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Leggett orders cuts in spending
Montgomery’s projected $300 million shortfall to affect schools, agencies
BY MICHAEL LARIS Montgomery County Execu-
tive Isiah Leggett has instructed the heads ofmost county depart- ments to begin searching for cuts of 15 percent as officials project a shortfall of more than $300 mil- lion. Leggett (D) also called Thurs-
day for $19 million in cuts to the public school system as part of a proposedmidyear “savings plan” that would reduce ambulance service and eliminate home heat- ing subsidies for thousands of poor residents. Hundreds of lay- offs are possible next year, and numerous programs will shrink or be eliminated, officials said. Officials overseeing public
safety, health and human servic- es, and transit programs were given a target of 5 percent. Effects of the cuts, the result of
a stark mismatch between shriv- eling tax revenue and the grow- ing costs of employee benefits, will be felt across the county of nearly 1 million residents. Offi- cials overseeing everything from housing and libraries to recre- ation and the environment were told to trim their already shrink- ing budgets. Although federal spending
and contracting have helped cushion the Washington region from the full effects of the na- tion’s economic pain, other local jurisdictions are also facing an intensified fiscal squeeze. “It’s going to be really, really
painful,” said Gabriel Albornoz, director of Montgomery’s Recre-
cuts continued onA6 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2010 A solemn return
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Obama, GOP work on
tax cuts PRIVATE TALKS IRK DEMOCRATS
Deal could extend Bush-era provisions
BY LORIMONTGOMERY AND SHAILAGHMURRAY
TheWhite House and congres-
sional Republicans have begun workingbehindthescenes toward a broad deal that would prevent taxes from going up for virtually every U.S. family and authorize billions of dollars in fresh spend- ing to bolster the economy. Negotiations have accelerated
BILL O’LEARY/THE WASHINGTON POST
An honor guard at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware carries the flag-draped transfer case containing the remains of Army Pvt. Buddy
W.McLain, 24, ofMexico,
Maine.McLain was one of six soldiers returned toU.S. soilWednesday after being killed in an ambush in Afghanistan. Afghan officials said the assailant was recruited into the border police and fell in with the Taliban. STORY, A3.
Remains of 8 people found in 1 Arlington grave Doubting it was
a mistake, Army starts first criminal probe
BY CHRISTIAN DAVENPORT The Army has launched the
first criminal investigation into the misplacement of remains at Arlington National Cemetery af- ter discovering the cremated re- mains of eight people dumped in a single grave site there. Unlike past burial problems, which could have been caused by
Life on Earth, with a little arsenic
Bacterium stirs debate about ‘shadow biosphere’ BY MARC KAUFMAN
phosphorus as one of its six components. But now researchers have dis-
A
covered a bacteriumthat appears to have replaced that life-en- abling phosphorus with its toxic cousin arsenic, raising new and provocative questions about the origins and nature of life. News of the discovery caused a
scientific commotion this week, including calls to NASA fromthe White House asking whether a second line of earthly life had been found. A NASA news conference
Thursday and an accompanying article in the journal Science said the answer is no. But the discov- ery opens the door to that possi- bility and to the related existence of a theorized “shadow bio- sphere” on Earth — life evolved from a different common ances- tor fromall we’ve known so far. “Our findings are a reminder
ll life on Earth — from microbes to elephants and us — requires the element
that life-as-we-know-it could be much more flexible than we gen- erally assume or can imagine,” said Felisa Wolfe-Simon, 33, the biochemist who led the effort. Prompted by debate about the
possible existence of a shadow biosphere, Wolfe-Simon set out specifically to see whether mi- crobes that lived in California’s briny, arsenic-filled Mono Lake naturally used arsenic instead of phosphorus for basic cellular functions, orwere able to replace the phosphorus with arsenic. She took mud from the lake
into the lab and began growing bacteria in petri dishes. She fed them sugars and vitamins but replaced phosphate salt with ar- senic until the surviving bacteria could grow without needing the phosphates at all. Her research found that some
of the bacteria had arsenic em- bedded into their DNA, RNA and other basic underpinnings. “If something here on Earth
can do something so unexpected — that breaks the unity of bio-
life continued onA16
human error, the discovery of eight urns in a single grave site marked “Unknown” is “not likely a mistake,” saidChristopher Grey, spokesman for the Army’s Crimi- nal Investigation Command. “It demanded an investigation to determine if there’s any criminal- ity involved in the burials.” The urns were found in Octo-
ber, but the discovery was not announced until Thursday. The investigation comes after a
series of revelations that have marred the reputation of the country’s most prestigious mili- tary burial ground and led to the ouster of its top two leaders.
Under pressure from Congress
and military brass to figure out what happened at Arlington, cemetery officials flew in a top military forensic anthropologist from Hawaii, a scientist who typically searches foreign coun- tries for the remains of prisoners of war or missing service mem- bers. But instead of tramping
through jungles in Southeast Asia or historic battlefields in Europe, the anthropologist, whose name was not released, found himself trying to solve a mystery among the meticulously spaced white headstones at Ar-
in recent days as Congress has confronted deadlines for extend- ing a series of tax cuts that expire at the end of themonth, renewing emergency jobless benefits and keeping the government funded intonext year. The talks mark the dawn of a
lington. He helped determine that one
set of remains in an urn was unidentifiable, officials
said.That urn was reburied in the grave site marked “Unknown.” So far, Army investigators have positively identified three of the dumped remains and are notify- ing those families. Officials are still trying to identify the other remains. The investigation began in Oc-
tober after Kathryn Condon, di- rector of the Army’s National Cemeteries Program, became
arlington continued onA17 House votes to censure Rep. Rangel
Longtime lawmaker receives rare rebuke for 11 rules infractions
BY PAUL KANE
AND DAVID A. FAHRENTHOLD In the final minutes as the
votes were tallied on the board above him, Rep. Charles B. Ran- gel stood alone, his mouth open, watching the count rise. After 21/2 years of pleading his innocence and $2 million in legal fees, the moment the New York Democrat had so feared—a vote of censure by his colleagues—had arrived. And he knew it. Rangel took a
seat in the chair closest to the front of the House chamber, so that when Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) began the formal cen- sure ritual—“Will the gentleman fromNewYork,Mr. Rangel, kind- ly appear in the well?”—his walk of shame was but a pair of steps. Most of the 22 other men in his
position have turned to face the House chamber, but Rangel in- stead faced Pelosi, his hands clasped in front of him. The scolding lasted less than
45 seconds: Pelosi read a formal resolution of censure that con- tained all the flourish of a proce-
MANDEL NGAN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES
“I leave here knowing that everybody knows I’m an honest guy,” Rep. Charles B. Rangel told reporters after the censure.
dural motion on a tax bill. When she finished delivering
the first congressional censure since 1983, Rangel politely asked to address his colleagues. He apologized for the “awkward” moment and reiterated his con- tention that he never tried to “enrich myself.” Then Rangel re- turned to the same defiant tone that has epitomized his 40-year
INSIDE WEEKEND1
A season’s worth of merriment
Let our 12-page pullout be your guide to “Messiah” singalongs, Hanukkah happenings and more.
STYLE
Raising the barre Ann Hornaday says the ballet film “Black Swan” is a near-masterpiece. C1
BUSINESS NEWS.........A18-22 CLASSIFIEDS......................E1 COMICS..........................C6-7
EDITORIALS/LETTERS.....A27 FED PAGE........................A24 GOING OUT GUIDE.WEEKEND
LOTTERIES.........................B4 MOVIES..................WEEKEND OBITUARIES....................B6-9
THEWORLD Frustration
in Afghanistan Documents aired by WikiLeaks detail a sense of futility in U.S. efforts to help Afghans defeat the insurgency. A14
METRO
Rhee’s next move The former D.C. schools chief will advise Florida’s new GOP governor. B1
TELEVISION.......................C4 WEATHER........................B10 WORLD NEWS.............A12-14
Printed using recycled fiber SOCCER
U.S. loses out onWorld Cup
Qatar will host the 2022 competition, following Russia in 2018. D1
2BASEBALL
Dunn gone Nationals slugger Adam Dunn has signed a four- year contract with the White Sox. D1
OPINIONS
Judd Gregg: Why I back the deficit
DAILY CODE Details, B2
9 1 8 8
commission’s proposals. A25
The Washington Post Year 133, No. 363
CONTENT © 2010
tenure in Congress, particularly since the summer of 2008, when allegations of possible wrongdo- ing first emerged. “I know in my heart I’m not
going to be judged by this Con- gress,” said the 80-year-old for- mer chairman of the powerful Ways andMeans Committee. De-
rangel continued onA10
new era on Capitol Hill, with re- surgent Republicans holding far more leverage and commanding a more prominent role in crafting legislation. The private discus- sions, which parallel amore pub- lic set of talks, have left many Democrats grousing that Presi- dent Obama is being too quick to accommodate his adversaries, who are still a month away from taking control of the House and expanding their presence in the Senate. Republicans are demanding
that Democrats extend Bush-era taxcutsatall incomelevelsat least temporarily, not just those that primarilybenefit themiddle class.
taxes continued onA2
Consumers show signs they’re back in the game
BY YLAN
Q.MUI After two years on the side-
lines, American consumers are spending again and raising hopes that they are ready to shoulder the burden of the nation’s eco- nomic recovery. Consumers’ growing strength
was evident in data released in recent days across a wide array of sectors: Pending home sales shot up a surprising 10 percent, ac- cording to an industry group, a record increase. Sales at the Big Threeautomakers have increased by double-digit percentages. And many of thenation’s largest retail- ers reported better-than-expect- ed sales from door-buster deals and midnight openings last month, with CyberMonday alone raking in a historic $1 billion. “The American consumer is off
the mat,” said Craig R. Johnson, president of the consulting firm Customer Growth Partners. “This
consumers continued onA20
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