Obama's Budget Plan Complicates Talks on Corporate Tax Overhaul - BusinessWeek

February 15, 2011, 12:05 AM EST By Ryan J. Donmoyer and Richard Rubin

(See {EXT2 } for more on the budget.)

Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama renewed his call to raise taxes paid by U.S.-based multinational corporations and oil and gas companies, complicating efforts to overhaul the corporate tax code this year.

The president, in a $3.7 trillion budget plan released yesterday in Washington, revived dozens of proposals that Congress has rejected, including $129 billion in higher taxes on the overseas profits of U.S. companies. He also proposed changing the tax treatment of oil, gas and coal companies, which would raise about $46 billion.

The proposals revived opposition from businesses. They had been looking for a signal of a friendlier tax stance.

“There was the hope they would consider some of the arguments and concerns that were raised by the multinationals” after Obama included similar proposals in his first two budgets, said Lindy Paull, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Washington.

Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in the past few months have held a series of meetings with corporate executives, who have pushed for reducing taxes on global profits rather than increasing them.

‘Fundamental Changes’

“There is disappointment that those proposals were not revised and that they’re continued to be labeled loophole closers when they are pretty fundamental changes to the tax code,” Paull said. “People have spent a lot of time and effort trying to discuss that with the administration.”

Michigan Representative Dave Camp, a Republican who would play a pivotal role in any rewrite of the tax code as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, blasted Obama’s proposals.

“Rather than setting the stage for broad-based, pro-growth tax reform, this budget goes in the opposite direction with more tax hikes,” Camp said.

The proposal also would bring back pre-2001 tax rates on income and capital gains for individuals earning more than $200,000 annually and married couples making more than $250,000. The estate tax would return to 2009 levels with a $3.5 million per-person exemption and a 45 percent top rate. Under a law Obama signed in December, lower rates expire at the end of 2012.

“The president was unable to reverse the Bush tax cuts this past year with a majority in each house of Congress, so it’s very difficult to see how he will be successful over the next two years with the Republicans firmly in control of the House,” said Neal Weber, managing director in charge of RSM McGladrey’s Washington national tax office.

Limits on Deductions

The budget plan would limit itemized deductions for top earners to 28 percent, curbing the value of tax breaks for charitable contributions, home mortgage interest and state and local taxes. That proposal has been included in every budget of Obama’s presidency and was rejected as a revenue-raising provision to fund his overhaul of the health system last year.

Under the budget’s assumptions, federal revenue as a percent of the economy would increase from 14.9 percent in 2010 to 20 percent in 2021. Part of that increase stems from projected economic growth, not from policy changes.

A key Senate Republican also criticized the tax increases in the budget.

“This budget fails to preserve the pro-growth policies needed to expand our economy, create jobs and reduce the deficit,” said Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, the top Republican on the Finance Committee.

Administration officials said the budget is balanced with proposals favorable to business, such as making permanent a tax credit for conducting research.

Tax Incentives

Obama proposed an array of other tax incentives. They include the elimination of capital gains on some small business stock and one to revive the Build America Bonds program, which expired at the end of 2010.

The budget also proposes converting a deduction for energy- efficient buildings into a credit. Obama wants to extend a provision expiring at the end of 2011 that allows certain energy tax credits to be converted into grants.

Instead, many in the business community are focusing on renewed proposals to place limits on multinational companies’ ability to defer income taxes on profits they earn outside the U.S. These plans have drawn criticism from corporations such as Microsoft Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc.

The budget also revives a proposal that Congress require executives of investment partnerships including private-equity firms to pay ordinary tax rates on the profits they receive as compensation. This pay, known as carried interest, currently can qualify for lower capital gains tax rates. The proposal would raise $14.8 billion over 10 years.

--Editors: Jodi Schneider, Jim Rubin.

To contact the reporters on this story: Richard Rubin in Washington at rrubin12@bloomberg.net; Ryan J. Donmoyer in Washington at rdonmoyer@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net

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Fayyad: Peace talks may need stronger US mediation role - CNN International

The Palestinian prime minister wants more details from IsraelLack of a new settlement freeze erodes trust, Fayyad saysDirect peace talks have broken down for now

Washington (CNN) -- The United States may have to expand its role from Middle East peace talks facilitator to become a broker on specific core issues, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Sunday.

Appearing on the ABC program "This Week," Fayyad indicated that progress toward a peace settlement could occur in the short-term despite Israel's refusal to halt construction of new settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

However, Israel must provide specifics about its position on core issues such as what a Palestinian state would entail, the status of Jerusalem and the return of refugees, Fayyad said, adding that the lack of a new settlement freeze erodes trust in the process.

Asked if the United States would need to offer so-called "bridging" proposals on specific issues to try to stimulate negotiations, Fayyad said that "may be necessary."

"It may be unavoidable, actually, for the United States, acting as a broker at some point, to come in with bridging proposals so we make this happen," he said.

The interview, which included Israeli opposition leader and former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, took place two days after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outlined a direction for the peace process after giving up on trying to persuade Israel to again freeze settlement construction as a condition for the direct talks to resume.

"It is no secret that the parties have a long way to go and that they have not yet made the difficult decisions that peace requires," Clinton told the Brookings Institution's Saban Forum.

As the administration sought a new strategy to save the peace talks, Clinton delivered a tough message that reflected the administration's impatience with both sides.

She warned that the demographic trends resulting from continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories are risking Israel's future as a Jewish state, while extremism in the absence of peace is further jeopardizing its security.

"We conclude without a shadow of a doubt that ending this conflict once and for all and achieving a comprehensive regional peace is imperative for safeguarding Israel's future," Clinton said, adding that the conditions Palestinians suffer due to the occupation are "unacceptable" and "unsustainable."

On the ABC program, Livni also said that a peace settlement with the Palestinians is in Israel's interest, adding that she disagreed with Israel's refusal to a temporary settlement freeze requested by the United States.

"I believe that peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians is an Israeli interest; it's not a favor to President (Barack) Obama," Livni said. "And Israel needs to make these kind of decisions in order to live in peace, so, basically, a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians is an American interest, but it is also an Israeli interest."

Fayyad complained that the lack of a settlement freeze damaged the credibility of the entire process, and he called for Israel to make clear its position on the core issues of the talks.

"I think what really has to be done now is, in order to give the process the kind of credibility that's required, is for us to really know with precision where it is that the government in Israel stands on the fundamental issue of what it is that's meant by an end to Israeli occupation, what is it that's meant by a state of Palestine," Fayyad said.

Clinton said the Obama administration would work with the parties to pursue a framework agreement on the core issues of the conflict: borders and security, settlements, water and refugees, and on Jerusalem, which would pave the way for the resumption of direct talks and a final peace deal.

Starting with borders, Clinton said the parties must "agree to a single line drawn on a map which divides Israel from Palestine" in a way that offers Palestinians an end to the occupation but protects Israel's security.

While acknowledging the fate of Palestinian refugees was a "difficult and emotional issue," Clinton said, "there must be a just and permanent solution that meets the needs of both sides."

Although the United States abandoned efforts to secure a settlement freeze during the negotiation, Clinton said the issue of settlements must be dealt with in a final peace deal.

"We do not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity. We believe their continued expansion is corrosive not only to peace efforts and the two-state solution, but to Israel's future itself," she said.

"There surely will be no peace" without agreement on Jerusalem, the thorniest of all the final status issues because of its religious significance to Muslims, Christians and Jews, she said.

"The parties should mutually agree on an outcome that realizes the aspirations of both parties for Jerusalem and safeguards its status for people around the world," Clinton said.

She praised state-building efforts by the Palestinians and improvements in security, but acknowledged, "for all the progress on the ground and all that the Palestinian Authority has accomplished, a stubborn truth remains: While economic and institutional progress is important, indeed necessary, it is not a substitute for a political resolution."

Before her remarks, Clinton held talks with senior officials from both sides, including Fayyad and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. She also met with lead Israeli and Palestinian negotiators and the U.N. special envoy for the region. The Obama administration's special Mideast peace envoy will travel to the region this week.

But Clinton put the onus squarely on the leaders themselves to understand each other's perspective, prepare their own publics for the difficult compromises that will need to be made and stop demonizing the other side.

"To demonstrate their commitment to peace, Israeli and Palestinian leaders should stop trying to assign blame for the next failure and focus instead on what they need to do to make these efforts succeed," she said.

Similarly, she warned against "unilateral actions" to prejudge the outcome, such as Israeli announcements about building in East Jerusalem and Palestinian threats to seek independence at the United Nations.

CNN's Jill Dougherty, Elise Labott and Tom Cohen contributed to this report.

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US tactics in Mideast talks criticized - Washington Post

JERUSALEM - The Obama administration's decision to stop seeking a new Israeli settlement freeze as a way back into talks with the Palestinians has diminished prospects of achieving a peace accord within a year and eroded U.S. credibility in the region, analysts said Wednesday.

The decision also represented a belated recognition that even if they had persuaded Israel to renew a construction moratorium in the West Bank for three months, U.S. officials would have faced an even more difficult problem after that expired.

President Obama understood "that after three months of a second settlement freeze, he would have found himself without any kind of agreement and facing repeated demands to extend the freeze again, necessitating another exhausting bargaining session" with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Akiva Eldar, political commentator for the Haaretz newspaper, wrote Wednesday.

Israelis and Palestinians traded blame Wednesday over who was responsible for the U.S. decision, which has left both sides perplexed about the way forward and hoping for clarity from a speech on the Middle East that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will deliver in Washington on Friday.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said the U.S. decision would have "grave consequences in the region.''

"If you cannot have him stop settlements for a few months, what do you expect to get out of him on Jerusalem or the 1967 borders,'' Erekat said of Netanyahu in an interview Wednesday. "I think Mr. Netanyahu knows the consequences for the American administration's credibility in the region.''

Israeli officials, who always were cool to extending a settlement freeze as a precursor to talks, said the Palestinians were to blame for insisting on including Jerusalem in the freeze. Still, the officials portrayed the change in American tactic as an opportunity for progress.

"That mechanism proved not to be effective and now we have to find an alternative mechanism to move this process forward,'' said an Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions. "As we go into this next stage of the peace process, we think the chances of it succeeding are even greater because of the close coordination with the United States.''

The administration, which in September set a one-year deadline for negotiations, expended enormous political capital over nearly two years by making a settlement freeze a priority. The effort rankled relations with Israel and inflated hopes in the Arab world that the United States could persuade Israel to halt construction in the West Bank and win further Israeli concessions down the road.

Instead, the United States ended up spending more time haggling with Israel over a settlement freeze than negotiating between Israelis and Palestinians over the core issues that divide them, analysts said.

"Trying to get a freeze . . . was always the wrong focus,'' said Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. peace negotiator. "It forced the Obama team to either pummel the Israelis into one or bribe them. Neither worked. And now 20 months in, we have no freeze, no direct talks, no process, and no prospect of a quick agreement. Plus, our street credibility is now much diminished and our options are bad.''

After the 10-month Israeli partial moratorium expired in September, the Obama administration developed a package of incentives, including advanced fighter jets worth $3 billion, to entice Israel into extending the freeze for three more months. But talks on the extension collapsed, including over whether the United States would accept Israeli construction in parts of East Jerusalem that Israel occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War.

"The significance of the U.S. decision to stop pushing for a moratorium . . . is that Obama is refusing to give Netanyahu a seal of approval to build in Jerusalem,'' Eldar wrote.

A Palestinian delegation, which was invited to Washington, won't travel there before Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas consults in the coming days with the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee and his Fatah party's central committee, Erekat said.

Erekat also said in light of the breakdown and decisions by Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay this week to unilaterally recognize Palestine as an independent state, the Palestinians would formally appeal to the U.S. to do the same.

As for West Bank construction, the Israeli official said Israel will continue to build in existing settlements in the West Bank but will not expropriate more land for new settlements.

Israel's security cabinet on Wednesday also decided to allow for expanded exports out of the Gaza Strip. An Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, said that the policy would be fleshed out in the coming days, but in principle, exports of agricultural produce, textiles and manufactured furniture would be among the items that Palestinians in Gaza would be permitted to export abroad or to the West Bank.

Israel has limited exports as part of a blockade of the Gaza Strip that is designed in part to put pressure on the Hamas-led government that seized power there in 2007. The international community has pressured Israel to allow the resumption of exports.

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Obama talks of 'MythBusters' - plus math, science, and tamales - Christian Science Monitor

President Obama hosted math and science fair winners at the White House Monday, and here’s the breaking news from the event: Mr. Obama did not get to blow anything up when he filmed a guest appearance on “MythBusters.”

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“I was a little frustrated with that,” he said of his lack of explosion-initiation.

Obama will appear on the Dec. 8 episode of the popular Discovery Channel show, if you haven’t heard. "MythBusters" examines common legends, myths, or film stunts, and then rigs up actual experiments to see if they’re true. The president will introduce a bit that looks at whether ancient Greek scientist Archimedes really could have set fire to an invading Roman fleet using only mirrors and the reflected rays of the sun.

Perhaps there are Democrats who wish they could set fire to the fleet of newly elected Republican House members they'll be seeing after November, but that’s another story.

PRESIDENTS ON TV SHOWS: Five memorable appearances

Anyway, the "MythBusters" announcement was just a small part of the event. The White House had assembled a cast of dozens of America’s most inspiring math and science students and their projects. Among those present was Mikayla Nelson, for instance. Mikayla is a Billings, Mont., high school freshman who had helped design and build a solar-powered carbon-fiber car from scratch. Also mentioned were Jonathan Berman, Benjamin Kotzubei, and Austin Veseliza, a trio of seventh-graders from Los Angeles whose experiments indicate that gel is a better shock absorber than foam for sports helmets.

Then there were Diego Vasquez and Antonio Hernandez, representing Cesar Chavez High School in Phoenix. They were inspired to develop a motorized chair to help a classmate with disabilities – work that won them a grant from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“The first time they were ever on an airplane was when they flew to present their invention,” said Obama.

The president also seemed quite taken with the way Diego and Antonio raised money for their efforts. It involved tamales – lots of them.

They and their parents made a big batch of tamales and sold them.

“You know, that’s not just the power of science. That’s the promise of America,” said Obama.

No word yet on whether Obama sampled any of the aforesaid tamales. Perhaps he’ll mention that on “MythBusters,” too.

PRESIDENTS ON TV SHOWS: Five memorable appearances

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Egypt: New Israeli building permits a signal talks could collapse - Ha'aretz

 Egypt has described Israel's building permits for 238 new housing units in East Jerusalem as a provocative step and a sign the direct peace talks could collapse, the foreign ministry said Saturday.

Construction renewed in the settlement of Ariel.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said that Egypt considers this step as a negative Israeli response to all efforts made to save the direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

"The Israeli side withdraws day after another from its commitments to peace efforts, and it clearly prefers to increase the pace of colonial settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian land than to engage seriously in the negotiation," he added.

The building tenders sparked angry Palestinian and U.S. reaction, with worries that the move that could further jeopardize the uncertain resumption of the direct talks.

The Palestinians and their Arab supporters are contemplating turning to the United Nations for recognition of their right to a state within the border of before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

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NATO Says It's Ready to Help in Taliban Talks - Voice of America

VOA News 14 October 2010

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the alliance is ready to help in the Afghan government's efforts to pursue peace talks with the Taliban.

At a NATO meeting in Brussels Thursday, Rasmussen said the NATO-led force in Afghanistan is willing to provide "practical assistance" for reconciliation efforts.  He did not elaborate but noted the alliance will keep up military pressure on the Taliban.

His comments came a day after a NATO official said the alliance has helped secure passage of Taliban commanders to Kabul, and that such trips would be very difficult without NATO's consent.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who attended the meeting, said they support Afghan reconciliation efforts.  But they cautioned the process may not be successful.

In Kabul, a top adviser to Afghan President Hamid Karzai called for NATO forces to cease military operations in areas where militants are willing to begin talks.

Also in Kabul, the head of Afghanistan's new peace council -- Burhanuddin Rabbani -- said the Taliban is willing to take part in negotiations to end the country's nine-year war.

Rabbani, the former Afghan president, said the insurgent group has never rejected talks completely and instead has set tough conditions for peace.

Earlier this week, President Karzai acknowledged his government has held informal discussions with the Taliban but the group has denied his claim.  The militants have demanded all international troops leave Afghanistan before peace negotiations can begin.

U.S. officials have called for Taliban fighters to lay down their arms, cut ties to al-Qaida and support the Afghan constitution.

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Indian Firms in Talks to Sell iPhone - Wall Street Journal

MUMBAI—Two Indian wireless operators are in talks with Apple Inc. to offer a version of the iPhone based on code division multiple access, or CDMA, technology, people familiar with the matter said.

Apple is in talks with Reliance Communications Ltd. and Tata Teleservices Ltd., whose networks run on CDMA technology. The discussions come amid news that Apple is making a CDMA version of its iPhone that Verizon Wireless will sell early next year in the U.S.

"Tata has been in talks with them [Apple] for four to five months now," one of the people familiar with the negotiations said. It is unclear though when any launch may take place, these people said.

Anand Baskaran, an Apple spokesman for India, declined to comment.

Separately, Apple is adding two more iPhone carriers in Germany. Telefonica SA's O2 and Vodafone Group PLC both said Tuesday they will sell the iPhone 4 within the next weeks in Europe's largest economy, ending the exclusivity of Deutsche Telekom AG ahead of the Christmas holiday season.

In India, Apple's iPhone is currently available through operators Bharti AirTel Ltd. and Vodafone Essar Ltd., a unit of Vodafone, which offer services under the global system for mobile communications, or GSM, technology. Vodafone is also joint owner of Verizon Wireless with Verizon Communications Inc.

Launching a CDMA phone will give Apple access to more customers in the world's fastest-growing telecom market, which is adding around 18 million users a month. India currently has about 670 million wireless users, of which roughly 20% use CDMA phones. GSM phones make up most of the market.

For the two local operators, offering a CDMA iPhone would help them battle shrinking revenues and margins due to intense competition. Currently, the cheapest iPhone in India costs more than $670 and is considered expensive for a country where 42% of the population earns less than $1.25 a day.

Still, analysts say Apple may find it tough to generate significant revenue from a CDMA-based iPhone in India given that it is not as widely used as a GSM phone, and because there is stiff competition for smartphones from companies including Nokia Corp., Motorola Inc., HTC Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. and Research In Motion Ltd.

Moreover, Google Inc. is pushing to its presence in India through little-known Indian handset makers that are poised to launch low-cost devices that include its Android operating system in coming months.

"While the possibility of a CDMA iPhone through Reliance Communications or Tata would help Apple, it is unlikely to generate significant volumes in India," said Daryl Chiam, a senior analyst at research firm Canalys.

Apple accounted for less than 1% of India's smartphone market share in the first half of 2010, said Mr. Chiam, adding that in contrast, Nokia shipped 1.8 million smartphones in India and accounted for 71% of the market during that time.

—Archibald Preuschat and Kenan Machado
contributed to this article.

Write to Romit Guha at romit.guha@dowjones.com and R. Jai Krishna at krishna.jai@dowjones.com

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Israeli Freeze Terms Rejected by Palestinians; Talks in Limbo - BusinessWeek

October 11, 2010, 7:01 PM EDT By Calev Ben-David

Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set terms for the renewal of a West Bank settlement freeze that were swiftly rejected by the Palestinians, leaving the status of U.S.-brokered peace talks in limbo.

Netanyahu told parliament yesterday he was ready to convene his Cabinet and ask for an extension of a freeze on settlement building if “the Palestinian leadership tells its people in an unequivocal manner that it recognizes Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.”

Mohammad Shtayyeh, a member of the Palestinian Authority negotiating team, said Netanyahu’s demand was “unacceptable.”

The comments come as the U.S. is trying to keep peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians alive after Israel’s 10-month freeze on construction in the West Bank expired on Sept. 26. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said he will only return to talks if Israel reimposes the construction moratorium.

“There is no way that the Palestinian Authority is going to make this declaration,” said Jonathan Spyer, a political scientist at Israel’s Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, near Tel Aviv. “The government of Israel is trying to educate the U.S. administration on why there is no basis for a productive peace process at this point.”

The Palestinians reject Israel’s demand that they recognize it as the state of the Jewish people on the grounds it undermines the right of return for Palestinian refugees. Israel says recognition of it as a Jewish state is necessary to ensure the Palestinians don’t make additional claims once a peace treaty has been signed.

‘Work Constructively’

“The parties must work constructively to create conditions for the negotiations to continue,” U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said in an e-mail. “Both sides need to take steps if we are going to move forward.”

The Arab League last week backed the Palestinian Authority’s position not to resume direct peace talks until Israel renews the freeze, and gave U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration more time to revive the peace effort.

Israel had signaled last week that a compromise may be in the works. “The U.S. has come back to Israel with a number of suggestions, incentives if you would, that enable the government to maybe pass a limited extension of two or three months,” Ambassador Michael Oren told the Washington Post.

Shtayyeh said Netanyahu was “adding additional complications” to the renewal of talks. “We hope that the international community will bring Israel into the talks without any conditionality,” he said.

West Bank

About 500,000 Jews have moved to the West Bank and east Jerusalem since Israel captured the territory in 1967.

The United Nations says that settlements are illegal, and the International Committee of the Red Cross says they breach the Fourth Geneva Convention governing actions on occupied territory. Obama has said the settlements aren’t legitimate.

Israel says the settlements don’t fall under the convention because the territory wasn’t recognized as belonging to anyone before the 1967 war, in which Israel prevailed, and therefore isn’t occupied.

Netanyahu, who spoke at the opening of the winter parliamentary session, told lawmakers that security arrangements for Israel were vital in ensuring that “the peace was maintained.” He said they would also safeguard the country “in the regrettable but possible event that the peace was violated.”

Israel and the Palestinians agreed last month to try and reach an agreement on the framework for a comprehensive peace accord within a year. All the issues at the core of the conflict would be on the table, including the borders of a future Palestinian state, security arrangements for Israel, the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and the status of Jerusalem.

Spyer said he expected more bargaining in the month before the Arab League meets again to discuss the peace process. “There will be a series of proposals and counterproposals,” he said.

--With assistance from Alisa Odenheimer in Jerusalem. Editors: Peter Hirschberg, Louis Meixler.

To contact the reporter on this story: Calev Ben-David in Jerusalem at cbendavid@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg in Jerusalem at

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AT&T Talks Smack About Verizon's LTE Plans - InformationWeek

On Wednesday, Verizon Wireless announced the 38 markets in which it plans to launch LTE, its 4G network. Verizon's LTE network will get off the ground a full six months ahead of AT&T's, which has targeted a launch by the middle of 2011.

You know what Verizon Wireless isn't doing? Upgrading the speeds of its CDMA EVDO 3G network (according to AT&T). Verizon's CDMA EVDO Rev. A network tops out at 3.1Mbps, and that's where it will stay.

AT&T spokesperson Seth Bloom said in an email to InformationWeek, "Verizon is moving straight to LTE and not increasing their 3G speeds, so their customers will have a jarring drop-off in performance when not in an LTE service area – speed, sure, but also simultaneous voice/data, etc."

AT&T believes that Verizon's approach will lead to customer service problems, and that its own slow-and-steady speed improvement approach is superior.

Bloom continued, "In contrast, because we are building LTE while at the same time continuing to increase 3G speeds, our customers can expect to have a much better experience when they’re not in a 4G area. [This] will be vitally important for the customer experience no matter the carrier."

Verizon Wireless' LTE network will reach download speeds between 5 and 12Mbps, and upload speeds of 2 to 5Mbps. While 12Mbps is surely faster than 3.1Mbps, I think AT&T is overstating the performance issue a bit. Sure, speeds will drop as Verizon customers move between LTE and EVDO, but Verizon's EVDO network is solid as hell, and fast enough for most professionals' business needs when not under LTE coverage.

AT&T also happened to beat Verizon to announcing actual LTE hardware. Where Verizon said hardware announcements are forthcoming, AT&T announced an HSPA+ and LTE-compatible laptop dongle that can access the fast network speeds.

When asked for comment about plans to upgrade its 3G network speeds, Verizon Wireless spokesperson Jeffrey Nelson dropped this knowledge, "We have a proud history of meeting and exceeding market demands on our wireless networks. We build our networks for success right from the start and aren't surprised when we succeed in the marketplace. And we constantly improve them. It's just not enough to address your network problems by promising to do better down the road."

"When choosing a wireless company, people want more than promises. Customers value our long-term track record for leading on network reliability, speed, coverage and capacity. By moving aggressively and becoming the first company on the globe to build a large-scale LTE network, we'll gain first-to-market advantages in the US, with a head-start of at least 18-24 months."

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Abbas on talks: 'We will continue to search for solutions' - Jerusalem Post

 
Photo by: Ariel Jerozolimski/The Jerusalem Post) By JPOST.COM STAFF AND ASSOCIATED PRESS 
10/03/2010 19:34 Talkbacks (16) Peace between Israel and the Palestinians within a year is possible, said Tony Blair on Sunday in an interview with Italian network RAI TV.

The Quartet envoy to the Middle East and former British prime minister outlined the reasons for his belief, saying that he felt people want peace and that US President Obama has made the issue an absolute priority.

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Following a meeting Sunday between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah II and US envoy George Mitchell, Abbas told reporters in Amman that despite serious issues blighting the peace talks, he would continue to "search for solutions."

According to news agency reports, he also reiterated that Israel's refusal to extend the settlement construction freeze was holding up negotiations, but that he would not stop discussions with the US as a result.

Of course, we are not going to sever ties with the Americans, and we will continue to have contacts with them to search for solutions, but the settlement building should stop and then we will return to the negotiating table," he said.

Earlier on Sunday during a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, US envoy George Mitchell said that the Palestinians are interested in peace talks with Israel continuing.

"Despite their differences, both the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority have asked us to continue these discussions in an effort to establish the conditions under which they can continue direct negotiations," Mitchell told reporters after his meeting with Mubarak.

"They both want to continue these negotiations, they do not want to stop the talks," he added.

Directly after the meeting in Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit backed the Palestinians' refusal to negotiate with Israel as long as it continues to build West Bank settlements, even as officials urged continued diplomacy Sunday to salvage the month-old talks.

"We understand the Palestinian position which calls for setting the appropriate environment and circumstances for negotiations to take place and continue," Aboul Gheit said. "The current conditions are not favorable."

Aboul Gheit said the focus now should be on continued US and international efforts to pressure Israel into agreeing to extending the settlement moratorium.

        Author:   RaoulCountry:   USA10/03/2010   23:15
Abbas is nothing more than Arafat in a suit and should be treated the same.

15. settlement actvity obsceneAuthor:   m. d'agostinoCountry:   italy10/03/2010   22:57
the continued settlement activity is obscene, and so is the the thousands of palestinians held in israeli jails. if palestinians and israelis cannot agree a peace deal, then one must be imposed with borders defined once and for all, and jerusalem shared.

Author:   H.AliCountry:   M.E.10/03/2010   22:13
If the world had guts and did not have double standards, it wouldn't have just told Israel to stop settlements but it would have asked it the following question: Who gave you the right to establish a state based on any racial or ethnic basis depriving thousands and millions of non-Jews of their homeland and locking them out of what used to be Palestine? No it isn't a question of settlements , the whole idea needs to be revisited, the whole concept. Lord Balfour or Harry Truman are no reference when it comes to basic human principles!nor is the holocaust a valid excuse!

13. it is entirely israel's fault.Author:   m. d'agostinoCountry:   italy10/03/2010   22:08
mr netanyahu thought it would have been an easy ride. he thought he would have easily got mr abbas inside his sleeve. not so, though. mr abbas is quite right to stand firm in his position, insisting, quite rightly, that if mr netanyahu is as genuine as he has publically claimed to be about a settled solution, he must stand firm against anyone trying to stop him from keeping his face. if mr netanyahu is genuine about a palestinian state, he must also consider on what land this state has to be established, and if he intends to leave any for the palestinians.the settlers are already there to take the lot.

Author:   steveCountry:   Israel10/03/2010   22:08
If the Arab League makes Abbas' decisions, shouldn't Israel be negotiating with it directly?

11. Continue the Search East of Jordan RiverAuthor:   Marc J. RauchCountry:   US10/03/2010   22:07
They could search all they want in Jordan or Syria or the Sinai, where there's plenty of land...muslim land. But there should be no muslims west of the Jordan River. Israel is for Jews.

Author:   SueCountry:   USA10/03/2010   21:34
In "peace" talks, it is not supposed to be that "the world" exert pressure on Israel so that the Palestinians get what they want. That is not peace. That is coersion.

Author:   PaulmaximusCountry:   10/03/2010   21:15
International Law is clear, the Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank are illegal. The only issue for the 'peace' talks is to agree to a timetable where the illegal seyttlers leave the occupied territory and return to Israel or the USA according to their desire.

Author:   Mickey ObermanCountry:   Canada10/03/2010   20:52
Once again as Abba Eban once said, "The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity." Abbas remains steadfast in maintaining a long standing Arab tradition.

7. Abbas on talks: 'We will continue to search for sAuthor:   By JPOST.COM STAFFCountry:   Canada10/03/2010   20:40
If Abbas had not broken the talks with Israel, it would have been as if one is talking to the thief asking him to return the stolen property while the thief is continuing to steal. Such talks do not make sense.

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Palestinians: Peace talks hinge on Israeli settlement construction - Washington Post

JERUSALEM - The Palestinian leadership said on Saturday that there would be no resumption of peace talks without a halt to Israeli settlement building in the West Bank, backing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in a dispute that has imperiled recently renewed negotiations.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded by appealing to Abbas to continue the negotiations. "The way to achieve an historic peace agreement between our two peoples is to sit around the negotiating table, seriously and continuously, and not to leave it, because that is the place to resolve our disagreements,'' he said in a statement.

Abbas met at his headquarters in Ramallah with members of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the central committee of his Fatah movement ahead of consultations at an Arab League summit in Libya next weekend.

"The leadership affirmed that the resumption of negotiations requires tangible steps that demonstrate their seriousness, first and foremost halting settlement without qualifications or exceptions," said a statement read out by Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior PLO official.

"The Palestinian leadership holds the Israeli government responsible for the suspension of the negotiations and the political process," the statement said, accusing Israel of seeking "to use the negotiations as a cover to pursue this settlement policy."

The U.S.-sponsored talks, renewed in early September, have foundered after a 10-month moratorium on new construction in Israeli settlements expired last Sunday and Netanyahu said it would not be renewed, despite pressure from Washington.

The U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, George J. Mitchell, failed to break the impasse on Friday after two days of shuttling between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders. On Saturday he traveled to Qatar and Egypt to enlist the help of Arab leaders to broker a compromise.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Abbas, said that the Palestinian president would address Arab foreign ministers and leaders at the Arab League meeting, seek their advice "and then we'll come back to the Palestinian leadership in order to take the right decision." The Arab League had sanctioned the direct talks with the Israelis.

"The Palestinian position is clear: There will be no negotiations as long as settlement building continues," Abu Rudeineh said, adding that if the Israelis "are not restraining such activities, how are we going to agree on the final status issues?"

Palestinian officials assert that by expanding settlements, Israel is seizing land the Palestinians want for a future state before its fate is decided in negotiations. Netanyahu has argued that limited building in the settlements during the year allotted to reach an agreement would not affect the final drawing of borders, and that halting settlement construction was never a precondition for previous Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

"For 17 years the Palestinians conducted direct talks with Israeli governments while building went on in Judea and Samaria," Netanyahu said in response to the Palestinian statement, referring to the West Bank by its biblical names. "I hope that now, as well, they will not turn their backs on peace and continue the negotiations in order to reach a framework agreement within a year."

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, said that there was a firm consensus among all factions at the Ramallah meeting that talks could not proceed as long as Israeli settlement building continued.

"How can you have a two-state solution if you are eating up the land of the other state?" Ashrawi said. "The Israelis have to understand once and for all that they just can't continue with this approach. . . .We can't afford it anymore. The two-state solution is disappearing."

Greenberg is a special correspondent.

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PA decides to halt talks unless building freeze reinstated - Jerusalem Post

Jerusalem took in stride on Saturday night a Palestinian Authority statement that talks would be halted if Israel didn’t stop settlement construction, saying this was not necessarily the PA’s final word and that discussions with the US were continuing to find a “creative solution” to the stalemate.

Following a meeting of the PA leadership that issued a statement saying there could be no peace talks unless Israel halted settlement construction, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a statement of his own calling on PA President Mahmoud Abbas and the PA leadership to continue the talks in order to reach a “historic agreement” within a year.

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“The way to reach a historic peace agreement between our two peoples is to sit around the negotiating table continuously and with seriousness, and not to leave it, because that is the place to solve our differences,” the prime minister said.

“The Palestinians conducted direct talks with Israeli governments for the last 17 years amid building in Judea and Samaria, including during the last year of the preceding government.

I hope that also now they won’t turn their backs on peace, and will continue in the talks to reach a framework agreement within a year,” he said.

On Friday, amid reports that Netanyahu’s proposal for overcoming the current hurdle was to reach an agreement whereby Israel would build 1,200 housing units in Judea and Samaria in the next year, the prime minister said in a private meeting that “everyone knows that “moderate and restrained building” over the next year would not “impact at all on the peace map.”

The 1,200 figure would be in pace with what was being built during the 10-month moratorium, and less than the rate of construction under the Olmert government.

Netanyahu, in this meeting and in an apparent reference to the initial settlement moratorium imposed 10 months ago, said that while Israel had taken steps to enable Abbas to enter the direct talks, the Palestinians have only “hardened their positions.”

The international community needed to call on the PA to remain in the talks. “This is in the Palestinian interest, just as it is in ours,” Netanyahu said.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who has been intimately involved in trying to broker a compromise solution, also called on the PA on Saturday night not to bolt the talks.

“We all must show good judgment and determination in order to overcome the difficulties and continue the negotiations to achieve results,” he said in a statement.

Barak said he believed that intensive discussions between Israel, the US, the Palestinians and leaders in the Arab world could lead to a formula this week that would ensure a continuation of the direct negotiations.

The PA statement, issued on Saturday by the Palestinian leadership following a meeting to discuss the latest developments surrounding the US-sponsored direct talks, said Israel’s “insistence on combining settlement expansion with the negotiations is a clear indication that it is not serious in dealing with the peace efforts.

“This also shows that Israel is seeking to use the negotiations as a cover for pursuing the same settlement policy and changing the reality on the ground and determining its fate through occupation and aggression.”

The statement said that “in light of this, the Palestinian leadership holds the Israeli government responsible for the suspension of the negotiations and the peace process by foiling the efforts of the US administration and the international community in that regard.”

The statement stressed that the resumption of the talks required tangible steps, first and foremost the “unconditional and unrestricted” cessation of settlement construction.

Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for Abbas, said the PA leadership made it clear that there would be no negotiations with Israel as long as the construction in the settlements continued.

He said that Abbas relayed the Palestinian leadership’s position to US special Middle East envoy George Mitchell, who met with Abbas twice over the past few days.

“The Americans asked to continue contacts with the Palestinians and we have no problem with that,” Abu Rudaineh said, referring to the Abbas-Mitchell discussions. “But if Israel is serious it must stop the settlements and take measures to convince the Palestinians and Arabs that it’s serious about a serious and just peace process.”

Abu Rudaineh said that US efforts to resume the direct talks faltered because of Israel’s decision to resume construction in the settlements. Mitchell went on Saturday to Qatar and Egypt, and was scheduled to go to Amman on Sunday.

An Arab League forum is expected to meet in Libya next Friday to discuss whether the PA should continue direct talks even though the moratorium was not extended.

In Damascus on Friday, Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal said Israel’s insistence on being recognized as a Jewish state was a conspiracy against Palestinian refugees. Mashaal was speaking at a mass wedding organized by Hamas for more than 700 couples. Family is the central element of Palestinian society and the “occupation [Israel] fears the coming generation. They fear our people in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank as well as Palestinian territories occupied in 1948.

“They are preparing their plans after they failed to break these people who do not surrender and who pass on the mantle from one generation to another,” Mashaal said.

The belief in diplomacy as the only way the Palestinians will achieve a state of their own is “one of the biggest mistakes,” he said.

He claimed that the Palestinian leadership was “drowning in politics.”

Politics must be put aside, he said, since “resistance and jihad come from society,” he said.

On Friday, Netanyahu met with both Mitchell and EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton.

Netanyahu is expected to convene his senior ministers, the forum known as the “septet,” on Sunday or Monday to discuss the recent developments, including a draft letter reportedly given by President Barack Obama spelling out US promises if Israel extended the moratorium by two months.

Due to Succot, neither the septet, the 15-member security cabinet, nor the full cabinet of 30 ministers has met in recent days to discuss that letter or the various efforts to overcome the current impasse.

Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.

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