QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Some of them seem to think that this law is about me. It’s not. I already have really good health care.”
President Barack Obama, accusing Republican critics of his health-care law of “refighting old battles” rather than confronting the nation’s problems Article, 1A
Perry signs abortion restrictions in Texas
MIDLAND, Texas - Six months after declaring his goal to make abortion at any stage “a thing of the past,” Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill into law Thursday giving Texas some of the toughest restrictions on abortion in the country, even as Democratic lawmakers and women’s-rights advocates vowed to challenge the law’s legality in court.
Surrounded by Republican legislators and abortion opponents in an auditorium at the Capitol in Austin, Perry said he was cementing “the foundation on which the culture of life in Texas is built upon.” Near the end of Perry’s opening remarks, the chants and shouts of the bill’s opponents, gathered outside the auditorium, could be heard, nearly drowning out his voice.
The measure, House Bill 2, bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, requires abortion clinics to meet the same standards as hospital-style surgical centers and mandates that a doctor have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the facility where he performs abortions.
Abortion-rights advocates and Democrats said the law could force a majority of the state’s 42 abortion clinics to close.
Perry and other supporters of the restrictions said the law would improve patient safety and hold abortion clinics to safe standards.
IRS prober ‘disturbed’ by late document
WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service’s inspector general told Congress on Thursday he’s “disturbed” that he didn’t receive until this month a July 2010 document that mentioned scrutiny of “progressive” nonprofit groups.
“I am very disturbed that these documents were not provided to our auditors at the outset, and we are currently reviewing this issue,” J. Russell George told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “I’m concerned that there may be additional pieces of information that we don’t have.”
George’s May 14 audit, showing the IRS singled out Tea Party groups that sought tax-exempt status, sparked a controversy that has cost IRS executives their jobs and led to a criminal investigation.
Democrats have criticized George for failing to disclose that Republican-leaning groups weren’t the only ones that received extra scrutiny.
The inquiries into the IRS have become increasingly partisan as Republicans continue their pursuit of Washington-based IRS officials who were involved in the review process.
Trade center owners denied extra cash
NEW YORK - The owners of the World Trade Center cannot demand billions of dollars more in insurance money for the destruction caused by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, a federal judge decided Thursday.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled after hearing testimony by economic experts for the trade center owners and for the airlines linked to the planes that were hijacked in the attacks.
The nonjury trial was held to decide whether the owners could collect more than the nearly $5 billion they’ve already received toward reconstruction.
In ruling against developer Larry Silverstein and World Trade Center Properties, Hellerstein cited state laws that bar “windfalls and double recovery on the same loss.”
The plaintiffs’ lawyers said they would appeal the decision.
Former Bulger-trial witness found dead
BOSTON - A former South Boston resident who said he had been extorted by crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger and has been a near-daily presence at his trial was found dead in Lincoln, Mass., on Wednesday, the authorities said.
Marian Ryan, the district attorney for Middlesex County, confirmed Thursday that the body of Stephen Rakes, 59, who most recently lived in Quincy, Mass., was discovered near a walking trail Wednesday.
In a statement, Ryan’s office said that there were no obvious signs of trauma, and that a medical examiner would conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of Rakes’ death.
Rakes learned this week that he would not be called on by the prosecution to testify at Bulger’s sweeping racketeering trial, despite initially being on the witness list.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 07/19/2013