6A - Friday, October 10, 2014

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

a


Obama: Elections to
focus on economy

In speech, President
promotes resurgence
in midterms
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP)
- President Barack Obama is all
in with his economic pitch. The
American public is not. Over the
next 27 days, either the public
or the president is going to get
the message.
In a midterm campaign
strategy fraught with risk, the
White House is betting that
Obama's tight embrace of the
economic recovery and populist
proposals for gender pay
equity and a higher minimum
wage will galvanize his core
supporters - and persuade
fence-sitting independents
to help Democrats retain
narrow control of the Senate in
November.
Addressing young
entrepreneurs Thursday at a
startup center in California,
Obama highlighted his
economic record for the third
time in eight days.
"A lot of you entered into
the workforce during the
worst financial crisis and then
the worst recession since the
Great Depression," he told the
gathering of mostly millennials,
those born after 1980. "You are
coming out of this recession
with the best educated, most
diverse, most digitally fluent
generation in American
history."
While noting that he's not
on the ballot in this election,
Obama has become fond of
saying that his policies are at
stake. The line has prompted a
reflexive flinch from Democrats
who are trying to fend off a
concertedRepublican campaign
to link Democratic opponents to
the president.
For Democrats, the problem
is not Obama's message; it's
the pitchman. "The messenger
is not the most popular guy
on the planet right now," said
Democratic pollster Mark
Mellman.
Public opinion polls show

substantial support for Obama's
proposals to raise the minimum
wage, seek pay equity for
women and close corporate tax
loopholes. But on the economic
issues he's most associated with
- the fitful recovery from the
Great Recession and his health
care law - the American public
is not with him.
A September AP-GfK poll
found 40 percent approve
and 58 percent disapprove of
his handling of the economy,
and that 41 percent approve
and 58 percent disapprove of
his handling of health care.
Overall, Obama's national
approval ratings are 44 percent,
compared to 51 percent who
disapprove, according to the
latest numbers from Gallup.
That said, Obama does
have an economic story to tell.
Unemployment has dropped
fromahighof10percentin2009
to 5.9 percent last month. The
economy grew last quarter at a
better clip than many expected.
The stock market has rallied
to record highs. He inherited
a federal deficit of more than a
trillion dollars; the deficit has
been cut by more than half to
$486 billion.
But, to the frustration of the
White House, that message
hasn't gained much traction
against a headwind of nearly
stagnant wage growth.
"An awful lot of Americans,
they read in the paper that
the economy is growing, but
they haven't seen their own
paychecks advance, theyhaven't
seen their old opportunities
grow and they haven't seen
their own children get good
job offers," GOP pollster Whit
Ayres said.
Ayres recently conducted
a joint poll with Democratic
pollster Stan Greenberg for
NPR and discovered that in
states with closely contested
Senate races, both Republicans
and Democratic voters were
equally energized
"It's all about the
independents in those states,"
he said. "The independents are
going to be moved more than

anything else by the reality of
the economy they feel in their
daily lives. At least at this point,
far too fewhave felt a significant
recovery."
It's a point not lost on the
White House.
"Even though the economy
is growing, productivity is
growing, wages and income
have been flat," Obama said
Thursday. "And so the gains in
the economy, not just over the
last six years but really over
the last 20, havebmore sod more
been going to the top of the
economic pyramid."
As a result, Obama is also
pushing his proposals to raise
the minimum wage to $10.10
an hour, to ensure equal pay
for women, to overhaul the
immigration laws and provide
universal pre-school for
children as an effort to create
contrasts with Republicans
who have opposed those efforts.
"The president does believe
there is a clear choice for voters
across the country between
candidates who are supportive
of policies that will benefit the
middle class, and candidates
who are supportive of policies
that will benefit those at the top
in the hopes that the benefits
will trickle down to the middle
class," White House spokesman
Josh Earnest said.
On Thursday, Obama was
aiminghis pitchto youngpeople
born after 1980, an age group
that has been reluctant to vote
in nonpresidential contests.
Obama was to hold a town
hall at Cross Campus, a Santa
Monica, California, hub
for startup companies and
entrepreneurs, where he was
to highlight policies such as
college aid and health care that
officials say have especially
benefited members of the
millennial generation.
Thursday's speech is one.
of several White House
efforts to draw the attention
of demographic groups that
are crucial components of the
Democratic voting coalition,
including women, African-
Americans and Latinos.

JEFF ROBERSON/AP
People gatherfto remember Vonderrit D. Myers, Thursday in St. Louis. Police say Myers was shot Wednesday after he
opened fire ona white, off-duty officer, but Myers' parerts say he was unarmed.
Shooting in St. ouis
S pe

Another police
shooting of a Black
teenager reignites
outrage
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Two-
months after a Ferguson officer
killed Michael Brown, setting
offintensenational debate about
law enforcement treatment of
minorities, the shooting death
of another black 18-year-old by
police in nearby St. Louis has
reignited anger among activists
already planning weekendt
protests.
Police say Vonderrit D. Myers
was shot Wednesday after he
opened fire on a white, off-
duty officer, but Myers' parents
say he was unarmed. Some
activists and lawmakers say
Myers was targeted because
he was black and are asking
the Justice Department -
which has opened a civil rights
investigation into the death of
Brown, who was unarmed - to
investigate his shooting.
"This here was racial
profiling turned deadly," said;
state Sen. Jamilah .Nasheed, a
St. Louis Democrat.
The shooting happened as
activists and other protesters
from around the country
prepared for four days of rallies,
marches and protests over the
Brown shooting. Organizers say

the events, which start Friday
and include a march Saturday in
downtown St. Louis, have taken
on added urgency.
"This is a racial powder keg,"
said Jerryl Christmas, a St.
Louis attorney who was among
more than 20 black leaders
who joined Nasheed at a news
conference Thursday outside
police headquarters. "All this
is going to do is escalate the
situation."
Brown's Aug. 9 death spurred
weeks of unrest in Ferguson and
the rest of the St. Louis area. A
state grand jury is deciding
whether the officer who shot
him, Darren Wilson, will face
charges.
Police say Myers was both
armed and aggressive, using a
stolen 9 mm gun to shoot at the
officer.
Syreeta Myers said her son
was holding a sandwich, not a
gun. "Police lie. They lied about
Michael Brown, too," she told
The Associated Press by phone
Thursday.
About 200 people gathered
Thursday night for a quiet
candlelight remembrance at the
sight where Vonderrit Myers
was shot. Later, protesters shut
down a major street.
St. Louis Police Chief Sam
Dotson said the officer spotted
Myers and two other males
around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
while working a security job'
and patrolling a neighborhood

near the Missouri Botanical
Gardens. Dotson said the
officer, who was off-duty but
wearing his uniform, became
suspicious when one of them
started to run.
He heard one of them say,
"No, that's just a security
officer," Dotson said.
When the officer made a
U-turn, all three ran and the
officer chased them - first in
his car and then on foot, Dotson
said.
During the chase, he got
into a physical altercation with
Myers, who ran upa hill, turned
and fired at the officer, the chief
said. The officer, who wasn't
hurt, shot back.
Ballistic evidence shows
Myers fired three shots before
his gun jammed, Dotson said.
Police said they recovered the
9 mm gun, which had been
reported stolen on Sept. 26.
The officer fired off17rounds.
Preliminary autopsy results
show a shot to the head killed
Myers, according to medical
examiner Dr. Michael Graham.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
reported that Graham said
Myers was shot six or seven
times in the lower extremities
and the fatal shot entered his
right cheek.
The 32-year-old officer, a six-
year veteran of the department
whose name was not released,
is on paid administrative leave
pending an investigation.

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RELEASE DATE- Friday, October 10, 2014
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Same-sex couples
wed in Las Vegas

After ruling, several
partners marry in
legal ceremonies
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Gay
couples began getting married
Thursday in Las Vegas - the
self-proclaimed marriage capital
of the world - ending a dizzying
legal fight that had kept them
waiting for days.
Thomas Topovski cried as the
Clark County clerk announced
to cheers that marriage licenses
would finally be issued. He and
Jefferson Ruck, his partner of 14
years, returned Thursday for their
marriage license after standingin
line for hours the day before.
About 10 same-sex couples
were standing in line as the
announcement came shortly
after 5 p.m.
"It's amazing, this is it," said,
Theo Small as he stood next to
his-partner, Antioco Carillo, and
looked down at their marriage
license, the first issued in Las
Vegas.
"We're walking on clouds,"
Carillo said. "This is unreal."
State Sen. Kelvin Atkinson
wed Sherwood Howard shortly
after gay couples began receiving
marriage licenses. Atkinson,
during an emotional legislative
debate on same-sex unions last
year, stood before the chamber
and announced that he is gay.
A few feet from the crowd
that had gathered to witness
Atkinson and Howard's union on
the steps of the marriage license
bureau, Dave Parry married
Morgan Floyd under a tree just
outside the bureau's doors.
"Oh, my, gosh. It's done,"
Parry said, before embracing
Floyd.

"It's nice not to be a second
class citizen anymore," he said.
"It's been a long time."
About 430 miles north, Kristy
Best and Wednesday Smith
became the first same-sex couple
in the state to get a license at about
3 p.m. Thursday, said Elizabeth
Phelps, a clerk in the Carson City
marriage license office.
Best said in a telephone
interview that she and Smith
were surprised to get their
license when they showed up at
the Carson City .marriage office
with the $75 filing fee they
borrowed from Smith's mother.
"We went to see what would
happen, and they gave us the
license," Best said. "I feel
amazing. So happy. Lov e doesn't
discriminate, so why should we?"
"Nothing," Smith said,"stands
in the middle of true love."
Best and Smith have been
together almost 7 years, and
they plan to be married Saturday
with a gathering of family and
friends.
The hopes of gay couples
in Nevada had been in limbo
since the 9th Circuit ruled
Tuesday that gay couples' equal
protection rights were violated
by same-sex wedding bans in
Nevada and Idaho.
The ruling triggered a
Supreme Court memo that
left Idaho gay couples in tears
after they had gathered early at
courthouses hoping to marry. A
clarification hours later said the
ruling did not.apply to Nevada,
but clerks didn't budge.
The last Nevada challenge
was dropped early Thursday,
and the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals again declared that
its ruling allowing same-sex
couples to marry in the state
was "in full force and effect."