unlikely – in the remaining primaries and caucuses, and certainly in the general election when some version of “class warfare” can be expected to be an issue between Republicans and Democrats.
As the quintessential Washington insider, Gingrich himself became a very wealthy man after he was forced out of his job as House speaker – including $1.6 million as an “historian” (critics say lobbyist) for the controversial mortgage company Freddie Mac.
Still, the focus likely will remain on Romney – the far wealthier of the two leading candidates now set to duke it out in Florida.
"I frankly don't care about his tax returns," Sen. DeMint said Sunday. "I think stigmatizing his success is a real mistake for Republicans. But he just needed to be definitive about what he was going to do.”

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Mitt Romney? A quiz.

January 23, 2012 | 6:12 AM Comments  0 comments

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