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Show Al2 The Salt Lake Tribune Saturday, November 29, 2003 NATION Muchunfinished businessleft as Congresscallsit a year Plus or minus? Bush gets his $395 billion Medicare bill passed, but the Demos keep pointing out howbig the deficit has become 4Y JIM ABRAMS The Associated Press WASHINGTON The con rressional year ends withthe fu ture of President Bush’s vaunted energybill uncertain and no de sion on howto fix the nation’s crumbling highways or avoid a looming trade war with Europe With Republicans in control of the White House and both houses of Congress, it wasn't supposed Timeout to be this hard Republicans enter the 2004 election year with some real bragging rights: Congress this year gave full financial backing to the military and rebuilding effort in Iraq and passed a $330 billion tax cut that Republicans @ Energy battle isn't over. B5 credit for rejuvenating the econ D-Md.. omy. The crowningachievement was a $395 billion Medicare bill with a new prescription drug benefit for seniors and the dis abled, and a newrole forprivate insurers. Democrats saw these GOP victories as a minus for the country, blaming the tax cuts and new spending for helping push the federal deficit to a record $374 billion this year. Congressalsoleft Washington this week without completing half the spending bills for the 2004 budget year that began Oct. 1, and lawmakersleft with a long list of items they failed to get through during thefirst year of the 108th Congress. At the top of the list is the president's far-reaching energy bill, which stalled in the Senate in the final days of the session. Teen whokilled dad sells story to Hollywood Senate Majority Leader Bill Republicans Frist, R-Tenn., says he will try again next year on a bill that sponsors say will makethe na- cans, House Transportation Committee Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, wanted $375 billion to fund highway projects over the next six years, more than $100 billion above what the tion more energy independent “They inherited a surplus and turned it into huge, huge deficits,” said Rep. Steny Hoyer, and that critics decry as a giveaway to oil and natural gas producers. Congressalso didn’t deal with a World Trade Organization ruling that a $5 billion annual tax break for U.S. exporters is an illegal subsidy. The European Union has threatened to impose up to $4 billion in sanctions next year unless the tax break is eliminated. House and Senate tax-writers were unable to get together on corporate tax bills against Republi- administration was willing to spend. Young’s proposal to raise the gas tax to pay for the extra projects met strong opposition from tax-allergic Republicans; a decision on thebill was putoff. Other disputes were far more partisan. Senate Democrats held up a White House-promoted bill to encourage charitable giving with tax cuts because of their anger over being shutoutof ne- that would remedy the problem. gotiations on other legislation. “Tt’s a very, very sad situation,” In anotherissue that pitted said Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., the bill’s sponsor. Senate Republicans fell one vote short in their attempt to overcome a Democratic filibuster on legislation to limit class action lawsuits. The two sides couldn’t come to termson a proposed $108 billion asbestos lia- « bility trust fund. Democrats also stopped a bill to limit the ability of medical malpractice victims to win monetary damages. President Bush, in a speech in Nevada Tuesday, blamed the Senate for holding up the medical malpractice bill. “The senators must understand that nobody in America has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit,” he said. % Sa Y Thanks To Y OUr Carrter THAssociatEp PRESS GLOUCESTERCITY, N.J. A teenager who fatally stabbed herfather has sold her storytoa Hollywood production company, her lawyersaid Robert DePersia said a televi sion division of Sony Pictures paid Jasmine Karo forthe rights to her story, but he did not dis Now is the chance to reward the efforts of your local carriers andlet them know how much you appreciate the job they do. Simply fill out the attached coupon and mailit in with a check for the amount you would like to give. Wewill pass the gift on to your local carrier. It’s the perfect way to say, thank you. close the amount. A message left with a Sony spokeswoman was not immediately returned Kriday Karo, 19, stabbed her father, Alan Karo, with a kitchen knife during an argument at their home May6. She had broad sup port in the Philadelphia suburb of Gloucester City. She and com . at gee ee es Mail to: Newspaper Agency Corporation Circulation Dept. > » P.O. Box 45838, Salt Lake City, Utah 84145 or bring to 143 S, Main St., SLC.y ! The amountenclosedis a tip for my carrier's good service.! i Please enclose a check or money order. i i i munity members said her father was abusive. Prosecutors had charged the teen with murder, but a grand jury in June declined to indict her. 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