Party Congress

In President Barack Obama's running argument with the Republicans in Congress over who's responsible for the legislative stalemate on Capitol Hill, he suffers self-inflicted wounds by continuing to run up the same white flag that undermined his own efforts in his first term. He did it again in his embarrassing cave-in to Congress' makeshift response to the air traffic controllers' furloughs that briefly stalled travel, acquiescing in shifting $253 million in Federal Aviation Administration funds to keep them on the job. In so doing, he invited allegations of crumbling to legislators more concerned about getting to and from their districts than solving the fiscal sequester nightmare paralyzing the government.

WASHINGTON - When Steny H. Hoyer met Cory Alexander, the veteran Southern Maryland congressman had no idea that Alexander would be his chief of staff one day. In fact, according to Hoyer, the 8-year-old kid was a pain in the neck. But over the past 10 years, Alexander, now 32, has grown invaluable to the No. 2-ranking House Democrat. Moving through a range of positions before taking over the top staff job in 2001, Alexander is described as reliable, effective and intensely loyal. He also has a clear understanding of his duties: know Hoyer's goals and run the nearly 40-person office smoothly enough to achieve them.

RedistrictingEditor: There is something fundamentally wrong with the redistricting process which results in the butchering of Baltimore County. I cannot accept the old saw that this is the way it has always been done.The purpose of redistricting has been ignored by the sitting legislators in their selfish attempt to choose their constituency rather than defining constituencies which need representation.Maybe this travesty will awaken the voting public enough so that we take this important process from the politicians and place it in the hands of people.

From: David C. WilliamsPresidentGreater Pasadena CouncilIn 1990, I had two Bt sprayings (one state and one private) and subsequently killed 11,000 gypsy moth caterpillars on 36 trees.This year, after scraping every egg mass that I could find, I had two Demilin sprayings (again, one state and oneprivate) and every gypsy moth caterpillar on my property has died. Believe me, it does pay to attack these critters in order to save yourtrees.GIVE TAXPAYERS A BREAKFrom: Bob DuckworthCandidate, 4th DistrictOver the past several decades, the tax-and-spend Congress has ballooned federal liabilities for taxpayers faster than incomes have grown.

BEIJING -- China's top leader Deng Xiaoping, 87 and said to be in ill health, has mustered enough political support to triumph for now over hard-line socialists in his renewed bid to accelerate China's economic reforms by any means.The significant victory in Mr. Deng's power struggle with more doctrinaire Chinese leaders was evident in a rare public statement here yesterday by China's Communist Party.The strong message from the party's ruling Politburo -- bannered in every state newspaper and on government television -- endorsed aggressive liberalization of China's economy, while diminishing the role of socialist ideology.

BEIJING -- A major meeting of China's Communist Party ended yesterday with the endorsement of leader Jiang Zemin's reforms for the nation's failing state-owned enterprises and the unexpected retirement of one of his major rivals.In the biggest leadership shake-up in five years, Qiao Shi, a top official and political rival of Jiang's, was dropped from the party's central committee. Qiao, 72, is the head of China's parliament, the National People's Congress, and the third highest-ranking official.

BEIJING -- When China's Communist Party dumped its third-highest-ranking official Thursday as part of its biggest personnel shake-up in years, most of the nation's 1.2 billion people had no idea. For Qiao Shi, the reform-minded head of China's parliament, there were no announcements, farewells or even a mention in the party-controlled newspapers.Citizens tuned into national television yesterday to see that another man had suddenly replaced him on the Politburo's standing committee, the seven-member panel that runs China.

BEIJING - A one-time secretary to Mao Tse-tung has published a sweeping call for political change in a Beijing magazine, warning that China must embrace democratic politics and free speech to avoid stagnation and possible collapse. "Only with democratization can there be modernization," the retired official, Li Rui, said. "This has been a global tide since the 20th century, especially the Second World War, and those who join it will prosper while those who resist will perish." Li, 85, a longtime advocate of faster political liberalization, has been held at arm's length by party leaders.

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir V. Putin suggested yesterday that he might retain political influence when he steps down next year, as required under the constitution, by serving as prime minister. Putin agreed yesterday to head the United Russia party's list of candidates in a December parliamentary election, lending his popularity to the dominant party's efforts to win a commanding majority of seats. Russia has a system under which seats are awarded proportionally to parties depending on the percentage of votes they win, with individuals higher on party lists having priority to become lawmakers.

BEIJING -- China's top leader, Deng Xiaoping, out of the public eye for a year, turned up last week in Shenzhen, the RTC Chinese capital of capitalism. The visit is believed to underscore a growing commitment here to accelerating market-style economic reforms.Chinese leaders commonly journey south for the lunar New Year holiday, which falls this year on Feb. 4. Last year, Mr. Deng, on whose failing health most political questions here hinge, showed up at the birthplace of the Chinese Communist Party, Shanghai, looking frail and a bit glassy-eyed.