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By ANNE FLAHERTY and PAULINE JELINEK
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon said Thursday the cost to build its next-generation fighter jet has doubled to as much as $113 million per plane since 2001.
The bad news about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Progam, delivered Thursday to Congress, was swiftly denounced by lawmakers who said runaway spending on major weapons systems has become all too common.
"The taxpayers are a little tired of this, and I can't say that I blame them," Arizona Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said during a hearing Thursday.
The sheer size of the Defense Department's F-35 program, the biggest of its kind, makes it the fattest target for cutbacks by lawmakers who say money should go to other priorities.
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By ERICA WERNER
WASHINGTON -- House leaders have concluded they cannot change a divisive abortion provision in President Barack Obama's health care bill and will try to pass the sweeping legislation without the support of ardent anti-abortion Democrats.
A break on abortion would remove a major obstacle for Democratic leaders in the final throes of a yearlong effort to change health care in America. But it sets up a risky strategy of trying to round up enough Democrats to overcome, not appease, a small but possibly decisive group of Democratic lawmakers in the House.
Democratic leaders are working to rally rank-and-file members around last-minute agreements on several sticking points, health insurance taxes and prescription drug coverage among them, and dozens of other complicated issues -- all as Republicans stand ready to oppose the overhaul en masse.
Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman of California, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said the leadership will press ahead without reworking the abortion provision, which opponents say falls short in restricting taxpayer dollars for abortion coverage. He predicted some of the anti-abortion lawmakers in the party will end up voting for the overhaul anyway.
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By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
NEW ORLEANS -- A second former New Orleans police officer pleaded guilty Thursday to covering up the deadly shooting of unarmed residents after Hurricane Katrina, with a judge calling the plot a "despicable" scheme that immeasurably compounded the storm's damage.
Jeffrey Lehrmann, who left the police department in 2006 and is a special agent at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Phoenix, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, which means he had knowledge of a crime and didn't report it. Another former officer pleaded guilty last month to a conspiracy charge.
"I have neither imagined or heard of more despicable conduct by law enforcement officers," U.S. District Judge Lance Africk said of the case against the former homicide detective.
A court filing Thursday outlines new details about the alleged cover-up that followed the Sept. 4, 2005, shootings on the Danziger Bridge, which also led to a Justice Department investigation.
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The Associated Press
Utah State, Olsen's alma mater, said he died outside of Los Angeles early Thursday after battling cancer.
He was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung lining, last year.
"This was the voice of a man who not only became one of our country's most decorated athletes, but also one of the most accomplished and respected people ever to hail from the state of Utah," said Stan Albrecht, president of Utah State.
Olsen was an All-American at Utah State and a first-round draft pick of the Los Angles Rams in 1962.
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Police: Va. Tech threatened online
Police say in an e-mail sent to faculty and students late Wednesday that at this time they don't believe the postings pose a danger to the school.
Authorities had investigated similar threats in October and believe the new posts are from the same person.
Police say they are highly confident the posts originate from Italy.
Virginia Tech was the scene of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history in April 2007.
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By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly shrank in January, reflecting a big drop in imports of oil and foreign cars. American exports also fell, a potential blow to hopes that the economic recovery will be aided this year by U.S. sales abroad.
The Commerce Department said that the trade deficit declined to $37.3 billion in January, a drop of 6.6 percent from a revised December deficit of $39.9 billion. Economists had been expected the deficit to widen to $41 billion.
U.S. exports dipped 0.3 percent, reflecting weaker sales of a wide variety of products from civilian aircraft and machinery to agricultural products. But imports dropped by a larger 1.7 percent as both oil and foreign cars saw big declines.
In other economic news, the Labor Department reported that the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits slipped last week by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 462,000. It was the latest sign that the nation's employment picture is slowly brightening.
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