In Terms of Jobs, Solar Energy Lacks Power

Abstract: GOVERNMENT help for solar power was supposed to be a triple play: jobs at a time of dire short-term need; incubation of an American industry sure to be important on a global scale in the next few years; and a long-term reduction in climate-changing pollution. But at the same time that the Obama administration was pushing loan guarantees out the door — the one to Solyndra evidently too quickly — SolarWorld, the largest producer of solar cells in the Americas, was proudly asserting to its investors that labor expenses were less than 10 percent of its costs. Solyndra, which took $528 million in government loans before it declared bankruptcy, had a novel design, using cylinders instead of panels, and it was promising 1,000 or more jobs in the factory. But solar power, which makes extensive use of robots in fabricating the cells, and has no moving parts to service once it is up and running, may be an odd choice for job creation. “It’s just not that labor-intensive,” said Howard Axelrod, an engineer and economist. And as for the jobs it creates, there may be a price elsewhere, Dr. Axelrod said. He described the energy world as being like a child’s squeeze toy: “You squeeze it and the eyes pop out. If you push in one area, something else is going to happen.” Another economist, Seth Blumsack, an assistant professor of economics and energy at Pennsylvania State University, asked about making jobs, creating an industry and cleaning the environment simultaneously, replied, “It’s probably difficult to argue we are doing all three of those things successfully right now.” That is not to say that the energy business does not produce jobs in his state. He said that “in the areas with the highest levels of natural gas drilling, the unemployment rate is basically about as close to zero as it could get.” But the energy industries eat one another’s lunch. Jay Apt, executive director of the Energy Industry Center at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, said it was possible to calculate the amount of electricity produced at a coal plant per person who works there. The number he cited per worker was about the same as would be produced over the course of a year by 20 megawatts of solar panels. Build enough solar plants and some coal plants will shut down; that would amount to firing Peter to hire Paul. But despite all the emphasis on jobs, this relationship is largely unexamined. John Felmy, the chief economist at the American Petroleum Institute, pointed out that there were lots of good-paying jobs in the natural gas fracturing, or fracking, boom, but that implied fewer jobs in the coal sector, as natural gas displaced coal for electricity production. But the analyses “tend to look at the individual industries,” he said, and do not go to the next step: “You’ve got these gas jobs so you don’t have these coal jobs.” His group, a petroleum industry trade association, makes a different point, that drilling in the United States means jobs here instead of jobs elsewhere — in Canada, if the drilling is for natural gas, and all over the world if the drilling is for oil . But petroleum jobs are not politically favored. Something else not favored, at least not by American policy makers, is jobs in China. But Chinese solar panels are flooding the American market, so much so that SolarWorld (which is a German company) filed a dumping case against China with the American authorities on Oct. 19. Nailing solar panels to a roof cannot be outsourced, but to some extent their manufacture already has been. According to a recent report by the Solar Foundation, an advocacy group, only about 24,000 people work in solar manufacturing in this country, compared with 52,500 in installation, out of a total of about 100,000. That is a hefty number, and up 6.8 percent in the last year. But the definition is a bit slippery. It applies to workers who spend at least half their time on solar work. Outsourcing to China is one end of the spectrum; there is a flip side. Some coal jobs exist here because coal is exported. The nuclear industry employs thousands of workers who provide components and services for reactors abroad. Solar panel fabrication was intended as an export industry, but whether the country will continue as a net exporter is not certain. And if the electricity from the solar installation is more expensive than the energy it replaced, then everybody who uses electricity will spend a little more for it, and everybody who pays taxes will contribute to the government subsidies for solar. Thus there will be a little less money to spend on other activities that could also generate employment. But this, too, is little examined. The Energy Department said it did not have any studies on that. Damien LaVera, a spokesman, said that even if the manufacture of solar cells were not labor-intensive, construction of the Solyndra factory provided jobs. “Hiring a thousand construction workers for a year or two years is short-term stimulus,” he said. “They created 3,000 construction jobs in the worst construction downturn in the State of California’s recent history.” Solyndra shut down operations at the end of August. At a recent hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, whose Republican majority has latched on to Solyndra with a vengeance, Scott DesJarlais, Republican of Tennessee, compared the benefits of solar power to the Tennessee farmer who drives into Alabama to buy watermelons for a dollar each and resells them at home for 75 cents. “He does this a few times, and clearly he isn’t making a profit,” Mr. DesJarlais said. “And he comes to the conclusion that he needs a bigger truck.” This may prove unfair in the long run. If fossil fuel prices rise high enough or governments begin to collect big charges for carbon dioxide releases, solar power could turn into an unsubsidized success. Renewable energy is recognized as representing a hedge against future shifts in the prices of fuels and the strictness of pollution regulations. But the effect on jobs is murkier. “Net jobs” is seldom mentioned. The object now is to put more man-hours into each megawatt-hour, after years of trying to slim down the system and minimize labor input. And, economists point out, some of the work that renewable energy creates goes to people who already have jobs — roofers who install the panels or truck drivers who move them around, or steel workers who make towers for new wind machines. Some of the jobs could eventually go elsewhere. Two years ago, Evergreen Solar, which got $58 million in aid from Massachusetts for a factory in Devens, said it would shift production to China instead. Such a move would offer only a small advantage in labor costs — because those are small to begin with — but American experts say the Chinese offer more lavish subsidies. The debate is part of a larger discussion of what constitutes a “green” job. In October 2009, Congress gave the Bureau of Labor Statistics a special appropriation to count them. The first problem was to define the term. The bureau, an independent statistical agency within the Labor Department, established two definitions: jobs in business that “produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources,” and “jobs in which the work performed makes the production processes of business establishments more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources.” The bureau’s first report is due early next year. The problem is that lots of jobs are partly green and partly not. At a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on Sept. 22, members got into an extended argument with an Obama administration witness about whether the driver of a hybrid bus, with its lower pollution and lower fuel consumption, had a green job. “Driving a bus is driving a bus, right?” said Connie Mack, Republican of Florida. Hilda Solis, the secretary of labor, said they were “green buses.” But aides later clarified that the bureau counted any bus driving job as green because it preserved natural resources. None of this suggests that green is bad, just that it is not particularly job-heavy. In December 2010, Susan Combs, the comptroller of Texas, reported that school districts in her state were giving tax abatements to lure new jobs, but had to give $1.6 million for every wind energy job. Manufacturing jobs could be created for $166,000 each.

Solar Energy
Energy Department
Labor and Jobs
Alternative and Renewable Energy
Oil (Petroleum) and Gasoline
Labor Department (US)


Apple Is Cutting Price of Some Online Songs

Abstract: SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 16 (AP) — Apple is lowering the prices of songs it sells online without copy protection to 99 cents from $1.29, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday. The reduction, which started appearing on songs Tuesday, puts the company’s iTunes store closer in line with its rivals. Amazon, which opened its online music store in September, sells tracks without anticopying software locks for 89 cents to 99 cents. Separately, Apple announced that its next-generation operating system, the Mac OS X Leopard, would be available Oct. 26 for $129, and Apple’s online store was taking orders. An Apple spokeswoman, Natalie Kerris, said the price cut at iTunes was not in response to competition. “It’s been very popular with our customers, and we’re now making it available at an even more affordable price,” Ms. Kerris said. Apple began selling some songs in May without copy protection. The primary benefit of such music is that it can be played on any music player, not just Apple iPods. Apple also charges 99 cents for copy-protected tracks. Leopard, the new operating system, was originally due in June, but Apple said in April that it needed to divert resources so it could introduce the iPhone on time.

iTunes
Apple Inc
Computers and the Internet


Genentech Wins Approval For New Breast Cancer Drug

Abstract: Genentech won federal approval Friday for a new drug to treat advanced breast cancer . But the company said it was experiencing manufacturing problems that could lead to a shortage of the drug. The drug, called Perjeta, is meant to be used with Genentech’s existing drug Herceptin to treat breast cancers characterized by high levels of a protein called Her2, which amount to about 20 percent of total breast cancers. The two drugs together are more effective than Herceptin alone, but at considerable extra cost. Perjeta will have a wholesale cost of $5,900 a month for the typical woman, Genentech said. When used with Herceptin, which costs $4,500 a month, a typical 18-month course of treatment would be more than $187,000. The company said it has programs to help people obtain the medicines if they cannot otherwise afford them. The Food and Drug Administration , in announcing approval of Perjeta, took the unusual step of approving only production lots not affected by “production issues” that could affect the long-term supply. “Given the need for additional treatments for metastatic breast cancer, we made the decision to approve this drug today and not to delay its availability to patients pending resolution of the production issues,” Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. Shortages of drugs for cancer and other diseases have been a huge problem for hospitals and patients in the last year. But the shortages have usually involved generic drugs with little profit margin, not expensive new ones. Edward Lang Jr., a spokesman for Genentech, said the genetically engineered animal cells used to produce Perjeta were growing too slowly. “It’s not an issue with contamination and it’s not a safety issue,” he said. “It’s a supply issue.” He said the company anticipated being able to meet demand. Still, the fact that the F.D.A. is requiring that future production lots be approved suggests it is concerned that the problems with the cells could affect the quality and consistency of the drug, not just its quantity. The drug is made at Genentech’s factory in Vacaville, Calif. Last year, a bacterium that can cause a disease called leptospirosis was found early in the production process for Rituxan, another drug produced there. European regulators concluded after a recent inspection that this did not present a risk to public health. Both Perjeta, which is also known as pertuzumab, and Herceptin bind to the HER2 protein on the surface of breast cancer cells, but in different ways. This dual blockade improves results. In a clinical trial, patients who received both drugs went a median of 18.5 months before their disease worsened, compared with 12.4 months for those who received Herceptin alone. It is too early to say if Perjeta lengthens lives, but early trends were favorable, according to a report on the trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine in January. The trial involved more than 800 patients receiving initial treatment for metastatic breast cancer. Patients in both arms also received the chemotherapy drug docetaxel. Those who received Perjeta had a higher rate of severe diarrhea and fever caused by low white blood cell counts. Genentech, a subsidiary of Roche, is also working on a third drug for HER2-positive breast cancer called T-DM1, which combines Herceptin with a powerful toxin. Data from a clinical trial of T-DM1 generated excitement at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting last weekend. Herceptin generated global sales of 5.25 billion Swiss francs for Roche last year, equivalent to $5.5 billion at current exchange rates. But the patents on Herceptin expire in 2019 in the United States, according to a Genentech regulatory filing. Perjeta and T-DM1 could replace Herceptin by the time it faces competition from near-generic drugs called biosimilars.

Breast Cancer
Perjeta
Food and Drug Administration
Drugs (Pharmaceuticals)
Herceptin (Drug)
Genentech Inc


Former Met Justin Turner Provides Offensive Lift for Dodgers

Abstract: During parts of four seasons with the Mets, Justin Turner earned a reputation as a plucky, lighthearted utility man who could field adeptly and reach base regularly. Because of his demeanor and clubhouse stature, though, he was often recognized more for his merits as a teammate than for the statistics on the back of his baseball card. So it might have been a curious sight for Mets fans during Game 4 of the National League division series between the Mets and the Dodgers on Tuesday night, when Mets Manager Terry Collins decided to intentionally walk Turner in the fifth inning to pitch to Corey Seager, one of baseball’s best young players. In 301 games as a Met, Turner was intentionally walked three times. The strategy worked, as Seager struck out, but the damage by Turner was already done. He burned the Mets with a two-run, two-out double in the third inning that put the Dodgers ahead, 3-0, in an eventual 3-1 victory. In Los Angeles, where Turner signed after being nontendered by the Mets in December 2013, he has evolved past a cliché. During this playoff series, he has hit .467 and posted a 1.233 on-base plus slugging percentage. Turner has also displayed a penchant for particularly tormenting the Mets’ vaunted young starters, collecting six of his team-high seven hits this series in 11 at-bats against them. His success is not surprising to his former teammates. Image Los Angeles's Justin Turner scoring on double by Andre Ethier during the Dodgers' 5-2 win over the Mets in Game 2 of a National League division series. Credit Monica Almeida/The New York Times “When he was with us, I knew he was good,” said Mets pitcher Jon Niese, who played with Turner from 2010 to 2013. “But yeah, now that he got that everyday role over in L.A., you can see how good he really is.” Collins deployed Turner throughout the infield when he played in Queens. His versatility and personality made him one of Collins’s favorite players. Before Game 3 on Monday night, the two met during batting practice, and Turner wrapped his arms around Collins’s shoulder, and they laughed heartily. “He’s a good baseball player,” Collins said. “He always has been. He did a great job while he was here.” Turner also endeared himself to Mets fans by dousing players with whipped cream pies after walk-off wins and using pop songs like Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” for his walk-up music. The memories of those idiosyncrasies still resonate: During Monday’s pregame introductions, Turner was the only Dodger not roundly booed. The sentiment did not carry over after his third-inning double against Steven Matz scored Howie Kendrick and Adrian Gonzalez, putting Los Angeles ahead, 3-0. Turner was jeered walking to the plate before Collins elected to walk him in the fifth. Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly penciled Turner into the cleanup spot Tuesday, ignoring his .248 average against left-handers this season, 64 percentage points lower than his average against right-handers, confident in his overall ability to jump-start the Dodgers’ offense. “He’s a guy that hits both sides,” said Mattingly, who later revealed that Turner has played the last two games with a sore knee. “He’s one of our main guys kind of two-through-five there — you look at him to drive in runs, get on base, he gives you good at-bats kind of pretty much against everybody. So, obviously a big part of what we plan to do.” The Mets may regret letting Turner go after the 2013 season, but not everyone in the organization was apparently thrilled with him by the end of his tenure with the team. His release was somewhat surprising, given his popularity. He was due only $800,000 in 2014, but there were reports that the front office was not pleased with a perceived lack of hustle. One former Met still enamored with Turner was Marlon Byrd, who spent part of the 2013 season with the team. Byrd shared hitting strategies with Turner throughout the season, and even after being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, he continued mentoring Turner during the winter. For five days a week, Turner tweaked his swing with Byrd. The results have been staggering. Since signing with the Dodgers before the 2014 season, Turner has hit .314 with an .876 O.P.S. during regular-season play and entrenched himself as the club’s starting third baseman. He has also displayed power unforeseen during his time with the Mets, clocking 23 of his career 31 homers while wearing Dodger blue. This season, Turner hit 16 home runs in 126 games, even after missing two weeks because of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. “I kind of took a turn for the better offensively when I met Marlon Byrd in 2013,” Turner said during a news conference earlier in the series. His Los Angeles teammates certainly appreciate him. “Honestly, I never thought he’d be this good of a hitter,” said Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers’ ace and the winning pitcher Tuesday night. “He’s one of the best hitters in the game.” Against the Mets’ best arms, Turner has executed crisply with his new approach. He crowds the plate, sandwiching his feet into the lower right corner of the batter’s box. Despite the deep stance, Turner is still able to attack pitches, getting in front of the ball. “Great guy,” said Niese, who still regularly speaks with Turner, even after he gave up a home run to him on July 24, the day Niese’s son was born. “I couldn’t be happier for him.”

Mets
Justin Turner
Dodgers
Baseball
Playoffs
Jon Niese
Don Mattingly


Brad Keselowski Edges Busch

Abstract: Brad Keselowski passed Kyle Busch with five laps to go and surged to his second win in three years in the Nascar Kobalt 400, a Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Logano finished second, and Jimmie Johnson was third.


Russian Man Gets 4 1/ 2 Years in Prison for Fighting With Riot Policemen

Abstract: MOSCOW — A participant in a May 6 anti-Putin demonstration was sentenced Friday to four and a half years in a prison colony for fighting with riot police officers in the first adjudication of 18 similar cases that have sent a shudder through the city’s new ranks of middle-class political activists. The defendant, Maksim Luzyanin, 36, the barrel-chested owner of a Moscow fitness club, was captured on film as he grappled with a uniformed riot policeman, his hands gripping the officer’s neck. Authorities traced Mr. Luzyanin because of his uniquely muscular build — a black balaclava concealed much of his face — and charged him with taking part in a riot and using force against a state officer. He was the only defendant in the so-called Bolotnaya cases, named after the square where the brawl took place, to plead guilty, and he paid compensation to a police officer who said his tooth enamel had been chipped in the fracas. “I am sorry for what I have done, and if I had a chance to correct everything I would not have acted like this,” Mr. Luzyanin said during a hearing on Friday, according to footage aired on Russian television. “It was all done under the influence of emotions.” The sentence was two years short of the six and a half years prosecutors had sought, but still a very tough penalty for a brief melee that resulted in no serious injuries — especially considering that Mr. Luzyanin cooperated with prosecutors. It was the first serious criminal charge to be brought against any of the people who have taken part in the large anti-Putin demonstrations that began last December. Though Friday’s ruling attracted less attention than the two-year sentence handed down to Pussy Riot , a group of anti-Putin punk rockers, in August, it will serve as a grave and unmistakable warning to those considering whether to take part in future events. News of the verdict filtered through Moscow’s activist circles late on Friday, and many responded with blunt shock. “What is going to happen to the others — 10-year sentences? Will they be shot?” Maria Baranova, 28, who faces charges of participating in mass disorder based on videos taken at the May 6 rally, wrote in a blog post. “The situation has taken a baffling turn for everyone. Luzyanin cooperated fully, and there was not a single person seriously hurt by his actions.” The rally on May 6 — on the eve of President Vladimir V. Putin’ s inauguration — was peaceful until a crowd in the tens of thousands confronted a line of police officers in full riot gear, who had been ordered to prevent them from marching to the Kremlin. In the resulting bottleneck, some sat down on the pavement while others tried to push their way through the police line. Officers charged into the crowd, swinging nightsticks, and some marchers threw chunks of asphalt at them. The police reported that 20 officers had suffered injuries, and that three were hospitalized. For Russian authorities, the event supplied a vivid dividing line: After May 6, their tolerance for street activism was gone. Television commentators began warning of a deadly tide of radicalism, and Parliament rushed through a package of draconian laws on public gatherings. The trial of three members of Pussy Riot, who received two years for singing an anti-Putin song in a cathedral, drove home the new reality that political activists were now subject to criminal prosecution. Though Western observers were outraged by the sentences, many Russians, with their bone-deep distaste for radical activism, thought they were merited. The Bolotnaya prosecutions represent another threshold for Mr. Putin’s government, since many of the defendants come across as not as radicals, but as ordinary people. Mr. Luzyanin, for his part, clearly appealed to the public for understanding, telling television stations that he earned a modest income — a bit less than $2,000 a month — and personally apologizing to the policemen he hit. The sentence he received Friday was, to many who have been following the cases, unexpectedly heavy. “This just contradicts any common sense,” Dmitri Agranovsky, a lawyer who is defending other suspects charged in connection with the May 6 event, said in an interview. “I don’t know why the court acted so severely. From the point of view of logic it is impossible to explain. When a person agrees to cooperate with the police, he receives a lesser sentence. All I can say here is that didn’t happen. Why? I don’t know.”

Police
Russia
Demonstrations Protests and Riots
Sentences (Criminal)
Moscow (Russia)
Luzyanin Maksim


The Guys From ‘Government Sachs’

Abstract: During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt selected Sidney J. Weinberg , the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, to serve as the assistant director of the War Production Board. Mr. Weinberg was one of the few men on Wall Street to support Roosevelt in the 1932 election, and he went on to advise Presidents Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lyndon B. Johnson. Known as “Mr. Wall Street,” Mr. Weinberg began a tradition of Goldman executives taking leading roles in public service that is continuing under President-elect Donald J. Trump. Already, Steven Mnuchin has been tapped as Treasury secretary, Stephen K. Bannon was named senior adviser and Gary D. Cohn, Goldman’s president, is expected to direct the National Economic Council. Here are a few of the people to venture through the revolving door between Goldman and the government. The Johnson Administration Image Henry Fowler, Treasury secretary under President Johnson, in 1965. Credit United Press International Henry H. Fowler, Treasury secretary and a partner at Goldman A number of top government officials have joined Goldman after leaving office . Mr. Fowler was Treasury secretary in the Johnson administration. He helped raise the money to meet the soaring costs of the Vietnam War and proposed what turned out to be the last Federal budget surplus until 1998. In 1969, Mr. Fowler left Washington and became a partner at Goldman. He said it would not have been in “good taste” to work in finance in Washington. And he said his new position “pays a little more” than the $35,000 a year he made as a cabinet secretary. The Reagan Administration John C. Whitehead, co-chairman of Goldman and deputy secretary of state. Mr. Whitehead was one of New York’s most prominent citizens . A veteran of D-Day, he capped a lauded career on Wall Street and in the State Department by shepherding the first years of the city’s fractious effort to rebuild after the 2001 terrorist attacks. The columnist Liz Smith once called him the “chairman of the establishment.” He helped pilot Goldman Sachs to the forefront of investment banking and led the boards of Harvard, the Asia Society and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, among other institutions. As deputy secretary of state in the Reagan administration, he helped wean the countries of Eastern Europe from the Soviet Union. The Clinton Administration Image Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in 1996. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Robert E. Rubin, co-chairman of Goldman and Treasury secretary Mr. Rubin amassed a fortune on Wall Street before heading the National Economic Council under President Bill Clinton. In 1994, Mr. Clinton selected him to become Treasury secretary . Mr. Rubin drew criticism just after his arrival in Washington when it was disclosed that he had sent farewell letters to hundreds of Goldman clients saying he was “looking forward to working with you in my new capacity.” He said that he was merely being polite. Mr. Rubin played a role in arranging the compromise that led to the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. After leaving office, he joined a leadership triangle at Citigroup . Kenneth D. Brody, management committee at Goldman and president of the Export-Import Bank After running Goldman’s real estate division, Mr. Brody was appointed by President Clinton to the once-lethargic Ex-Im Bank . Critics have contended that the bank’s business is really a form of corporate welfare benefiting mainly giants like Boeing and General Electric. When he arrived in Washington, he was astounded when an aide, told that it was difficult for the public to reach the agency on the telephone, replied that “those who need us know how to get us.” Mr. Brody said, “I went nuts” in response. Gary Gensler, a partner at Goldman and chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission After minting a small fortune as one of the youngest partners in Goldman’s history, Mr. Gensler was named assistant secretary for financial markets in 1997. At the Treasury Department, he helped enact legislation exempting broad portions of derivatives trading from oversight. But Mr. Gensler soon developed a reputation for cracking down on Wall Street during his time at the agency. The day in 2010 that the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul became final, he stayed past 4 a.m. to put the finishing touches on the law. His aggressive streak thrust the once-backwater agency into the front lines of reform. The push by Mr. Gensler clashed with the staid culture of an agency once known as the “watchdog that didn’t bark.” In Europe Romano Prodi, international adviser to Goldman Sachs and prime minister of Italy The former economics professor and European Commission president served two terms as prime minister of Italy . In 2008, he lost a confidence vote and submitted his resignation. Image Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank. Credit Yves Herman/Reuters Mario Draghi, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International and president of the European Central Bank As a vice chairman for Goldman Sachs in Europe, Mr. Draghi was a proponent of nations and pension funds using derivatives to manage their liabilities. In the 1990s, Mr. Draghi earned the nickname Super Mario when, as the Italian economy neared the brink, he became the acceptable public face of his country to foreign investors. In 2005, he was selected to oversee Italy’s central bank . And in 2011, he was named president of the European Central Bank as the economy was in a maelstrom. Faced with a eurozone economy stubbornly resistant to revival, the bank said this year that it would effectively pay commercial banks money to borrow central bank money. In Congress Image Jon Corzine, the former Wall Street executive and New Jersey lawmaker. Credit Krista Schlueter for The New York Times Jon S. Corzine, chief executive of Goldman and New Jersey lawmaker Mr. Corzine amassed a $400 million fortune while guiding Goldman, but he was forced out of the company because several senior partners were angry that he made major decisions without consulting them. He spent more than $60 million to win election in 2000 to the United States Senate from New Jersey on a liberal platform. Concerns over Mr. Corzine’s vast holdings , most of which were tied up in Goldman stock, intensified after he was appointed to the influential Senate Banking Committee. In 2005, he was elected governor of New Jersey in a nasty campaign that was the costliest in the state’s history. In one advertisement, his former wife was quoted as warning that Mr. Corzine would let down New Jersey voters just as he had let down his family. After losing the governor’s race to Chris Christie, Mr. Corzine returned to Wall Street, presiding over the collapse of the brokerage firm MF Global and becoming a target of federal investigators. In recent weeks, Mr. Corzine and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission struck a tentative agreement to settle their case , according to people briefed on the matter. The Bush Administration Stephen Friedman, co-chairman of Goldman and White House chief economic adviser Around Goldman, Mr. Friedman is remembered for having built the company’s lucrative practice of advising companies on mergers and acquisitions. In 2002, President George W. Bush chose the tenacious Wall Street veteran as his chief economic adviser . Mr. Friedman’s co-chairman at Goldman, Mr. Rubin, led President Clinton’s National Economic Council. Mr. Friedman generated some controversy as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York during the financial crisis, when the Fed was helping put together a rescue plan for Wall Street. He stepped down from that role in 2009 after questions arose about his ties to Goldman . In 2014, Mr. Friedman appeared briefly on “Game of Thrones” dressed as a peasant . Joshua B. Bolten, executive for Goldman Sachs International and White House chief of staff The former Goldman executive grew up in establishment Washington, the son of a Central Intelligence Agency officer. Mr. Bolten was the White House legislative affairs director for part of the administration of the first President Bush. Under the second President Bush, he was deputy White House chief of staff, then director of the Office of Management and Budget and finally chief of staff . Mr. Bolten played an important role in putting together the Bush tax plan and helped recruit another Goldman executive , Henry M. Paulson Jr., as Treasury secretary. In 2008, the House voted to issue contempt citations against Mr. Bolten and a former White House counsel for refusing to cooperate in an investigation into the mass firings of federal prosecutors. Robert K. Steel, vice chairman of Goldman and under secretary of the Treasury Before the financial crisis, Mr. Steel was co-chairman of one commission that claimed that heavy-handed regulation was hindering financial innovation and another that argued that hedge funds could police themselves. By April 2008, he was extolling the powers that a “superregulator” might wield over Wall Street one day. “When you are driving fast down a slippery road, sometimes a regulator needs to tap lightly on the brakes to get you to slow down,” Mr. Steel told The New York Times. But to many on Wall Street and on Main Street, the car had already crashed. Image Henry Paulson, the former Treasury secretary, in 2014. Credit Ray Stubblebine/European Pressphoto Agency Henry M. Paulson Jr., chief executive of Goldman and Treasury secretary Before he became Treasury secretary in 2006, Mr. Paulson agreed to hold himself to a higher ethical standard than his predecessors. That plan did not survive the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The government propped up the teetering financial system with tens of billions of taxpayer dollars, including aid that directly benefited his former company. To deal with the financial crisis, Mr. Paulson tapped so many former Goldman executives that bankers coined the nickname “Government Sachs.” “I operated very consistently within the ethic guidelines I had as secretary of the Treasury,” Mr. Paulson told lawmakers in 2009 , adding that he asked for an ethics waiver for his interactions with his old company “when it became clear that we had some very significant issues with Goldman Sachs.” Mr. Paulson helped decide the fates of a variety of financial companies, including two longtime Goldman rivals, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, before his ethics waivers were granted. Ad hoc actions were taken by Mr. Paulson and officials at the Federal Reserve, like letting Lehman fail and compensating the trading partners of the American International Group. Neel T. Kashkari, investment banker for Goldman and president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Mr. Kashkari arrived in Washington in 2006 after spending two years as a low-level technology investment banker for Goldman in San Francisco. Today, he runs the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and compares banking to the nuclear power industry . Mr. Kashkari’s latest proposal — called the Minneapolis Plan — is likely to pressure banks to break apart because the high cost of holding so much capital would mean it would no longer make sense to stay so large. William C. Dudley, partner at Goldman and president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York A Goldman economist with a knack for reading the markets, Mr. Dudley stepped into the spotlight in 2009 as the Fed’s senior statesman on Wall Street. He has navigated a painful recession while leading the Fed’s sweeping efforts to stabilize the nation’s troubled financial industry. In 2014, secret recordings detailing interactions between employees of the New York Fed and Goldman were made public. The former Fed employee, Carmen M. Segarra, who made the recordings had sued the New York Fed , arguing that she had been fired for being too hard on Goldman. Mr. Dudley defended the agency , but Senator Elizabeth Warren told him, “ You need to fix it, Mr. Dudley , or we need to get someone who will.” Last year, a former Goldman banker suspected of taking confidential documents from a source inside the New York Fed agreed to plead guilty , a rare criminal action on Wall Street.

Goldman Sachs Group
Appointments and Executive Changes
Donald Trump


Tseng, With 66, Draws Close in Women’s British Open

Abstract: Caroline Masson of Germany doubled her lead to two shots with a four-under-par 68 in the third round of the Women’s British Open on Saturday, but she will have her hands full fending off last year’s winner, Yani Tseng of Taiwan. In Carnoustie , Scotland, Masson finished at 15 under par — a 54-hole record — with the top-ranked Tseng in second place at 13 under after a 66, Saturday’s low score. Catriona Matthew of Scotland had a 68 and shared third place at nine under with Park Inbee of South Korea, who birdied the final hole for a 73. The only miscue by Masson, a 22-year-old who has yet to win in two years as a professional, came after a bunkered second shot at the 18th. But she holed a 10-foot putt to save a bogey. “I was nervous at first and made bogey, but then I birdied the second and felt very comfortable,” she said. “But I still can’t really believe that I am leading the British Open. It is a strange feeling. It is also very exciting and I’m looking forward to playing with Yani tomorrow. I have never met her, but she is the world No. 1 and has won so many titles. I am sure I will learn a lot.” Tseng’s 66 was made up of four birdies on the back nine; the highlight was an eagle putt from 70 feet on the 14th. “I played awesome,” she said. “I’m so excited about tomorrow.” Tseng acknowledged that she had never heard of Masson, who will be her playing partner on the final day. “When she led last night, I had to ask my caddie, ‘Who’s that?’ ” Tseng said. “But it shows how many good players there are around these days. “But I feel very comfortable and confident. I’ve learned a lot from the last three years, from my wins and my mistakes, and I’ll take that experience into tomorrow.” Matthew thrilled the home crowd with her share of third place. The Open winner at Royal Lytham and St Annes two years ago, she also knows how to win at Carnoustie. Twenty years ago, at age 21, Matthew won the Scottish Amateur Championship on the course. “It helps that I know the course, but I think Yani and Caroline feel pretty happy here now too,” she said. Na Yeon Choi of Korea is alone in fifth on 208 after a 72. Brittany Lang, Sophie Gustafson and Se Re Pak share sixth place, a shot further back. The American challenge never materialized. Lang (69) rose from a share of 18th place but is one stroke worse off than at the start of the day. Paula Creamer (71) is at six under, and Brittany Lincicome (76) is 13 shots back. The first-round leader Meena Lee, tied for second after 36 holes, fell out of contention with an 80. TWO-MAN RACE AT SENIOR OPEN Olin Browne fought off the heat to shoot a six-under 65 and take a two-shot lead over Mark O’Meara after the third round of the United States Senior Open in Toledo, Ohio. Browne, winless in three years on the senior tour, set the tournament record for lowest score through 54 holes. He is at 15-under 198. O’Meara had a 66 in a head-to-head duel. He pulled even with a birdie at the ninth hole before Browne had five birdies on the difficult back nine. They will resume their head-to-head duel Sunday; their closest pursuers — Jeff Sluman (65), Peter Senior (68), Joey Sindelar (69) and Mark Calcavecchia (69) — are six shots off the pace. Browne said he did not want to contemplate what winning a major championship would mean to him. “It would be great, obviously,” he said. “Any time you can put that kind of a championship on your résumé it’s a tremendous accomplishment. I haven’t gotten one. I would love to have one.” (AP) SETBACK FOR MCILROY David Howell, Richard Green and Simon Dyson are in a three-way tie at the Irish Open, but the homegrown stars Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell fell out of contention with 72s during a wet, windy third round in Killarney. McIlroy had a terrible start, double-bogeying the first and eighth holes. He also bogeyed the par-3 third after his windblown tee shot sailed left into a stream. He is eight shots behind. Howell, of England, shot a seven-under 64 for the best score of the day, and Dyson, of England, and Green, of Australia, shot 67. Stephen Gallacher of Scotland also shot a 68 and was two shots behind the leaders. (AP)

Women's British Open (Golf)
Golf
Tseng Yani
Masson Caroline


M.T.A. Reaches Labor Deal With Transit Workers

Abstract: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Monday reached a tentative contract agreement with the union representing New York City’s subway and bus workers, officials said. The agreement, which union officials said would provide pay raises of more than 2 percent a year, was reached on Monday morning, shortly after the last contract expired. John Samuelsen, the president of Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents about 38,000 workers, said the “solid raises” would outpace inflation and improve workers’ quality of life. “We waged a multifaceted campaign that raised the awareness about the value transit workers have to this city, the dangerous nature of their work and the sacrifices they make to move eight million riders a day,” Mr. Samuelsen said in a statement. Union leaders had focused on worker safety after the death of a transit worker in November prompted a federal investigation. The worker was struck by a subway train in Brooklyn while setting up warning lights for a construction zone. Image John Samuelsen, the president of the Transport Workers Union Local 100, in July 2015. He said a deal reached on Monday with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority offered “solid raises.” Credit Hilary Swift for The New York Times The contract negotiations could be one of the final hurdles for the authority’s chairman, Thomas F. Prendergast, who is stepping down soon. He announced his departure the day after the opening of the Second Avenue subway in Manhattan this month; his successor has not been named. Mr. Prendergast said in a statement that the contract addressed the needs of the union workers and was “an affordable agreement that can be accommodated within our financial plan.” Officials from the authority and the union declined to discuss the details of the contract. The agreement still needs to be approved by the union’s executive board and ratified by its membership. It also needs to be approved by the transportation authority’s board. Jon Weinstein, a spokesman for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who effectively controls the authority, said in a statement, “We congratulate the M.T.A. and T.W.U. on reaching an agreement for the hard-working women and men who keep New York City moving.” The 28-month contract would provide a 2.5 percent raise for all workers in the first 13 months, a 2.5 percent raise in the following 13 months and a $500 payment for the final two months, according to an official who was briefed on the negotiations but was not authorized to discuss them publicly. The raises would take effect after the contract is ratified. Bus operators who drive large buses with connected segments would also receive hourly wage increases, among other provisions in the contract, the official said. In November, when the authority announced its proposals to raise fares in 2017, officials said they had budgeted for a 2 percent annual wage increase for workers. A spokeswoman for the authority, Beth DeFalco, declined on Monday to say how the higher wage increases would be paid for. Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, has had a friendly relationship with the union and has praised transit workers as he has taken a more hands-on role with the authority as part of his broader infrastructure agenda. Mr. Samuelsen, who is a harsh critic of Mayor Bill de Blasio, has praised Mr. Prendergast for his leadership of the agency.

Wages and salaries
Labor Unions
Public Transit
Thomas F Prendergast
NYC


School Shooting Suspect Was Accused of Earlier Assault

Abstract: CHARDON, Ohio — The teenager held in a shooting rampage at a high school in a suburb of Cleveland that killed three students and injured two had a troubled past, accused in 2009 of choking and punching a person, according to court documents released here on Wednesday. The documents state that the 17-year-old student, T. J. Lane, was the focus of a criminal complaint involving a person identified as John Bruening. The complaint, dated Dec. 9, 2009, states that Mr. Lane, who was 15 at the time, placed Mr. Bruening, who was not otherwise identified, “in a choke hold and punched him in the face.” The assault would have been a misdemeanor of the first degree if committed by an adult, the complaint stated. But Mr. Lane was a juvenile, and it appears from the documents that he was placed in detention for a number of days, in January 2010. The documents also showed a traffic violation. Mr. Lane came from a broken home. His parents — identified in previous court documents as Sara Nolan and Thomas Lane — never married, and each had domestic assault charges filed against the other during their relationship. The authorities said Mr. Lane used a .22-caliber Ruger semiautomatic pistol to fire 10 shots at students in the cafeteria and in a hallway at Chardon High School. Carl Henderson, a neighbor of Mr. Lane’s paternal grandfather, said Mr. Lane had taken the gun from his grandfather’s barn. Mr. Henderson, a former Geauga County sheriff who retired from police work seven years ago, said that he had known Mr. Lane’s family for 50 years and that Mr. Lane had “never bothered anyone in the community.” He said that it was not unusual for guns to be kept in homes in this area, and that Mr. Lane’s grandfather had a workshop in his barn. “It’s too bad because no one would ever think something like this would happen,” Mr. Henderson said. “He is a very upstanding citizen,” he added, referring to the grandfather. The Associated Press, citing a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation, reported that the gun, a Ruger Mark III target pistol, was bought legally in August 2010. It was purchased at Gander Mountain, a hunting, fishing and outdoor store in Mentor, Ohio. “We are fully cooperating with law enforcement authorities looking into this,” said David Ewald, a spokesman for Gander. In Chardon on Wednesday, parents and students gathered in small groups near a white gazebo in the town’s central square, where people were leaving notes, flowers and stuffed animals. Several churches held prayer services, and the City of Chardon set up a fund for donations, the Chardon Healing Fund.

School Shootings
Assaults
Chardon High School (Chardon Ohio)
Lane T J
Chardon (Ohio)


Oswald Grübel Outlines Plan to Restore UBS Profit

Abstract: LONDON — Oswald J. Grübel, the chief executive of the Swiss bank UBS , presented a plan on Tuesday to return it to profitability, saying that he expected the company to be earning nearly $15 billion a year by no later than 2014. “We are building a new UBS,” Mr. Grübel said. “One that performs to the highest standards and behaves with integrity and honesty; one that distinguishes itself not only through the clarity and reliability of the advice and services it provides but in how it manages and executes.” The bank plans to achieve a pretax profit of 15 billion Swiss francs ($14.7 billion) and a return on equity — a measure of profitability — of 15 to 20 percent sometime from 2012 to 2014, it said on Tuesday before a presentation to investors. It also said it would stick to its business model of providing wealth management, investment banking and asset management services. Mr. Grübel was hired in February after UBS had losses of more than $50 billion and needed to seek government aid because of its exposure to assets linked to the subprime mortgage market. He is trying to restore confidence among investors, clients and employees after its reputation was hurt by a fine for unauthorized trading and a legal dispute with the United States about helping wealthy American clients evade taxes. That contributed to withdrawals of money from its wealth management business. Mr. Grübel has reduced costs by eliminating jobs and shrinking businesses. He said Tuesday that UBS would continue to hire to expand its fixed-income, commodity and currency operations in its investment banking unit. That unit is expected have revenue of 20 billion francs and pretax profit of 6 billion francs in the next three to five years. Much of UBS’s recovery will depend on whether the investment banking business can meet those targets. The unit was the main cause of the bank’s difficulties, accumulating assets tied to the subprime mortgage market. UBS has had four consecutive quarterly losses while rivals like Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank have reported quarterly profits. Shares in UBS have risen about 18 percent this year. Credit Suisse stock, in contrast, has soared 102 percent and Deutsche Bank stock has climbed 87 percent. Last month, UBS hired Robert J. McCann, a former Merrill Lynch executive, to stem outflows of client money at its wealth management unit in the Americas. Mr. McCann was also scheduled to update investors on his business on Tuesday. Even as UBS announced detailed profitability goals for each of its units on Tuesday, Mr. Grübel asked for patience in reaching them. “The transformation we are undertaking is a fundamental one, and it will not happen quickly,” he said. “I am determined, however, that we build a firm for sustainable profit and not one to focus only on short-term expectations.”

UBS AG
Banks and Banking
Company Reports


Netflix Profit Beats Expectations

Abstract: Netflix , the movie rental service, reported a fourth-quarter profit that topped Wall Street forecasts on Wednesday, fueled by rapid subscriber growth that the company said it expected to continue. Netflix said it added three million subscribers during the quarter, giving it a total of 20 million, and expects to end the first quarter with 21.9 million to 22.8 million. It also offered first-quarter profit and revenue forecasts that topped analysts’ estimates. Netflix said it earned $47.1 million, or 87 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, up from $30.9 million, or 56 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected earnings of 71 cents a share. Revenue rose 34 percent, to $596 million from $445 million. “We would say that our huge subscriber growth, fueled by the excitement of watching instantly, impressed even us,” the chief executive, Reed Hastings, said in a letter to shareholders. Justin T. Patterson, an analyst at Morgan, Keegan & Company, said the growth of Netflix’s streaming business resulted in a decline in the costs associated with winning new customers. Netflix spent about 10 percent less in the fourth quarter on marketing than a year earlier. Shares in Netflix, which is based in Los Gatos, Calif., rose sharply to over $200 each in after-hours trading. The company released its results after the close of market trading.


Consumer Bureau Seeks to Tighten Rules on Mortgage Servicers

Abstract: WASHINGTON — The newly established Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed tighter rules on Thursday for mortgage service companies, which collect mortgage payments from homeowners on the lender’s behalf. The recommendations were authorized in part by the Dodd-Frank Act, passed in 2010, but gained momentum after a $26 billion settlement earlier this year with five of the nation’s biggest banks over foreclosure practices. The new rules would require the service companies to provide monthly statements to customers, warn them before interest rates are adjusted and offer more options to avoid foreclosures. State and federal investigations into foreclosure practices found widespread examples of hasty foreclosures, forged signatures and lost paperwork among the companies that collected mortgage payments and monitored homeowner compliance. “The major failures in this industry demonstrate that all servicers need to meet basic standards of good customer service,” Richard Cordray, director of the consumer bureau , said in announcing the proposed rules. While he acknowledged that some mortgage servicers did their jobs well, “these proposed rules are about putting the service back in mortgage servicing,” Mr. Cordray said. “From processing payments to evaluating struggling homeowners and helping them avoid foreclosures, the bottom line is to treat consumers fairly by preventing surprises and runarounds.” The rules will be open for public comment until Oct. 9, and final rules are expected to be issued in January, the bureau said. The rules are being formally introduced as amendments to two laws that cover most aspects of buying and financing a home, the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. The proposals cover two areas: providing clear and timely information to consumers about their mortgages and requirements for handling customer accounts, correcting errors and evaluating borrowers. In addition, service companies would be required to make good-faith efforts to contact delinquent borrowers and notify them of options that would help them avoid foreclosure. Also, the companies would need to offer consumers advance notice and pricing information about property insurance that the mortgage company forces a homeowner to buy if the company discovers the property is not insured — a practice known as force-placed insurance. In handling customer accounts, service companies would have to credit the account on the day a payment was received; maintain accurate and accessible documents; offer direct access to support people who could help delinquent borrowers; and, if the company offers loan modifications , promptly review applications. Officials at the American Bankers Association have been meeting with consumer bureau officials about the rules for some time. Bob Davis, executive vice president of the association, said that while it was important for consumers to receive clear and accurate information about their loans , “we want to make sure servicing doesn’t get tangled up in so much red tape that high-quality, responsive servicing is no longer viable, particularly at small banks.” Some small mortgage servicers would be exempt from a portion of the new rules, to lessen the regulatory burden on small businesses, the bureau said.

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010)


Hillary Clinton Declines Invitation to Debate Bernie Sanders

Abstract: DETROIT — Eager to move on from the Democratic primary race, Hillary Clinton has turned down an invitation to debate Senator Bernie Sanders ahead of California’s primary, her campaign said on Monday. The announcement came hours after Mrs. Clinton unleashed a biting critique of Donald J. Trump while addressing a union convention, mocking his business record and offering a glimpse at how she might confront him in the general election. Mr. Sanders’s campaign last week tentatively accepted an invitation by Fox News to participate in a debate before California’s June 7 primary, and expressed hope that Mrs. Clinton would agree to face off against the senator. In a statement issued Monday evening, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, Jennifer Palmieri, said Mrs. Clinton’s team would contest California while “turning our attention to the threat a Donald Trump presidency poses.” “We believe that Hillary Clinton’s time is best spent campaigning and meeting directly with voters across California and preparing for a general election campaign that will ensure the White House remains in Democratic hands,” Ms. Palmieri said. The Electoral Map Looks Challenging for Trump Current polls show an uphill battle for Donald Trump should he and Hillary Clinton face off in the general election. Mr. Sanders said in a statement that he was “disappointed but not surprised” by Mrs. Clinton’s “unwillingness to debate before the largest and most important primary in the presidential nominating process.” He added, “I hope Secretary Clinton reconsiders her unfortunate decision to back away from her commitment to debate.” Earlier on Monday, Mrs. Clinton left no confusion about where she was focusing her attention. Speaking at a convention here for the influential Service Employees International Union, which endorsed her in November, Mrs. Clinton asserted that “a lot of Republicans themselves say Donald Trump is a disaster waiting to happen to America.” She broached the subject of his business record, suggesting his supposed acumen was less than met the eye. “He could bankrupt America like he’s bankrupted his companies,” Mrs. Clinton said. “I mean, ask yourself: How can anybody lose money running a casino? Really.” The union has spent millions underwriting the Fight for $15 campaign to raise the minimum wage. On that subject, Mrs. Clinton brought up Mr. Trump’s comment during a debate in November about wages being “too high” — though he has recently said otherwise — and his suggestion that the federal minimum wage should be eliminated. Video The Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said he is “disturbed but not surprised” that Hillary Clinton won’t debate him before the California primary on June 7. Credit Credit Monica Almeida/The New York Times Mrs. Clinton has not supported a $15 hourly federal minimum wage, but when pressed about it in the last Democratic debate, she said she would sign a bill raising it to that amount if she were president. Taking on Mr. Trump on Monday, she warned that “what little we know of his economic policies” consisted of piling up debt, leading the country into trade wars and letting Wall Street run amok, with potentially devastating consequences. And she criticized his hard-line approach to immigration, including his desire to deport those who are in the country illegally. “What kind of country would we be if we let Donald Trump rip our families apart?” she asked. Mrs. Clinton gave her address in Michigan, one of the Rust Belt states that Mr. Trump hopes to move into the Republican column in the November election. He won the state’s Republican primary in March after highlighting his staunch opposition to trade deals. Mr. Sanders, who also criticized trade deals, defeated Mrs. Clinton in the Democratic primary there. During her address, Mrs. Clinton took a moment to give credit to Mr. Sanders. “I applaud Senator Sanders and his supporters for challenging us,” she said. She listed money in politics and income inequality, key issues for Mr. Sanders, as two areas she intended to address. Lights, Camera, Trump Donald J. Trump has turned the campaign news conference, typically a dreary affair, into a spectacle of self-promotion. Mrs. Clinton has a virtually insurmountable delegate lead over Mr. Sanders, and last week she said there was “no way” she would not be the Democratic Party’s nominee. But Mr. Sanders defeated her this month in Indiana, West Virginia and Oregon, contests that highlighted her vulnerabilities among white working-class voters. Now, even without a debate, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders are headed to a battle in California. Mr. Sanders is in the midst of a string of campaign events there, and Mrs. Clinton is planning several stops in the state this week. At a rally in East Los Angeles on Monday, Mr. Sanders pointedly criticized both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump by attacking their ties to wealthy political donors. Mr. Sanders also called Mr. Trump “hysterically funny,” adding that the businessman might be lying about his net worth. “Trump is a multibillionaire — or so he tells us,” he said. “We don’t know what is true or not because, you know, he lies every day, so probably he’s broke.”

Hillary Clinton
Primaries
California
Donald Trump
2016 Presidential Election
Bernard Sanders,Bernie Sanders
Political Debates


Public Policy With a Personal Message

Abstract: WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 — The rollout of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton ’s health care plan this week was intended to show that more than her policy ideas have changed in the past 14 years. The deeper message was that she has changed, too. In a flurry of recent interviews and speeches, she has highlighted qualities that her friends enthusiastically describe and her enemies fiercely doubt: humility, a desire to hear all sides, a leadership instinct for reaching out and building consensus and compromising when necessary. Her campaign has long seen Mrs. Clinton’s health care speech, delivered Monday in Iowa, as a crucial moment — a chance to try to banish the image that took root in the early 1990s, fairly or not, as an ambitious, unyielding liberal unsuited for the give-and-take of practical politics. In one interview after another this week, she has acknowledged her mistakes in the first health care struggle and presented herself as sadder, wiser and ready to try again. “Certainly, if we could turn the clock back, I don’t think anybody in the White House, including me, would have approached this in the same way,” she said. But she added, “I feel very much grateful for what I’ve been through, because I think it does prepare me to maybe lead with a greater dose of humility and empathy and understanding of what it takes to get things done in our political system.” This reintroduction is somewhat risky for Mrs. Clinton, as her advisers have acknowledged. They have said privately that if this election is about issues, she has a good chance of winning. But if it is about her and her personality, she faces a much more challenging task with voters, who can still find her polarizing. Advisers to Mrs. Clinton have long worried that many independent voters, conservative Democrats, and liberal and female Republicans have bad memories of her fierce advocacy on health care in 1993-94, when she lambasted her opponents and seemed, at times, disdainful of anything short of universal coverage and total victory. Mrs. Clinton has never really confronted those voters, her advisers say, until now — presenting them with a new plan and, she hopes, a new persona to help wipe away an older one defined not just by her defeat on health care but also Whitewater, her husband’s impeachment and other episodes that have receded but not disappeared. Even so, the return of the health care issue, while playing to many of her political strengths circa 2007, also summons up images and film of that younger, far more combative Hillary still deep in the American memory bank. Her critics noted that even this week, when her policy proposal received a generally positive response, Mrs. Clinton still managed to stir a fiercely ideological attack from the opposition, as if it were 1994 all over again. Moreover, just as Mrs. Clinton is using her health care plan as a proxy for her maturation as a leader, Republicans are using it to challenge her character and honesty. On Tuesday, the Republican National Committee sent an e-mail message challenging Mrs. Clinton’s promise that her plan would not be government-run or produce new bureaucracy, quoting eight commentators and analysts who assert that government would inevitably expand. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, one of her principle Democratic rivals, also took (far more subtle) aim at the personality behind the plan this week. He praised Mrs. Clinton’s proposal, but noted that no health care plan could pass without leadership committed to openness and consensus-building. “That’s how we’ll prevent the drug and insurance industry from defeating our reform efforts like they did in 1994,” Mr. Obama said. Mrs. Clinton argues that 1994 was a long time ago. And, she suggests, she is not only wiser, but also fully in control of the health care plan she will be selling this time. “I’m the decision-maker now,” she said in the interview. “I have a plan that is 100 percent my plan — and it is a plan that comes out of my years of experience at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. I also have recognized that you can have the best plan on paper, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to command the political support necessary, especially in the face of fierce opposition from interests who don’t want to give up what they have under our dysfunctional system.” Mrs. Clinton insisted that she could overcome the ideological polarization in Congress that has only heightened since the early 1990s — especially, she said, under President Bush. “There is so much that I think you can find common ground on, but you have to have a president who isn’t seeking to divide and conquer,” she said. As she rolled through the interviews Tuesday morning, she sounded euphoric to be back on health care. And when asked about the immediate attacks on the plan from Republicans, like former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, Mrs. Clinton responded in a way she rarely responded to attacks in 1993-94. She laughed — long and hard.

Clinton Hillary Rodham
Presidential Election of 2008
Health Insurance and Managed Care


Pakistan Bombs Militant Area as Officials Weigh a Wider Offensive

Abstract: PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The Pakistani military pressed its campaign of airstrikes against militants in the remote tribal regions on Tuesday, reportedly killing at least 30 people, as the national cabinet met to consider a broader military offensive, officials said. A security official said fighter jets bombed the mountainous Shawal region, on the border between North and South Waziristan, early Tuesday. “A number of terrorist hide-outs have been completely destroyed,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. North Waziristan, in particular, has become a nexus of allied militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaeda. The airstrike campaign began after militants executed 23 captured Frontier Corps militiamen on Feb. 16, derailing an effort to start talks between the government and the Pakistani Taliban. Militant attacks have stepped up as well, including three deadly ones this month in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Last week, Pakistani officials said that at least 460 people had been killed in militant violence over the past five months as the government has tried to engage the Taliban in talks. The continued airstrikes over the past week have sent thousands of people fleeing in North Waziristan, and have fueled speculation that a tougher military offensive against militants may be on the way. On Tuesday, the national cabinet was to discuss just such an action. The officials are also said to be weighing whether to establish Pakistan’s first National Internal Security Policy to provide a unified platform for intelligence gathering.

Pakistan Bombs Military Waziristan Terrorism


With So Many Ailing, Knicks Focus on Plan B

Abstract: GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Jason Kidd and Tyson Chandler missed practice Tuesday as injuries continue to cast doubt on the Knicks’ ability to sustain their performance in the second half of the season. Coach Mike Woodson called the absences of Kidd and Chandler “maintenance” days. That is one step above “rest,” which is how the Knicks officially excused Kidd’s sitting out all but five minutes of Sunday night’s game against Atlanta. It was later reported that Kidd had back soreness. With the Knicks facing three games in the next four days, Woodson acknowledged that more rest for Kidd could be the best medicine. Kidd did not speak with the news media Tuesday. “If he tells me, ‘Hey, I need to back off,’ I’m going to back off,” Woodson said. “Jason is a big piece of this puzzle, and I need him when it really counts. That’s coming down the homestretch.” Woodson was more hopeful that Chandler, who has a sore neck, would be available for the Knicks’ game Wednesday against the Orlando Magic at Madison Square Garden, but he said he would not know until game time. Woodson also played down speculation that forward Rasheed Wallace would return to practice this week, saying that both Wallace and center Marcus Camby could be out until after the All-Star break. “Not in a hurry to rush them back,” Woodson said. “I want them to be ready for the stretch run.” For about 15 minutes after practice ended Tuesday, Woodson stood in the center of the lane barking commands as J. R. Smith and Iman Shumpert soared past his outstretched arms for easy layups. “You can’t be afraid to get into the teeth of the defense,” Woodson said. It was a pick-and-roll exercise. One assistant, Jim Todd, delivered the entry pass. Another, Herb Williams, set the screen. Smith and Shumpert let their intuitive skills figure out the rest. Ideally, it would be Kidd delivering the pass, and Chandler setting the high screen, but the Knicks are coming to grips with the reality that no lineups or roles can be set in stone. Tuesday’s extra workout session for the young and spry Smith and Shumpert seemed geared toward enhancing their roles as key parts in the offense, working off high screens, breaking down the defense. In essence, bolstering their ability to replace whomever, whenever. Beginning with Kidd. “He’s got confidence in us being able to make plays out there, and not just scoring plays,” Smith said. “Make the right pass and try to find other people as well.”

Knicks
Jason Kidd
Tyson Chandler
Sports injury
Basketball


In Europe, A Fierce Debate Over Growth or Austerity

Abstract: PARIS — Fierce debate is growing in Europe over whether austerity or economic growth offers the best strategy to overcome the Continent’s sovereign debt crisis . As if it were that simple. As the euro zone hovers on the brink of its second recession in three years, the battle being waged in academic journals, blogs and the financial media has spread to the hustings in France and Greece and will soon move to Germany, the European Union’s economic powerhouse. “Europe can’t cut and grow,” Sony Kapoor, head of the Re-Define research institute, and Peter Bofinger, a member of the German Council of Economic Advisers, said in an article published before E.U. leaders adopted a budget discipline pact last month. “The E.U. needs a growth compact, not a fiscal one. Swift action on tax and jobs is the way out of the crisis.” The growth camp argues that synchronized austerity across Europe will only aggravate economic contraction, swell the ranks of the unemployed and make it harder for debt-laden countries to reduce their deficits and restore market confidence. Less government spending eliminates public-sector jobs and shrinks demand, depressing consumer spending and investment, and risks pushing the economy into a self-defeating vicious cycle. “The question is whether governments should relent in their efforts to reduce deficits now, when the global economy is still weak, and policy credibility is far from granted,” the economist Giancarlo Corsetti said in a debate on the VoxEU Web site. The austerity crowd contends that spending cuts are vital to making public finances sustainable, building credibility with investors and creating conditions for healthy growth that is not based on borrowing or real estate bubbles. “It would be very easy to lose the credibility we have built with fiscal consolidation,” said a senior E.U. policy maker, speaking on condition of anonymity. Both sides agree that structural economic changes that are intended to lift potential growth by removing barriers in Europe’s common market and that make labor laws more flexible can help in the medium term. They differ mostly about the pace of debt reduction. The growth brigade features a coalition of U.S. economists like Lawrence H. Summers, the former Treasury secretary; the Nobel laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman; the academic Brad DeLong; and the French Socialist presidential candidate François Hollande. The debt scourges are led by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and include the European Central Bank and the European Commission. While heavily indebted states that have received bailouts, like Greece and Portugal, have no alternative to tough austerity, Mr. Summers and Mr. DeLong say short-term spending cuts elsewhere can worsen finances in the long run. “Unless we believe that the long-term real borrowing costs for Western Europe as a whole will be more than 5 percent per year, spending cuts now to reduce the deficit are likely to erode rather than bolster the overall fiscal situation,” Mr. DeLong said in a contribution to the VoxEU debate. David Hale, a private economist who runs a consulting firm in Chicago, said European countries should be reducing deficits more incrementally, stretching cuts out over a longer timetable than the Union has set. “What the Europeans are doing now is depressing revenue, which means they’ll miss their fiscal targets,” he said. Germany, which pays the bulk of E.U. expenses, pushed through a treaty imposing quasi-automatic fines on euro zone countries that miss their deficit reduction targets, because Ms. Merkel and others were determined not to allow a repeat what they saw as the causes of the bloc’s debt crisis . According to the German narrative, peripheral euro zone governments and consumers borrowed beyond their means to finance spending binges that burdened states, banks and households with unmanageable debts. The European Commission and the International Monetary Fund recommend that countries achieve most of their deficit reduction by cutting spending rather than raising taxes. Both institutions would also like to see Germany in particular, which has a low budget deficit and decent growth, increase domestic demand to help stimulate the European economy. But Berlin is cautious, and it is not clear whether German consumers will actually spend rather than save the above-inflation wage increases they are getting this year. Italy and Spain are in the throes of austerity programs driven by bond investors who have lost confidence in those countries’ ability to repay debts. Spanish bond yields have spiked again since Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy rejected a deficit target his predecessor had agreed to with E.U. authorities and set a higher target. Analysts say the market move was caused by a loss of credibility for Spanish policy and fears that Madrid will not meet its new goal because of a deeper-than-expected recession. Unemployment has risen to 23 percent, with one young person in two out of a job. That complicates the policy choices for Spain and Brussels, which Olivier Blanchard, chief economist for the I.M.F., summed up as “damned if you do and damned if you don’t.” In Germany, Ms. Merkel faces a challenge to her deficit-cutting ideology in a key regional election next month in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the Social Democrats are running on a platform of growth before austerity. In France, Mr. Hollande, a favorite in opinion polls to oust President Nicolas Sarkozy next month, has said he will focus more on reviving growth than cutting spending. “The credibility of debt reduction depends first and foremost on economic recovery,” he said last week. The problem, many economists say, is not with his aim of increasing growth but with his way of going about it. Mr. Hollande plans to cut the deficit mostly by raising taxes on the rich, on investment income and on banks, while creating hundreds of thousands of subsidized jobs for young people. This in a country where public spending already accounts for 55 percent of economic output and the tax burden is among the highest in Europe. Even those who want Europe to ease the pace of deficit reduction say France needs to do more to shrink the state. “In France, cutting public spending would free up resources for the private sector,” Mr. Hale, the U.S. economist, said. “Elements of fiscal reform would be positive for growth over two to three years, especially if you could match it with tax cuts.” Paul Taylor is a Reuters correspondent.

European Sovereign Debt Crisis (2010- )
Economic Conditions and Trends
Economics (Theory and Philosophy)
Politics and Government


Gunman in Rampage Had Been Certified to Be an Officer, State Authorities Say

Abstract: CRANDON, Wis., Oct. 9 — As solemn families prepared Tuesday to bury the six young people killed in a shooting rampage here, some residents questioned whether the gunman, a sheriff’s deputy and local police officer, should ever have been allowed to carry a badge, much less a gun. Some wondered whether at 20 the gunman, Tyler Peterson, was old enough or had received enough law enforcement training in this town, where many of the 2,000 residents, including the sheriff and the police chief, had known him for years. Others described Mr. Peterson as a bullying sort, someone the authorities should have known would immediately become a problem on the force. “He had a lot of complaints because he was harassing a lot of people, pulling people over at random stops,” said Michael Zold, who, like Mr. Peterson, graduated from Crandon High School in 2005. Mr. Zold said he had experienced such a stop: Mr. Peterson accused him of failing to use his turn signal, then offered to drop the charge if Mr. Zold would agree to provide information about a suspect Mr. Peterson was investigating for other crimes. But state officials, who are leading the investigation into the shooting, on Sunday, because of Mr. Peterson’s ties to local agencies, defended his qualifications as a law enforcement officer. “He met the state’s minimum standards, as reported by his employing departments,” the state attorney general, J. B. Van Hollen, said at a news conference here. Offering new details of the early morning shooting, Mr. Van Hollen said Mr. Peterson, who was off duty, had gone to the home of Jordanne Murray, his former high school sweetheart, and accused her of seeing someone else. After a heated argument, he left, then stormed back in and, without speaking, fired dozens of rifle shots at Ms. Murray, 18, who died, and six other people, ages 14 to 21, who were at a pizza party there. Several of the victims apparently tried to hide in a closet, Mr. Van Hollen said. The only survivor, Charlie Neitzel, pleaded for Mr. Peterson to stop. Mr. Peterson continued to shoot at him, hitting him three times. Hours later, as officers closed in on Mr. Peterson, he apparently shot himself three times with a 40-caliber pistol, Mr. Van Hollen said. One shot was fatal. Mr. Van Hollen said a fourth shot — to Mr. Peterson’s bicep — came from elsewhere, presumably from a responding officer. Records show that Mr. Peterson received formal training between August 2004 and May 2006 at Nicolet Area Technical College in Rhinelander, Wis. But he failed the “final scenario-based evaluation,” which includes handling imagined situations dealing with drunken drivers, domestic disputes and the use of deadly force. Still, he began working as a part-time officer for the Crandon Police Department on June 8, 2006. That September, he was hired full time as a Forest County sheriff’s deputy. Wisconsin authorities provided a list of state standards for law enforcement authorities, including that they be at least 18, have no felony record, pass a drug test and a physical exam, and have an associate’s degree. Those who do not meet the education standard when they are hired must have obtained the degree by the end of their fifth year of employment. In December 2006, Mr. Peterson retook, and passed, the final training test at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, records show. That same month — six months after he had begun his job as a Crandon police officer — the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Standards Board certified him as qualified to be a law enforcement officer. Some Crandon residents said Mr. Peterson was a fine officer — and pointed at the town’s cliques as a reason that others were now questioning his abilities. Alyssa Mullins, 15, recalled his offering to help a volleyball teammate of hers after a family tragedy. Last year’s Crandon High yearbook noted that the Class of 2007 had picked Mr. Peterson as “Best Cop” in its poll of popular people and places around town. In a brisk, wet wind along Crandon’s main thoroughfare, friends of those killed left signs in the windows of a cafe and a flower shop. Candlelight vigils were planned in nearby communities. The family members of those killed, meanwhile, met with the Peterson family. “They hold no animosity toward them,” Mr. Van Hollen said of the victims’ families, “and ask that you don’t either.”


Mobile Ads Fuel a Jump in Profit at Facebook

Abstract: SAN FRANCISCO — Perhaps Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, should ditch the hoodie and dress up as a mobile phone for Halloween. After all, that’s how half of his company’s users connect to the social network and where half of its advertising revenue comes from. He just has to be careful not to scare away the kids because the youngest ones are already starting to go elsewhere. Facebook, which operates the largest online social network, reported Wednesday that its profits doubled in the third quarter, to $621 million, after excluding expenses related to stock options. The company’s revenue rose 60 percent, to $2.02 billion, compared with last year’s third quarter. Most of that, about $1.8 billion, came from advertising. Perhaps most important for Facebook’s future as an advertising-driven company in a world of iPads and Android smartphones, the company noted that mobile ads accounted for 49 percent of its advertising revenue, up from 41 percent in the second quarter. Facebook said prices for mobile ads remained high, and users were clicking on them in their news feeds more frequently. That bodes well, analysts said, for its smaller rival, Twitter, which takes a similar approach to mobile ads and is preparing to sell stock to investors in an initial offering as soon as next week. Clark Fredricksen, a vice president with eMarketer, a research firm, said Twitter would benefit from Facebook’s efforts in mobile because the larger company had been investing heavily in educating marketers and users about mobile ads. “Facebook has been a major force in helping advertisers and users get more comfortable with seeing and buying mobile ads,” he said. Other big Internet companies like Yahoo and AOL are benefiting less from mobile ads, he said, because their ads are fragmented across various sites and are less appealing to advertisers. The Facebook results beat Wall Street’s expectations for both revenue and profits, and cemented the company’s position as the leading platform for mobile display ads for products like games and sugary snacks. (Google, which eMarketer estimates will account for roughly half of the world’s $118 billion in digital advertising this year, is still the overall leader in mobile ad sales because of its dominant position in search ads.) But Facebook, whose stock has doubled in the three months since its last earnings report, also tried to temper expectations for endless fast growth. In a conference call with analysts, the company’s chief financial officer, David Ebersman, warned that the company would not keep increasing the percentage of ads in its users’ news feeds, especially for mobile users. Image Facebook’s chief, Mark Zuckerberg. The company’s third-quarter earnings beat expectations. Credit Jim Wilson/The New York Times “This is important because increasing ads in News Feed has been a meaningful driver of our revenue growth in 2013,” he said. “So this should be factored into your expectations for next year.” Although he did not disclose how many ads Facebook was showing its users, the company said this year that roughly 1 in 20 posts sent to users’ news feeds were ads. Shares of Facebook, which were down slightly in regular trading to $49.01, initially soared about 12 percent in after-hours trading following the earnings report. But the stock quickly lost the gains as investors digested the results. LinkedIn, another leading social networking company, issued a similar warning late Tuesday, saying that its sizzling growth rate could not continue — hardly surprising, given the law of large numbers, but still a shock of cold water to investors. LinkedIn shares fell more than 9 percent on Wednesday. Mr. Ebersman also confirmed an observation made by outside researchers that teenagers were using Facebook less. Although the overall engagement of teenagers remained stable, he said, younger teenagers were indeed using the service less. It’s unclear how big a problem that will be for the company since those younger users are in part flocking to Instagram, a photo-sharing service owned by Facebook that just began showing ads this month. “Facebook is the obvious audience for advertisers looking to reach mobile users,” Mr. Fredricksen said. “They are capturing market share by leaps and bounds on an annual and quarterly basis.” Ronald Josey, a senior research analyst following the Internet industry for JMP Securities, said Facebook’s results were solid. “They’ve learned mobile,” he said. Clearly they have the right product for advertisers.” But even before Mr. Ebersman’s comments, Mr. Josey predicted that the company would put a damper on the exuberance that has doubled the price of the company’s stock in the last three months. “They are going to try to temper expectations,” he said. The company also continued to add to its user base slightly. In the third quarter, 1.19 billion people used the site at least once a month, up from 1.15 billion in the second quarter. Facebook is expected to account for 5.41 percent of the $117.6 billion global digital ad market this year, up from 4.11 percent last year, according to eMarketer. Facebook’s presence in the mobile ad market is growing especially quickly. The company will account for 15.8 percent of worldwide mobile ad spending in 2013, according to eMarketers, up from 5.35 percent last year. Mark Mahaney, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said Facebook posted its highest profit margins in a year and half and built on its mobile strength. “But you can’t keep accelerating forever,” he said.

Facebook
Earnings Reports
Online advertising


Cleric Issues Warning on Karbala Investigation

Abstract: BAGHDAD, Sept. 2 — Moktada al-Sadr , the powerful Shiite cleric, on Sunday repeated his demand that the investigation into last week’s gun battles in the holy city of Karbala be impartial, threatening to make “decisions far from government expectations” if the inquiry did not move quickly and justly. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki announced Sunday that he had established an independent committee to oversee the investigation. But Mr. Sadr’s comments seemed to heighten tensions over the episode. The case has become a test of loyalty, as Mr. Maliki, a Shiite, tries to walk a line between the Shiite groups involved in last week’s fighting: Mr. Sadr’s militia, the Mahdi Army, and the armed wing of the Sadrists’ main political rivals, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, which controls the Iraqi Army units protecting Karbala’s shrines. Both groups supported Mr. Maliki for prime minister after the 2005 elections but the withdrawal of support by either could mean that a no confidence vote in Parliament would pass, requiring Mr. Maliki to step down. Mr. Sadr’s political party has boycotted the government but not signaled a complete rejection of the prime minister. On Sunday, Mr. Maliki was careful not to criticize either group directly. He blamed “corruptive gangs” for the violence, which left at least 52 people dead and 279 wounded, and said that if Iraqi soldiers had misbehaved, that, too, would be disclosed. “The investigation will go its own way, and that is why a neutral committee was formed to run the inquiry and uncover all the details, the background, who took part and who fired and killed and wounded this number of people,” he said. “We will wait until the committee has finished its detailed inquiry, and we will announce the results at that point.” Mr. Sadr complained that the inquiry had already gone too far, with arrests of more than 200 of the group’s followers “in a Saddam-style measure,” Mr. Sadr’s statement said. It went on to claim that at least two witnesses saw gunfire coming from behind the walls of the shrines, suggesting that soldiers in the army units were responsible for much of the killing. Mr. Sadr’s office had made an announcement on Wednesday that his militia would suspend operations for six months, but his warning on Sunday of unspecified decisions seemed to hint at either a resumption of attacks, or a call for a new prime minister. There was violence on Sunday in a Shiite neighborhood where both Mr. Sadr’s forces and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council maintain a strong presence. In Kadhimiya, home to Baghdad’s most sacred Shiite shrine, a car bomb killed at least three people and wounded seven more. In Diwaniya, a majority-Shiite city in southern Iraq , the authorities found three unidentified bodies. In Wasit Province, south and east of Baghdad, the police said they found six bodies with bullet holes in the head. Clashes also erupted in a southern section of Kut, the provincial capital, leaving one policeman dead. The American military also announced that there had been 70 confirmed cases of cholera since Aug. 10 near Sulaimaniya, in northern Iraq, and more than 4,000 reports of severe diarrhea and vomiting.

Mahdi Army
Iraq
Sadr Moktada Al-
Politics and Government
United States Armament and Defense
Maliki Nuri Kamal al-


Former Iran President at Center of Fight Between Classes of the Political Elite

Abstract: CAIRO — Even before his daughter and four other relatives were briefly detained on Sunday, one of the big mysteries to envelop Iran since the disputed presidential election has been the role of former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani . One of Iran’s wealthiest and most powerful men, a former right-hand man to the father of the revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Mr. Rafsanjani was an outspoken critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the campaign and a supporter of the opposition candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi. His absence from public view, coupled with the provocative, though temporary, detention of his family members appears to have escalated an internal battle between two classes of Iran’s political elite. Even if the street protests are stopped, the split threatens to paralyze the state and undermine the legitimacy it has tried to construct since the 1979 revolution, analysts say. “I see the country’s political elite more divided than anytime in the Islamic Republic’s 30-year history,” said Karim Sadjadpour, a political analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Rafsanjani, one of the republic’s founding fathers, the man who made Khamenei Supreme Leader, is now in the opposition.” Mr. Rafsanjani, who leads two powerful state institutions, has been working behind the scenes to find a compromise solution to the disputed June 12 presidential election, a relative said Sunday. The detention of his family members, this relative said, was a pressure tactic on the part of his opponents. It seems clear that the 75-year-old is at the center of a fight for the future of the Islamic Republic. Mr. Rafsanjani’s vision of the state, and his position in his nation’s history, is being challenged by a new political elite led by Mr. Ahmadinejad and younger radicals who fought Iraq during the eight-year war. Mr. Ahmadinejad and his allies have tried to demonize Mr. Rafsanjani as corrupt and weak, attacks that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not strongly discouraged. On the other side, opposition leaders, especially Mr. Moussavi, have received support from Mr. Rafsanjani, political analysts said. “It has become an extremely dangerous, zero-sum game,” said an expatriate political consultant who asked not to be identified because his family lives in Iran and he was afraid of retribution. It is a quirk of history that Mr. Rafsanjani, the ultimate insider, finds himself aligned with a reform movement that once vilified him as deeply corrupt. Mr. Rafsanjani was doctrinaire anti-American hard-liner in the early days of the revolution who remains under indictment for ordering the bombing in of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in 1994 when he was president. But he has evolved over time to a more pragmatic view, analysts say. He supports greater opening to the West, privatizing parts of the economy, and granting more power to civil elected institutions. His view is opposite of those in power now who support a stronger religious establishment and have done little to modernize the stagnant economy. Beyond the clash of ideas, the battle is also personal. “At a political level what’s taking place now, among many other things, is the 20-year rivalry between Khamenei and Rafsanjani coming to a head,” Mr. Sadjadpour said. “It’s an Iranian version of the Corleones and the Tattaglias; there are no good guys and bad guys, only bad and worse.” It is not clear what leverage Mr. Rafsanjani can bring to this contest. If he speaks out, the relative said, he will lose his ability to broker a compromise. Mr. Rafsanjani leads two powerful councils, one that technically has oversight of the supreme leader, but it is not clear that he could exercise that authority to challenge Ayatollah Khamenei directly. Yet even in his silence, Mr. Rafsanjani’s pedigree presents a problem for Ayatollah Khamenei. In his Friday sermon, the supreme leader appealed for unity among the elite. He mildly criticized Mr. Ahmadinejad for his personal attacks on Mr. Rafsanjani. But the leader also made it clear that even revolutionary credentials could not save political leaders if they go too far, a clear threat to Mr. Rafsanjani, analysts said. “If the political elite ignore the law — whether they want it or not — they would be responsible for the chaos and bloodshed,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. “I urge old friends and brothers to be patient and keep control of yourselves.” Mr. Rafsanjani has been in opposition before. In the days of the shah, he was a religious student of Ayatollah Khomeini at the center of Shiite learning, in the city of Qum. He was imprisoned under the shah, and became so closely associated with the revolutionary leader he was known as “melijak Khomeini,” or “sidekick of Khomeini.”’ After 1979, he went on to become the speaker of Parliament. There, Mr. Rafsanjani established himself in a role that would continue for decades. “Just as the ayatollah had come to personify the revolution, Rafsanjani came to personify the state,” wrote the author and Iran expert, Robin Wright, in her book “In the Name of God, The Khomeini Decade.” Mr. Rafsanjani later served two terms as president and was instrumental in elevating Ayatollah Khamenei to replace Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989. People who worked in the government at the time said that Mr. Rafsanjani, as president, ran the nation — while Ayatollah Khamenei followed his lead. But over time the two grew apart, as Ayatollah Khamenei found his own political constituency in the military and Mr. Rafsanjani found his own reputation sullied. He is often accused of corruption because of the great wealth he and his family amassed. He was so damaged politically that after he left the presidency, he failed to win enough votes to enter Parliament. In 2002, he was appointed to the head of the Expediency Council, which is supposed to arbitrate disputes between the elected Parliament and the unelected Guardian Council. And in 2005, he ran for president again but lost in a runoff to Mr. Ahmadinejad. He was then elected to lead the Assembly of Experts. The body has the power to oversee the supreme leader and replace him when he dies, but its members rarely exercise power day to day. One political analyst said the key to understanding Mr. Rafsanjani is in a book that he wrote about, Amir Kabir, the prime minister under Nasserdin Shah, who was killed in 1852 but was widely regarded as Iran’s first modern reformer. Mr. Rafsanjani wants to go down in history as a modern day Amir Kabir, the analyst said. And that may explain his decision, for now, to stay silent and aloof from the street clashes as well as the leadership that many believe stole an presidential election. “He is the question mark right now,” said the expatriate political analyst. “A lot of people are hoping that he is the guy who can mend it.”

Iran
Rafsanjani Ali Akbar Hashemi
Khamenei Ali
Politics and Government