C M Y K A1
DAILY 03-02-10 MD SU A1 CMYK
ABCDE
Prices may vary in areas outside
metropolitan Washington.
K MDDCVASV1V2V3V4
2
Cloudy. 44/33 TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010
washingtonpost.com • 75¢• Tomorrow: Rain, snow. 42/30 • details, B10
INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE
Obama’s ‘enforcer’ may also be his voice of reason
A rare
chance to
It is a view propounded by law- long relationships with the me-
by Jason Horowitz makers and early supporters of dia and Democratic donors, and
President Obama who are frus- his well-established — and well-
Rahm Emanuel is officially a trated because they think the ad- earned — reputation as a political
remake
Washington caricature. He’s the ministration has gone for the per- enforcer, all of which neatly
town’s resident leviathan, a bully- fect at the expense of the plausi- counterbalanced Obama’s de-
ing, bruising White House chief ble. They believe Emanuel, the tached, professorial manner. A
the Fed
of staff who is a prime target for town’s leading purveyor of four- president who would need the
the failings of the Obama admin- letter words, a former Israeli deft navigation of Congress to
istration. army volunteer and a product of pass his ambitious legislation
But a contrarian narrative is a famously argumentative family, turned to the Illinois congress- VICE CHAIRMAN
emerging: Emanuel is a force of was not aggressive enough in try- man and former chairman of the
political reason within the White ing to persuade a singularly self- Democratic Congressional Cam-
IS RETIRING
House and could have helped the assured president and a coterie paign Committee because he pos-
administration avoid its current of true-believer advisers that sessed a unique understanding of
bind if the president had heeded “change you can believe in” is the legislative mind. Most of bank’s board
his advice on some of the most best pursued through accom- The pairing made sense, but
will be Obama nominees
sensitive subjects of the year: plishments you can pass. things haven’t worked out as ex-
health-care reform, jobs and try- By all accounts, Obama select- pected. And in the search for
BILL O’LEARY/THE WASHINGTON POST
ing alleged terrorists in civilian ed Emanuel for his experience in Some Democrats are blaming the president for not listening more to by Neil Irwin
courts. the Clinton White House, his emanuel continued on A6 his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.
The No. 2 official on the Feder-
al Reserve Board said Monday
that he will retire, opening a
Nuclear
Chile struggles after deadly quake
third seat on what may be the
world’s most powerful economic
body and giving President Oba-
ma a historic opportunity to re-
projects
shape the central bank.
Fed Vice Chairman Donald L.
Kohn announced his plans to
face new
step down in June as one of sev-
en Fed governors who help to set
U.S. monetary policy and oversee
financial-system regulation. Two
hurdle
others already have been ap-
pointed by Obama, meaning that
soon, five seats — including the
chairman’s — will have been
With financing of plants
filled by him.
The changes come at a time of
a concern, utilities turn epic transformation in, and in-
to states for help
tense scrutiny of, the Fed’s mis-
sion. During the past two years,
the Fed has taken extraordinary
by Steven Mufson actions to contain a financial cri-
sis and prop up the economy.
Hopes for a nuclear revival, Now the institution must decide
fanned by fears of global warming how and when to wind down
and a changing political climate some of those emergency meas-
in Washington, are running into ures.
new obstacles over a key element The Fed’s governors will also
— money. be involved in reshaping the cen-
A new approach for easing the tral bank’s regulatory approach
cost of new multibillion-dollar re- to try to prevent future crises.
actors, which can take years to And they will work to fend off
complete, has provoked a back- congressional attempts to enact
lash from big-business customers greater oversight of monetary
unwilling to go along. policy and yank away the Fed’s
Financing has always been one power to supervise banks.
of the biggest obstacles to a ren- “It is a pivotal point in the his-
aissance of nuclear power. The
plants are expensive, and con- fed continued on A11
struction tends to run late and
over budget. The projected cost
for a pair of proposed Georgia
A bipartisan push
plants would be $14 billion; the
on consumer issue
Obama administration last
month pledged to provide them
A key Democratic senator is
with $8.3 billion in federal loan
REUTERS
seeking party support for a GOP
guarantees. Residents collect water from a drainage ditch in Concepcion, where the potable-water system remains broken after Saturday’s major
proposal to house a new
So utilities have turned to state earthquake. Chile’s government scrambled Monday to provide aid to thousands of homeless people in coastal towns devastated by the quake
consumer-protection regulator
legislators and regulators to help and tsunami, as 10,000 troops patrolled to quell looting. Story, A7. For more images from Chile, go to
washingtonpost.com/world.
inside the Federal Reserve. A10
contain capital costs. In states
such as Georgia, Florida and
South Carolina, utilities have won
permission to charge customers
for some of the cost of new re-
actors while construction is still ‘I am no monster’
Catholic Charities to limit
in progress — a financing tech-
nique that would save utilities a
couple of billion dollars for each
Somali ex-minister, now in Fairfax City, fights war-crimes lawsuit
health benefits to spouses
reactor. Previously, utilities had the plan. A letter describing the
to wait until power plants were in one, finally, to be held account-
Same-sex marriage
change in health benefits was e-
operation before raising rates, as by Brigid Schulte able for the well-documented hu- mailed to employees Monday,
they still do in most states. man rights atrocities of that era. in District drives two days before same-sex mar-
“We tell people it’s like paying Mohamed Ali Samantar, whose Samantar waves his hand im-
change in policy
riage will become legal in the Dis-
off the interest on your credit name will be brought before the patiently. The accusations, he trict.
card as you go along, rather than Supreme Court this week as that says in a deep, throaty voice, are “We looked at all the options
letting it compound,” said Su- of a war criminal in his native So- “baseless allegations, with no by William Wan and implications,” said the chari-
zanne Grant, a spokeswoman for malia, has a hard time getting up foundation in truth.” ty’s president, Edward J. Orze-
Progress Energy. from the couch in his tidy split- They come from a time when Employees at Catholic Chari- chowski. “This allows us to con-
But businesses and other elec- level home in Fairfax City. the country was in the midst of ties were told Monday that the so- tinue providing services, comply
tricity users in those states aren’t Dressed in a pressed charcoal- the first of many brutal civil wars, cial services organization is with the city’s new requirements
buying that argument. Instead, colored suit for his first interview
BY SUSAN BIDDLE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
pitting north against south, clan changing its health coverage to and remain faithful to the
they are saying utilities are pawn- in many years, Samantar, 74, stiff- Mohamed Ali Samantar says he against clan. A time when no avoid offering benefits to same- church’s teaching.”
ing off much of the projects’ lia- ly hauls himself halfway up from should be immune to charges in one’s hands were clean. “I served sex partners of its workers — the Catholic Charities, which re-
bilities on customers because the threadbare brocade sofa. upcoming Supreme Court case. the people rightly and justly,” he latest fallout from a bitter debate ceives $22 million from the city
bank lenders and investors will Some of his 13 sons and daughters says. “I always respected the rule between District officials trying for social service programs, pro-
not take the risks. rush in to help. He stays them suburban neighborhood. This of law. I am no monster. I am not to legalize same-sex marriage and tested in the run-up to the coun-
“It’s a terrible idea,” said Jim with a single gruff word. Slowly, man, they say, was responsible for going to eat anyone.” the Catholic Archdiocese of cil’s December vote to allow
Clarkson, a consultant with Re- the man who was defense min- the unjust torture that they or With that, his 3-year-old grand- Washington. same-sex marriage, saying that it
source Supply Management, a ister and prime minister of the members of their families suf- daughter, one of the many grand- Starting Tuesday, Catholic might not be able to continue its
Georgia firm that advises compa- last functioning regime in Soma- fered in the 1980s. They say Sa- children screeching gleefully Charities will not offer benefits to contracts with the city, including
nies on how to reduce electricity lia stands up on his own. mantar administered a regime of throughout the house for their spouses of new employees or to operating homeless shelters and
use. “We’ve had decades of sub- His five accusers in a civil law- repeated rape, abduction, sum- traditional Sunday dinner, comes spouses of current employees
sidies for nuclear plants and all suit call him a war criminal, a mary execution and years-long up and kisses him on the lips. who are not already enrolled in benefits continued on A6
monster living out his golden imprisonment in solitary confine-
nuclear continued on A9 years with impunity in a quiet ment. The accusers want some- lawsuit continued on A8 a71 D.C. courthouse expects flood of applicants. B4
INSIDE
2 HOCKEY
COLLEGE
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Behind the mask
BASKETBALL
AIG moves to repay U.S.
WEST VIRGINIA The firm is unloading its Asian life insurance
Capitals goalie José Theodore is coping with
the death last summer of his infant son. D1
81
business for $35.5 billion to help repay its
debt to American taxpayers. A10
THE NATION
GEORGETOWN
2 HEALTH & SCIENCE
A no-letter day?
Dour Postal Service projections could lead to
68
A hot-cool deal
A local family digs deep to get affordable
the demise of Saturday mail delivery. A3
The Hoyas suffer
geothermal heating and air conditioning. E1
Jobless face benefits cutoff
their fourth loss in
OPINIONS
Sen. Bunning’s budget maneuver also means
five games. D1
Orrin Hatch: The wrong in using
a furlough of about 2,000 federal workers. A13
“reconciliation” to pass health reform. A15
CONTENTS © 2010
BUSINESS NEWS.......A10-12 EDITORIALS/LETTERS...A14 LOTTERIES.........................B4 STOCKS............................A12
Online at
washingtonpost.com
DAILY CODE 3027
The Washington Post
1
CLASSIFIEDS................F1-10 FED PAGE.........................A13 MOVIES ..............................C4 TELEVISION .......................C6 Year 133, No. 87
COMICS ..........................C7-8 GOING OUT GUIDE............C9 OBITUARIES...................B6-9 WORLD NEWS................A7-9
Printed using recycled fiber
Details, B2
C M Y K A1
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48