Week in Review: Net Neutrality, My Brother's Keeper, and Protecting Your Savings

This week, the President announced a new initiative to protect Americans' retirement savings, hosted governors at the White House, thanked advocates for their work in securing a free and open Internet, and celebrated the first anniversary of the My Brother's Keeper initiative.

Find out more about the past week at the White House in our latest weekly wrap-up.

Protecting Your Savings

On Monday, the President announced major actions to update the rules in place to protect you and your retirement savings. Under our current system, financial advisors can accept a back-door payment or hidden fees for directing you toward a retirement plan that's not in your best interest. On average, these conflicts of interest cost Americans $17 billion in total losses every year.

"After a lifetime of hard work, you should be able to retire with dignity" —President Obama: http://bit.ly/1ASSk4G http://bit.ly/1ASSk4I

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 23, 2015

That's why the President is directing the Department of Labor to crack down on this kind of behavior. Check out this quick explainer video and see what the President is doing to help.

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Jeb's Rowdy Supporters Help Him Escape the CPAC Lion's Den

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Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush shakes hands with the audience after speaking at CPAC Friday. Carolyn Kaster/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Carolyn Kaster/AP

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush shakes hands with the audience after speaking at CPAC Friday.

Carolyn Kaster/AP

Jeb Bush walked into the lion's den of the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday, and walked out smiling — thanks to a few busloads of his supporters who proved louder and more persistent than his hecklers.

Bush, a likely 2016 presidential candidate, started out unevenly in his interview-style appearance, rushing through his answers to Fox News host Sean Hannity, using clunky phrases from his stump speech, and at times almost shouting to overcome boos and taunts.

But his own backers strategically occupied the center of the cavernous ballroom at the Gaylord National Resort just outside Washington, D.C. They easily drowned out the hecklers (many of them sporting Rand Paul t-shirts), and Bush quickly hit his stride.

"If we share our enthusiasm and love for our country and belief in our philosophy, we will be able to get Latinos and young people and other people that you need to win," he said to loud cheers.

Bush's views on immigration and the Common Core education standards rile many conservatives, and his brother George W. Bush's Iraq war angers many in the Republican Party's libertarian wing who tend to support Paul, the junior senator from Kentucky and also a likely 2016 presidential candidate. It was this group that tried to organize a mass walkout on Bush's appearance.

That didn't come to pass, and Bush cruised through his 25 minutes with Hannity staying on the message he came to deliver, including a recitation of a conservative record in his two terms as Florida's governor. "It's a record of accomplishment, of getting things done," Bush said. "Florida is a place where conservative principles have helped not just Republicans, but everybody."

Bush spoke to his supporters afterward, and acknowledged their role. "It made a huge difference," Bush said to the packed conference room. "That was raucous, and wild, and I loved it."

Friday's appearance was only Bush's second at CPAC. He'd stayed away from the annual gathering during his governor years as part of his strategy to avoid events that fed presidential speculation.

His appearance in 2013 came as part of his publicity tour for a new book, Immigration Wars, which argued for policies similar to those that wound up in the Senate immigration overhaul that passed later that year.

Bush used that occasion to scold his party for seeming "anti-everything," but also prescribed the same optimistic message of a "right to rise" that is the theme of his pre-campaign. It was not well received by that audience, but neither did he face the open hostility he saw Friday.

Bush, 62, served two terms as Florida governor. He cut $14 billion in taxes, signed gun-rights laws, including the controversial "stand-your-ground" bill, created three private school voucher programs, and spent public money to persuade women to avoid abortions.

Many conservatives nevertheless mistrust him because of his support for more stringent education standards in Common Core and for an immigration overhaul that does not call for the deportation of all those in this country illegally.

Army gears up for retaliatory attacks by ISIS, Nusra

BEIRUT: The Army chief vowed Friday to crush Syria-based jihadis threatening to destabilize Lebanon, as troops geared up for possible retaliatory attacks by militants in response to their expulsion from two key positions on the northeastern border with Syria, a senior military official said.

The remarks by Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi came a day after Lebanese troops drove Islamist militants out of two strategic hilltop outposts on the outskirts of the northeastern Bekaa town of Ras Baalbek in a pre-emptive strike aimed at fending off jihadis holed up in the rugged border area with Syria.

Kahwagi traveled to Ras Baalbek Friday along with Defense Minister Samir Moqbel to meet with troops in what was seen as a morale-boosting visit to Army units deployed around the mainly Christian town and other areas near the border with Syria.

“The Army has no choice but to win over terrorism,” Kahwagi told troops during an inspection tour of military units deployed in Ras Baalbek, where he was briefed by officers on the conditions of soldiers and field measures taken following the swift operation on the town’s outskirts at dawn Thursday aimed at preventing terrorist groups from infiltrating Lebanese territories.

He praised the continuing sacrifices made by soldiers on the eastern frontier with Syria “to protect villages and towns near this border from the infiltration of terrorist organizations and their attacks.”

“The qualitative military operation, which was carried out yesterday [Thursday] and was crowned with great success, reflected the Army’s firm decision to fight terrorism and ward off its danger from citizens,” Kahwagi said. “Ensuring the border’s safety from infiltration and aggression is the first defense line [to safeguard] Lebanon’s unity, security and stability.”

A senior military official said the Army was gearing up for the possibility of militants retaliating for their expulsion from the hilltop positions of Sadr al-Jarash and Harf al-Jarash, northeast of Tallet al-Hamra on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek.

“The Army is always ready for all eventualities, including the possibility of the terrorists launching retaliatory attacks in response to their defeat on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek,” the official told The Daily Star.

“The Army will continue its pre-emptive operations as part of its ongoing battle against terrorism.” On the significance of Kahwagi’s trip to Ras Baalbek, the official said: “The visit was meant to send out a strong message that the Army is determined in its battle against terrorism.”

According to the official, the Army Friday morning sporadically pounded militants’ hideouts on the northeastern border with Syria with rockets and artillery fire, a day after troops killed at least three Islamists in the pre-emptive operation on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek. The Army said three soldiers were lightly wounded during Thursday’s clashes with the militants believed to be affiliated with ISIS.

For his part, Moqbel commended troops for demonstrating a “high skill in combat in driving out the terrorists so quickly from two strategic hilltops in Ras Baalbek.” He congratulated soldiers on “this great achievement ... in the face of terrorism.”

Thursday’s operation has “proved, beyond any doubt, that the Army is professional and cohesive with a solid patriotic ideology free of political and sectarian poisons,” Moqbel said.

“The Army only lacks more qualitative weapons and equipment, which we hope to receive soon,” he said, clearly referring to French weapons funded by a $3 billion Saudi grant to bolster the military’s capabilities in the battle against terrorism.

The French Defense Ministry said Wednesday that it would begin shipping $3 billion worth of weapons paid for by Saudi Arabia to the Lebanese Army in April.

Under the deal first announced in 2013, France would supply French armored vehicles, warships, attack helicopters, munitions and communication gear to the Lebanese military.

In a TV interview later Friday, Kahwagi said the Saudi-funded French weapons to the Army were on the right track.

“The money has been transferred and the Army Command is waiting for the arrival of a French delegation [in Beirut] to put the final touches to the deal,” he said. He added that the Army’s pre-emptive attack on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek was 100 percent successful.

The policy of pre-emptive shelling was put in place after eight soldiers, including an officer, were killed and 22 others were wounded in fierce clashes with ISIS militants on the outer edge of Ras Baalbek last month.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said the security situation in Lebanon was under control despite the mounting threats posed by ISIS and the Nusra Front, which are still holding 25 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal.

“Lebanon is threatened by crises that are threatening the other countries in the Arab world where there are takfiri organizations,” Machnouk told reporters after meeting Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby in Cairo Friday. “However, the [security] situation in Lebanon is under control. We are capable of tackling matters with the minimum losses.”

Machnouk said he had discussed with Elaraby the situation in Lebanon, including the “obstacles that are preventing the election of a president.”

Army preps for possible jihadi offensive

BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army push in the past two days to seize a key high point east of Ras Baalbek strengthens the defensive line protecting populated areas of the northern Bekaa and comes ahead of possible early summer offensives mounted either by militant groups holed up along the border with Syria or by the Army itself.

The seizure of the Sadr al-Jarash mountain closes a dangerous loophole that had allowed suspected ISIS militants to stage two deadly ambushes in December and January against Lebanese soldiers on Tallet al-Hamra, a 1,517-meter hill 5 kilometers east of Ras Baalbek. Tallet al-Hamra overlooks a broad swath of mainly flat terrain to the east and southeast that extends some 10 kilometers to the mountain range that marks the Syrian border. It makes for a useful observation point in addition to the heavily fortified watchtower on a smaller hill called Im Khaled just south of Tallet al-Hamra.

The problem lay in accessing the hilltop safely. The single track that leads to the summit swings out to the east, perilously close to the ISIS lines before looping back westward to the top of the hill.

Although the Army was constructing a new direct route to the hilltop from Ras Baalbek, the rugged terrain slowed progress, forcing soldiers to keep using the dangerous track.

On Dec. 2, seven soldiers were killed when their soft-skin vehicle was ambushed by suspected ISIS militants while following the track to the summit of Tallet al-Hamra. On Jan. 23, eight soldiers died in a similar ambush at Tallet al-Hamra when militants overran the unprotected observation site. There followed a grueling eight-hour battle as soldiers fought to retake the hill from the militants, who appeared determined to keep it.

Heavy artillery fire and multiple airstrikes from the Army’s Cessna aircraft armed with Hellfire missiles eventually drove the militants away. The bodies of 47 militants were recovered from the battlefield.

A security source who saw the aftermath of the battle and some of the bodies noted that while the dead militants were “filthy dirty” and clearly living in harsh conditions, their weapons were clean and that their fighting capabilities should not be underestimated. In the aftermath of the Jan. 23 battle, a fortified Forward Operating Base was constructed on Tallet al-Hamra.

The action of the past two days has seen the Army capture an adjacent mountain top on a ridge 1.5 kilometers northeast of Tallet al-Hamra where some militants had been holed up. The seizure of the mountain safeguards Tallet al-Hamra, pushes the militants further to the east and also allows the Army to dominate the ground to the north, which includes Wadi Rafeq, midway between Ras Baalbek and Al-Qaa.

The track running through Wadi Rafeq has been used in the past by militants to infiltrate car bombs into Lebanon, but is currently blocked with earth berms and land mines.

The Army now operates a string of FOBs and observation posts from Naamat on the northern border to just south of Arsal, providing a strong defensive line against the militants in the mountains to the east.

The latest moves by the Army come amid renewed speculation that ISIS and the Nusra Front, Syria’s Al-Qaeda affiliate, could be planning to launch an offensive when the weather improves to seize one or more villages in northeast Bekaa.

Recent reports say the militants have been bulldozing new tracks and fortifications in the mountains in preparation for an attack. Potential targets of a militant offensive are the villages of Al-Qaa, Ras Baalbek, Fakiha and Arsal, all of which are accessible via valley systems running out of the eastern mountains.

There are an estimated 3,000 militants in the northeastern mountain chain, most of them either with ISIS, which is mainly deployed opposite Ras Baalbek, or with the Nusra Front, which operates further south opposite Arsal. The Free Syrian Army units that used to dominate the Qalamoun area has either withdrawn or its cadres joined up with the two extremist groups.

Despite the harsh environment in which they live – the snow-swept mountains that straddle the border – the militants have been able to develop logistical supply routes to ensure a steady flow of personnel, weapons, ammunition and food.

According to diplomatic sources, the Nusra Front’s main supply route extends from its stronghold in Idlib province in northern Syria across the desert via Quarytayn, 70 kilometers southeast of Homs, before slipping into Qalamoun from the east.

ISIS is also thought to use Quarytayn to reach Qalamoun from Palmyra and other areas under its control in eastern Syria.

Nevertheless, it is unclear what the militants could expect to gain from attacking Lebanese villages in the northern Bekaa. Even if they were successful in breaching the Army’s defensive lines and seizing a village, they would quickly find themselves besieged and under attack.

Their supply line back to the border area would also be vulnerable to attack by the Army.

If there is a spring or early summer offensive in the northeast mountains it may instead be carried out by the Army in an effort to push the militants back into Syrian territory.

Security sources say there is a mood within the Army to conduct such an offensive but it would be dependent on the timely arrival of promised new weapons systems from France and the United States as part of the Saudi grant packages totaling $4 billion.

The Army recently received 12 M109 self-propelled 155mm artillery guns from Jordan and 72 M198 towed 155mm cannons from the U.S. along with large quantities of ammunition. The missing factor for now is sufficient air support.

Abu Faour shuts down hospital in north

BEIRUT: Health Minister Wael Abu Faour Friday announced the unprecedented closure of a hospital in the north, while another medical facility in the south came under scrutiny by the Labor Ministry.

The Minyeh Hospital in north Lebanon is the first medical facility to be ordered shut since the ministry launched a sweeping public health campaign in November, although its closure is temporary and it could reopen if it addresses its violations.

The campaign has previously targeted Beirut’s slaughterhouse and fish market along with hundreds of restaurants, supermarkets and beauty clinics across the country.

The decision to order the hospital shut came after the ministry revealed that the facility violated health standards, according to a statement released by Abu Faour’s office.

Abu Faour gave the facility two months to carry out the reforms. If the changes are not implemented within that period, the hospital’s license would be revoked, he said.

He also terminated the Health Ministry’s contract with the hospital.

Last week, Abu Faour ended the government’s contract with one of Lebanon’s most prestigious hospitals after it violated its agreement with the ministry.

Abu Faour’s decision came after Hotel Dieu Hospital in Beirut’s Ashrafieh district refused to admit a patient with a physical disability.

Separately, the Labor Ministry referred the case of a hospital in the southern city of Tyre to the Health Ministry after inspections revealed a set of legal and health violations.

The Labor Ministry sent inspectors to evaluate the facility’s working conditions after receiving several complaints from the staff.

According to a statement, inspectors revealed that although the hospital is licensed, it is not registered with the Labor Ministry. It also does not have records of health certificates and work-related accidents and has employed Palestinian nationals who do not have work permits.

The statement said the hospital lacks adequate safety regulations with regard to the use of chemicals and prescriptions for medication. The facility is also inadequate with regard to fire safety, ventilation, lighting and cooling systems.

It also cited excess moisture in storage rooms for chemical and biological substances and noted the incompatibility of the facility’s water with safety standards.

The Labor Ministry will oversee the correction of hospital violations relating to employment, working conditions, and professional safety, while the Health Ministry will tackle issues relating to public health and medical practice.

Lack of thorough records hampering public works: expert

BEIRUT: The lack of comprehensive records is hindering the work of the Public Works and Transport Ministry, a road maintenance expert said Friday at the end of a UNDP program to boost the capabilities of ministry engineers.

Rami Chehade, a road maintenance supervisor at Transurban, a company with a corporate office in Washington D.C., told The Daily Star in an interview that the ministry doesn’t keep records of the facilities that fall under its control.

“To keep your home, don’t you need to know what’s in it?” he said.

“For example, you need to know what kind of air-conditioning and gates [are being used] in order to know what kind of maintenance they require. I asked them [employees]: Does anyone have a database to keep track of how many kilometers the roads are, or how many electricity poles and sewage systems you have? No one knows.”

In an attempt to find a solution, Chehade made a recommendation to the ministry that wouldn’t cost it very much money: hiring interns. He suggested that students willing to work at the ministry could be sent across Lebanon to survey its infrastructure.

Having a comprehensive database could help the ministry legitimize its public standing, Chehade explained. For instance, when it’s clear what aspects of infrastructure fall under its jurisdiction, the ministry would be able to demand a precise budget for maintenance-related work. “Now if they aren’t granted the budget that’s another issue ... but it shows that the ministry ... did all it could.”

Chehade is a Lebanese expatriate living in the United States. He came back to his home country on a short visit as part of a four-day training about emergency road maintenance. During the event, Chehade worked with 24 engineers from the Public Works and Transport Ministry to strengthen their capabilities.

The training was part of the U.N. Development Program’s “Transfer of Knowledge through Expatriate Nationals” project, which was implemented jointly with the Council for Development and Reconstruction.

The training ended Friday and certificates were distributed to the engineers in the presence of UNDP’s Country Director Luca Renda.

The status of Lebanon’s roads has been a controversial issue this year after successive storms overwhelmed the country’s infrastructure with heavy rains and snow.

During the training, weather was a crucial point of discussion.

Earlier this month Lebanon was hit by storm “Yohan,” which brought heavy precipitation, leading to the flooding of numerous roads such as the Nahr al-Kalb Highway linking Jounieh to Beirut.

In November, a tunnel near the Rafik Hariri International Airport was also flooded after showers.

Chehade informed the ministry that a clear database would have helped highlight the trouble spots causing drainage issues.

“We all know that it’s a crumbling infrastructure, with old and small pipelines paired with an increase in construction activity,” Chehade said.

Additionally, he said, the sewers need to be checked constantly with cameras that can detect whether they are blocked. The drainage system also needs to be cleaned during the summer and surveyed.

The coastal Dbayyeh road, which collapsed when Yohan hammered Lebanon with strong winds, was also tackled during the training. Chehade didn’t visit the road, but after seeing pictures, he made several recommendations.

Chehade said that in the case of “Yohan” the ministry should have followed up with contractors and checked to see whether they had implemented projects according to the agreed-upon map.

This should be double-checked with designers and other involved parties, so that construction-related issues can be ruled out when doing maintenance work.

The most recent storm “Windy” brought with it snowfall at low altitudes, blocking vital roads across the country. In such cases, Chehade recommended that the ministry remain in direct contact with the meteorological department. By keeping updated about unexpected changes in temperature and precipitation, the ministry would be better able to take necessary measures.

Chehade discussed with the engineers various issues to improve maintenance work such as implementing inspection guidelines, and gave safety improvement advice.

He also introduced the trainees to materials currently being used in the United States.

“We talked about what is being used now in terms of asphalt, the different mix designs and why to use them, different concrete mixes and different underground utility materials such as what kind of pipelines to use for the sewage system,” Chehade explained.

“We talked about the framework of the ministry’s asset management system,” Chehade said, adding that the system is set up similar to that in the U.S.

“They do have the technical knowledge,” Chehade said referring to the ministry’s engineers.

The problem, he added, was that they were being limited by the overall structure of work.

Computer models of Hariri crime scene relied on pictures

Lebanon joins UN world tourism program

Lebanon became the 63rd member of a tourism program organized by the United Nations' World Tourism Organization.

Tripoli residents engage in dialogue online

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Every Sunday morning social media activists gather in a Tripoli coffee shop and discuss civic affairs for hours, after having spent the week debating online. After messaging on Facebook and WhatsApp for several months the members began a forum to discuss issues of importance to the city, as well as their most pressing thoughts and beliefs.

While the northern city has in recent months seen bouts of deadly violence between political rivals, the Internet is a place where residents of Tripoli with different views can engage in enlightened discussion and dialogue, members of the group say.

Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Google Plus, Twitter, among others, are allowing residents to express their opinions on all matters, essential and trivial.

Tripoli is home to growing number of bloggers and online activists popular among residents and who, over time, have built a committed follower base.

Their online social status has allowed them to hold a series of public meetings which they call “From Facebook to Reality.”

Hundreds of Tripolitans gather to attend these events to make new connections and discuss the city’s public affairs, as well as personal issues.

The group usually meets in Tripoli’s more modern neighborhoods on Aashir al-Deyeh Street.

Online activists also convene in smaller groups, such as the one that meets at the coffee shop every Sunday. Such gatherings are smaller in size but are making just as much of an impact, their participants say.

Fida Homsi, or as her comrades like to call her, Dynamo, was the first to show up to last Sunday’s meeting. She is known to bring life and energy to each rendezvous.

Others who joined the intimate gathering include Faten Kassis, a school teacher; her husband Ahmad Kassem; journalist Raed Khatib; Ahmad Jawhar; Luna Qabalan, who is visiting from the United Arab Emirates to see her parents; her friend Nour Hoda Ghreib; and Sonia al-Abyad, an employee of the Agriculture Ministry.

Such morning get-togethers have become a weekly tradition. Around eight activists convene and smoke nargileh and spend time commenting on each other’s online posts, sharing concerns and discussing the conditions of their city.

The group tackles social and cultural issues as well as political subjects – and not all of its members share the same political views.

One of the subjects discussed Sunday was the recent removal of all political signs from Tripoli’s streets and squares, especially in Abdel-Hamid Karami Square.

Some of the activists were angered by the recent comments of politicians who suggested that Tripoli is a city for Muslims only.

The activists met online, and some said they got to know each other after getting a “like” from another on Facebook, or after someone posted a comment they agreed with.

Kassis is a blogger who starts her online work every day at 5 a.m. She publishes her thoughts about love and life with some advice for readers. One time, she didn’t write a post until 6:30 a.m., so one of her loyal readers, Fida Homsi, sent her a private message to check on her.

That is how their friendship began, even though the two have diverging political views.

Homsi has been teaching for 16 years, a period during which she has made a lot of friends online, her students included.

“Some of [my students] have graduated and went on to get married and have children and I’m still in touch with them,” she told The Daily Star. “I consider my communication skills to be a talent from God and a blessing that I developed at a distance from all the political entanglements in the city.”

Homsi recalled how the group’s first meeting brought 50 people together. Now, she said, meetings gather as many as 500 participants who engage in conversation about the positive side of Tripoli, eschewing the image of a northern capital mired in military confrontations and security incidents.

“We have friends from Jounieh and Beirut who share our love for this city,” she said, “And suggestions were made to move the forum to other Lebanese areas.”

Commenting on her role as a founder and leader, and her title as the group’s “Dynamo,” Homsi said: “Maybe I am the component that gathers all those people, but I am not a president figure so long as the forum doesn’t have formal executive positions. It’s an occasion to talk about the demands and concerns of Tripoli’s residents.”

The forum was born accidentally, she added, because there was a need to fix Tripoli’s image to serve the public interest.

Khatib believes social media can usher in a movement in Tripoli that could eventually be a force for positive change.

“Action is being taken by civil society in Tripoli, our online activism needs to match the on-the-ground work,” he said.

“Our enthusiasm emanates from our desire to bring different political sides together through dialogue, for the sake of one goal: learning what the true interests of the people are,” he added, “because political diversity is both a blessing and a curse.”

Homeland Security Funding Bill Caught Up In House

Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.

With Senate passage of a $40 billion funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, all eyes turn to House Speaker John Boehner. The Senate's bill does not contain language blocking President Obama's executive actions on immigration, which many House conservatives have insisted upon.

Copyright © 2015 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

Copyright © 2015 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

Some Republicans Skeptical Of Jeb Bush's Conservative Credentials

Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.

The Conservative Political Action Conference has been meeting just outside Washington, D.C., this week. A parade of presidential hopefuls addressed the annual event for grassroots activists. There were many conservative favorites, including Senator Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. But perhaps the biggest test at CPAC was for Jeb Bush, who's long been greeted with skepticism by conservative activists.

Copyright © 2015 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

Copyright © 2015 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

What Do Conservatives Want For 2016? We Asked

i

Josh DiNatale (left) and Zachary Burns, St. Joseph's University students and members of their College Republicans chapter, get ready to pose for a photo with a cutout of Sen. Rand Paul at CPAC 2015. Emily Jan/NPR hide caption

itoggle caption Emily Jan/NPR

Josh DiNatale (left) and Zachary Burns, St. Joseph's University students and members of their College Republicans chapter, get ready to pose for a photo with a cutout of Sen. Rand Paul at CPAC 2015.

Emily Jan/NPR

The Conservative Political Action Conference, held this week in Washington D.C., is prime time for 2016 Republican presidential hopefuls trying — yes, already — to win over a key part of their base. Former Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Gov. Scott Walker and others paraded on and off the main stage, trying to fire up the crowd with their ideas for America's next, post-Obama chapter.

But, as many CPAC attendees told us, it'll take more than a rousing (and certainly more than a humdrum) speech on the main stage to win them over. They want a candidate not just committed to their issues and values but someone who also brings, dare we say it, change from the Washington leaders who can't seem to agree on anything lately.

So what do conservatives really want in 2016? To find out, we asked CPAC attendees this: If you found yourself in an elevator with a future presidential nominee, what would you say?

Attendees talked about wanting power handed back to the people, a more secure border, a stronger focus on faith and lower taxes. Here are some of the responses:

West Wing Week: 02/27/15 or, “Where Are My Hawaiians?'"

This week, the President hosted civil rights and consumer protection advocates, filmed a Let's Move sketch with the First Lady, sat down for a heart-to-heart with a White House mentee, held an immigration town hall in Florida, and honored Black History Month at the White House.

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Lebanese news stations decry financial crisis

An abseil a day keeps this doctor away

When he arrived in the Sultanate of Oman almost 20 years ago to set up shop as a surgeon, Dr. Khaled Abdul Malak had...

Lebanon security situation under control: interior minister

Lebanon joins UN world tourism program

Lebanon became the 63rd member of a tourism program organized by the United Nations' World Tourism Organization.

North Lebanon hospital ordered shut for 2 months

Lebanon joins UN world tourism program

Lebanon became the 63rd member of a tourism program organized by the United Nations' World Tourism Organization.

Congress Will Vote On Homeland Security; Agency's Funding Ends Tonight

Republicans in the Senate have come to terms with the need for a "clean" bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, one that doesn't require changes to the executive actions President Obama has taken on immigration. The agency is set to run out of money at midnight tonight.

Now, according to NPR's Ailsa Chang, they want the House to follow suit.

As an example, Ailsa quotes Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who says the burden of the majority is the burden of governing: "As a governing party, we've got to fund DHS and say to the House, "Here's a straw, so you can suck it up.'"

Last night, Republican leaders in the House came up with a different idea: to fund DHS for three weeks to give the two chambers of Congress time to work out a compromise measure.

Both the House and Senate are expected to vote on bills to fund the DHS Friday, and there's a chance the Senate might approve its own version of the three-week plan, to avoid a shutdown.

"I don't know if [the House] can pass the three-week bill," Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York told MSNBC Friday. "We would much prefer they do a full funding bill, but we're not going to shut the government down."

As the AP reports, some Republicans in the House have said that shutting down DHS would be an acceptable cost to forcing changes on immigration.

From the AP:

" 'Shutting down' the agency known as DHS 'is a set of words that don't really have the meaning that people attribute to it,' said Republican Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama. 'There was hardly any effect whatsoever on the Department of Homeland Security from the last shutdown, and I would anticipate a similar effect this time.'

"Brooks was referring to the 2013 partial federal government shutdown that Americans blamed mostly on Republicans, and which many GOP leaders have vowed not to repeat."

Republicans in the House have noted that many DHS workers, such as transportation security officers, were declared "essential" and went to work as normal. But as Ailsa reported earlier this week, those security officers were left without paychecks until after the shutdown was resolved.

"You know, the House by nature and by design is a hell of a lot more rambunctious place than the Senate," Speaker John Boehner said.

Lebanon bans license plate emblems

Lebanon joins UN world tourism program

Lebanon became the 63rd member of a tourism program organized by the United Nations' World Tourism Organization.

Lebanon joins UN world tourism program

Sisi pledges support to Lebanon stability

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi vowed Monday, to cooperate with Lebanon's allies in order to ensure the...

North Lebanon Labneh maker shut over health violations

Italy pledges 2.5 million euros in funding for Lebanon

Italy pledged 2.5 million euros ($2.86 million) in aid to Lebanon Tuesday to help shelter the country from the impacts...

CPAC Attendees Hear From GOP Presidential Hopefuls

Audio for this story from Morning Edition will be available at approximately 9:00 a.m. ET.

The annual Conservative Political Action Conference is a draw for some 10,000 activists. Would-be GOP presidential candidates are differentiating themselves from others who may run.

Copyright © 2015 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

Copyright © 2015 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

Jeb Bush Takes 2016 Show Into Unfriendly Territory At CPAC

i

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush addresses the audience at his last Conservative Political Action Conference appearance in March 2013. Bush is to appear again Friday, as he considers a potential 2016 presidential campaign. Jacquelyn Martin/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush addresses the audience at his last Conservative Political Action Conference appearance in March 2013. Bush is to appear again Friday, as he considers a potential 2016 presidential campaign.

Jacquelyn Martin/AP

For close to a decade, Jeb Bush's audiences have almost exclusively been people who have paid good money to hear him speak.

That changes today, when he appears at the Conservative Political Action Conference — where potential 2016 presidential rivals are already taking shots at him and some activists are organizing a walk-out.

NYU college student Ivan Teo said he doesn't consider Bush "one of us," but does give him credit for at least showing up on hostile turf. "I think him coming here, it's brave. And I think that it's great that we have a chance to ask him questions."

Bush, the former Florida governor and the brother and son of the last two Republican presidents, is the presumed Republican establishment favorite in a venue that historically has not been kind to the party establishment.

In 2011, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul won the CPAC presidential straw poll, while Mitt Romney won the 2012 nomination. In 2007, Romney won the straw poll, while Arizona Sen. John McCain won the GOP nomination the following year.

And while many Republicans with presidential ambitions make CPAC an annual pilgrimage, Bush during his years as governor avoided the gathering as part of his overall strategy of staying away from events that would feed presidential speculation. Bush ended that self-imposed exile in 2013, and got a decidedly indifferent reception. His was the Friday night keynote speech — the "Ronald Reagan Dinner" — and Bush had just recently published his book Immigration Wars, that advocated an overhaul similar to what the Senate wound up passing a few months later.

Bush used the occasion to scold his party for seeming "anti-everything," but also prescribed the same optimistic message about a "right to rise" that is the theme of his pre-campaign. Just months after the 2012 presidential election, Bush's speech did not particularly offend his audience as much as fail to interest them at all. Bush spoke for just under 20 minutes, during which time many in the ballroom carried on conversations over dessert and coffee, ducked outside to answer phone calls, or just left entirely.

Before and after that, he was primarily speaking to corporate audiences that had paid him tens of thousands of dollars to hear him. Even in recent appearances in Detroit and Chicago, where he gave speeches as part of his "Right to Rise" political committees, Bush spoke to sympathetic audiences, and then took gentle questions from moderators.

Bush did do a warm-up of sorts Wednesday evening, appearing on conservative talk-radio host Hugh Hewitt's program, but even there the questioning was mild — primarily about foreign policy and the military.

Neither immigration nor the Common Core education standards, which are reviled by many of the GOP's most conservative voters, came up in that interview. Both are certain to be asked about Friday, when Bush is questioned for 20 minutes by Fox News host Sean Hannity.

Bush, 62, compiled what was considered a deeply conservative record in his two terms as Florida governor, including tax cuts totaling $14 billion, support of gun rights, the creation of private school voucher programs and the use of public money to persuade women to avoid abortions. But his support for more stringent education standards in Common Core and an immigration overhaul that would not deport all those in this country illegally has angered many conservatives.

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House, Senate Divided Over Homeland Security Funding

Audio for this story from Morning Edition will be available at approximately 9:00 a.m. ET.

The department runs out of money at midnight. The Senate is on track to pass a bill to fund the department with no strings attached. The House will vote on a bill to fund the department for 3 weeks.

Copyright © 2015 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

Copyright © 2015 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

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White House Move To Protect Nest Eggs Sparks Hopes And Fears

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President Obama makes remarks on his proposal to tighten consumer protections for people saving for retirement Monday at AARP as Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Labor Secretary Tom Perez listen. Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Getty Images

President Obama makes remarks on his proposal to tighten consumer protections for people saving for retirement Monday at AARP as Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Labor Secretary Tom Perez listen.

Getty Images

The Obama administration is creating new protections for Americans saving and investing for retirement, but industry groups say the new rules could hurt the very people the president says he wants to help

Obama Wants Rules That Force Brokers To Put Clients' Interests First

If you're building a retirement nest egg, big fees are the dangerous predators looking to feast on it. The White House says too many financial advisers get hidden kickbacks or sales incentives to steer responsible Americans toward bad retirement investments with low returns and high fees.

"If your business model rests on taking advantage of bilking hard-working Americans out of their retirement money, then you shouldn't be in business," Obama said Monday. "That's pretty straightforward."

The White House is directing the U.S. Department of Labor to craft new rules that require retirement advisers to put consumers' best interests ahead of their financial gain. But some industry groups are sounding the alarm.

"A sledgehammer is not needed where a regular hammer would fix the problem," the Financial Services Roundtable said in a statement.

Tim Pawlenty, the group's president and CEO, has another metaphor at the ready.

"There's always a few bad apples," says Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor. "We would encourage focusing on bad apples and removing them, instead of tipping over and smashing the whole apple cart."

"We don't want to get to a point where the red tape and bureaucracy and cost freezes lower income people from being able to take advantage of financial planning advice."

- Tim Pawlenty, Financial Services Roundtable

Pawlenty says that he hasn't seen details of the new rules yet, but that if the rules create burdensome regulation, financial planners might decide it's not worth working with people of modest means.

"We don't want to get to a point where the red tape and bureaucracy and cost freezes lower-income people from being able to take advantage of financial planning advice," he says.

But not all industry groups are so worried.

"There's a lot of overheated rhetoric," says Kevin Keller, the CEO of the Certified Financial Planner Board, a voluntary standards group that certifies financial planners.

He says he supports what the White House is trying to do. The new rules would create what's called a "fiduciary standard," which is a requirement to act in a clients' best interest.

Business

That Nest Egg Needs To Last As Long As You Do. So How Do You Start?

Some industry groups claim that the fiduciary standard will reduce the availability of financial advice for middle-class Americans, but Keller says that's not true. Still, everything depends on the actual language in the rules.

Kent Smetters, a Wharton School economist who served in the George W. Bush administration, says he supports the move by the White House. But he's also frustrated by existing regulations.

For example, he says, stock brokers already are held to a fiduciary standard, but have found loopholes, so brokers can still get commissions for steering people into bad investments with high fees.

"Literally, this is legal," Smetters says. "I could say to you, 'Chris, I have your best interests in mind, I think you should invest in this fund x, y, z.'

"That first half of the sentence, I really had your best interests in mind," he adds. "The second half of the sentence, I take off my fiduciary hat, and you don't know any better because after all you're going there for is advice. You don't have a clue. It's just screwing over middle-class households."

Jeb Bush Takes 2016 Show Into Unfriendly Territory At CPAC

i

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush addresses the audience at his last Conservative Political Action Conference appearance in March 2013. Bush is to appear again Friday, as he considers a potential 2016 presidential campaign. Jacquelyn Martin/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush addresses the audience at his last Conservative Political Action Conference appearance in March 2013. Bush is to appear again Friday, as he considers a potential 2016 presidential campaign.

Jacquelyn Martin/AP

For close to a decade, Jeb Bush's audiences have almost exclusively been people who have paid good money to hear him speak.

That changes today, when he appears at the Conservative Political Action Conference — where potential 2016 presidential rivals are already taking shots at him and some activists are organizing a walk-out.

NYU college student Ivan Teo said he doesn't consider Bush "one of us," but does give him credit for at least showing up on hostile turf. "I think him coming here, it's brave. And I think that it's great that we have a chance to ask him questions."

Bush, the former Florida governor and the brother and son of the last two Republican presidents, is the presumed Republican establishment favorite in a venue that historically has not been kind to the party establishment.

In 2011, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul won the CPAC presidential straw poll, while Mitt Romney won the 2012 nomination. In 2007, Romney won the straw poll, while Arizona Sen. John McCain won the GOP nomination the following year.

And while many Republicans with presidential ambitions make CPAC an annual pilgrimage, Bush during his years as governor avoided the gathering as part of his overall strategy of staying away from events that would feed presidential speculation. Bush ended that self-imposed exile in 2013, and got a decidedly indifferent reception. His was the Friday night keynote speech — the "Ronald Reagan Dinner" — and Bush had just recently published his book Immigration Wars, that advocated an overhaul similar to what the Senate wound up passing a few months later.

Bush used the occasion to scold his party for seeming "anti-everything," but also prescribed the same optimistic message about a "right to rise" that is the theme of his pre-campaign. Just months after the 2012 presidential election, Bush's speech did not particularly offend his audience as much as fail to interest them at all. Bush spoke for just under 20 minutes, during which time many in the ballroom carried on conversations over dessert and coffee, ducked outside to answer phone calls, or just left entirely.

Before and after that, he was primarily speaking to corporate audiences that had paid him tens of thousands of dollars to hear him. Even in recent appearances in Detroit and Chicago, where he gave speeches as part of his "Right to Rise" political committees, Bush spoke to sympathetic audiences, and then took gentle questions from moderators.

Bush did do a warm-up of sorts Wednesday evening, appearing on conservative talk-radio host Hugh Hewitt's program, but even there the questioning was mild — primarily about foreign policy and the military.

Neither immigration nor the Common Core education standards, which are reviled by many of the GOP's most conservative voters, came up in that interview. Both are certain to be asked about Friday, when Bush is questioned for 20 minutes by Fox News host Sean Hannity.

Bush, 62, compiled what was considered a deeply conservative record in his two terms as Florida governor, including tax cuts totaling $14 billion, support of gun rights, the creation of private school voucher programs and the use of public money to persuade women to avoid abortions. But his support for more stringent education standards in Common Core and an immigration overhaul that would not deport all those in this country illegally has angered many conservatives.

'Ballot Selfies' Clash With The Sanctity Of Secret Polling

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A man takes a "selfie" while waiting in line to cast his vote in the Wisconsin gubernatorial race in November. Darren Hauck/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Darren Hauck/Getty Images

A man takes a "selfie" while waiting in line to cast his vote in the Wisconsin gubernatorial race in November.

Darren Hauck/Getty Images

It's All Politics

Is A Ban On 'Ballot Selfies' Overkill?

From Pope Francis and President Obama to the kid down the block, we have, for better or worse, become a world full of selfie-takers.

But as ubiquitous as they are, there are some places where selfies remain controversial — like the voting booth. The legal battle rages over so-called "ballot selfies" in the state that holds the first presidential primary.

This may be a fight of the digital age, but according to New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, it involves a very old American ideal — the sanctity of the secret ballot.

"If somebody wants to go out and say that they voted for this person or that person they can do it. They can do it, but that ballot is sacred," he says.

Gardner has been the state's top election official since 1976. To say he views ballot selfies with suspicion would be an understatement.

He backed a change in law last year that made New Hampshire the first state to ban them explicitly.

He says allowing people to show a marked ballot — actual proof how they voted — opens the door to voter coercion, or vote buying. He insists that anything that compromises privacy in the ballot booth is a step in a very, very dark direction.

"I have a copy of the last ballot that was used when Saddam Hussein was elected, and that ballot identified who the person was. Hitler did the same thing in Austria," Gardner says.

Brandon Ross, a libertarian-leaning patent lawyer, says, "I think if the secretary of state wants to bring up Hitler, I think they should just quit now. They lose. That's absurd."

Ross is one of three plaintiffs suing in federal court to strike down New Hampshire's ballot selfie ban. He says the state's law, which can fine people $1,000 for sharing an image of their ballot, goes way too far.

"It's like a picture you can a never show without breaking the law, it's just a banned photograph. That's wildly unconstitutional. It's a core part of our democratic process is being able to communicate who you vote for. This is 2015 now, people interact with social media constantly," he says.

Could any ballot selfie ban be enforceable?

"There is no way to do it comprehensively. Of course, there are many laws which are honored more in the breach than are actually enforced," says Jeff Hermes, an attorney with the Media Law Resource Center in New York. "Speeding laws are a great example of that."

New Hampshire's attorney general is investigating four voters for posting ballot selfies.

A report by the Digital Media Law Project found most states have some sort of prohibition against sharing marked ballots. Most have been on the books for years, and, as in New Hampshire, their aim was to fight corruption.

Gilles Bissonnette of the New Hampshire ACLU represents the people challenging New Hampshire's law. He says everybody should want clean elections, but banning selfies isn't the way to achieve them.

"The more tailored approach here would be to aggressively investigate and prosecute vote buying, and to aggressively investigate and prosecute vote bribery. But I think the question here is whether this law appropriately addresses those interests." Bissonnette says.

This case is scheduled for trial in federal court next month. In the meantime, bills to repeal the selfie prohibition are pending at the State House.

Action on either front could make the first state to impose a ballot selfie ban, the first state to get rid of one.

This Season On 'House Of Cards,' It's Tough To Be The Boss

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Kevin Spacey's President Frank Underwood is embattled and often frustrated in the third season of Netflix's House of Cards. David Giesbrecht/Netflix PR hide caption

itoggle caption David Giesbrecht/Netflix PR

Kevin Spacey's President Frank Underwood is embattled and often frustrated in the third season of Netflix's House of Cards.

David Giesbrecht/Netflix PR

When House of Cards' third season opens, Kevin Spacey's murderous politician Frank Underwood is fooling the world again.

From the very first scene, he's bringing a presidential motorcade to his tiny hometown of Gaffney, S.C., pretending to honor his father's grave for the press.

"Nobody showed up for his funeral except me, not even my mother," Underwood says in one of those sly asides where he speaks directly to the audience. "But I'll tell you this ... When they bury me, it won't be in my backyard. And when they pay their respects, they'll have to wait in line."

As he says this, Underwood relieves himself on his father's grave, out of the media's sight. That's when we see the real man: manipulative, arrogant and ruthlessly focused on his own legacy.

That's a major theme for this latest season of House of Cards — or at least, throughout the first six episodes made available to critics (Netflix releases all episodes for the season to customers today).

Last season ended as Frank Underwood was appointed president. As this year's story begins, he's been at the job for six months, and we see a man used to winning hit more than a few roadblocks.

Television

'House Of Cards' Is Built To Last

Television

Antihero Or Villain? In 'House Of Cards,' It's Hard To Tell

One of the first signs of trouble is Underwood's struggle to explain a new jobs program on the Colbert Report, which Stephen Colbert still hosts in the House of Cards universe.

"This is a fundamentally different look at how to solve the problems of unemployment," Underwood tells Colbert. "It has the size and the scope of the New Deal."

Colbert's reply goes or the jugular: "Oh, so it's a socialist redistribution of wealth wherein the baby boomers will latch onto the millennials like a lamprey and just keep sucking until they're as dry as a crouton."

There's even trouble with Underwood's Lady Macbeth of a wife, Claire Underwood, who reacts to a crisis of conscience by publicly undercutting her husband. That enrages President Underwood: "You want to know what takes real courage?" he snarls at his wife. "Keeping your mouth shut. No matter what you might be feeling. Holding it all together, when the stakes are this high."

i

Robin Wright, as First Lady Claire Underwood, begins to challenge her husband on his machinations this season. David Giesbrecht/Netflix PR hide caption

itoggle caption David Giesbrecht/Netflix PR

Robin Wright, as First Lady Claire Underwood, begins to challenge her husband on his machinations this season.

David Giesbrecht/Netflix PR

Claire Underwood, played with steely reserve by Robin Wright, is uncharacteristically conflicted. "We're murderers, Francis," she tells him.

"No we're not," Frank replies. "We're survivors."

These setbacks actually solve a problem critics uncovered in House of Cards' first two seasons: Everything worked too well. At a time of real-life congressional paralysis, Frank Underwood got a historic education bill passed. He also killed a political patsy and an investigative journalist looking into his crimes.

But as Colbert notes, Frank Underwood the President has a different track record. "You've been president for six months," Colbert says to Underwood. "Unemployment has gone up, our trade deficit with China has increased ... I'm not entirely sure that you'll be able to eradicate unemployment the way you've been able to eradicate your approval polls."

Some of this can get a little tedious. Watching Underwood push a presidential commission into cutting Social Security for his jobs program feels like watching a dramatic reading of a subcommittee meeting on C-SPAN.

And there's something frustrating for viewers in seeing the show's central character turned from a devilish antihero with all the answers into an often-impotent villain.

Still, the new season's early episodes are a binge-watcher's delight. Bingeing on some shows is a little dangerous; it's easy to miss important details in the rush to uncover the next plot point.

But House of Cards benefits from hurried viewing. It keeps you from noticing how much of a political soap opera it really is, or questioning who to root for, since every major character is just different shades of self-obsessed and power hungry.

And if Claire Underwood really decides to fight her husband's evil, it could be the TV showdown of the year — redeeming the culture of Washington politics while rewarding the binge watchers one more time.