Demonstrators carry a replica of a pipeline during a march against the Keystone XL pipeline in Washington, February 17, 2013.

WASHINGTON | Sun Feb 17, 2013 6:37pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters gathered on the Washington's National Mall on Sunday calling on President Barack Obama to reject the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline proposal and honor his inaugural pledge to act on climate change.

Organizers of the "Forward on Climate" event estimated that 35,000 people from 30 states turned out in cold, blustery conditions for what they said was the biggest climate rally in U.S. history. Police did not verify the crowd size.

Protesters also marched around the nearby White House, chanting "Keystone pipeline? Shut it down." Among the celebrities on hand were actresses Rosario Dawson and Evangeline Lilly, and hedge fund manager and environmentalist Tom Steyer.

The event came days after a bipartisan group of U.S. senators made the latest call for Obama to approve the $5.3 billion pipeline, seen by many as an engine for job growth and another step toward energy independence.

A new poll by Harris Interactive showed 69 percent of respondents said they support construction of the pipeline, with only 17 percent saying they oppose it.

One of Sunday's main organizers, climate activist Bill McKibben, said that approving the pipeline, which would transport crude oil from the oil sands of northern Alberta to refineries and ports in Texas, would be akin to lighting a "carbon bomb" that could cause irreparable harm to the climate.

"For 25 years our government has basically ignored the climate crisis: now people in large numbers are finally demanding they get to work," said McKibben, founder of the environmental group 350.org.

Other major organizing groups on Sunday included the Sierra Club and the Hip-Hop Caucus.

The proposed TransCanada Corp project has been pending for 4-1/2 years. A revised route through Nebraska, which would avoid crossing sensitive ecological zones and aquifers, was approved by that state's governor last month.

Backers of Keystone, which would transport 830,000 barrels of oil per day, say it would provide thousands of jobs in the United States and increase North American energy security.

Environmentalists oppose the pipeline because the oil sands extraction process is carbon intensive, and say the oil extracted is dirtier than traditional crude oil.

Van Jones, Obama's former green jobs adviser, said if the president approved the pipeline just weeks after pledging to act on climate change, it would overshadow other actions Obama takes to reduce pollution.

"There is nothing else you can do if you let that pipeline go through. It doesn't matter what you do on smog rules and automobile rules - you've already given the whole game way," said Jones, who is president of Rebuild the Dream, a non-government organization.

Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the lone member of Congress to speak at the rally, told Reuters Obama risked creating a "credibility gap" if he approved the pipeline.

"He would have to roll out a very complete and very strong package to offset something that on its own is described by government scientist as ‘game-over' on climate," he said.

Still, some of Obama's core constituents favor the pipeline, including the labor union AFL-CIO's building and construction unit, which sees the potential for job creation for its members, and certain Democratic lawmakers.

In January, nine Democratic senators joined 44 Republicans in urging the president to approve Keystone XL.

(Reporting By Valerie Volcovici; editing by Ros Krasny and Mohammad Zargham)

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Kavi is a healthy 10 year old male Sumatran Tiger. Damai is a three year old female. Together, they are the great hope of the Smithsonian National Zoo's captive breeding programme. SOUNDBITE: MARIE MAGNUSON - ANIMAL KEEPER/GREAT CATS UNIT, SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL ZOO, SAYING: " Sumatran tigers total population of captive and wild is probably about 500 individuals, so it is important that we keep a healthy, genetically healthy population, and every tiger born is a victory." ..and Great Cats keeper Marie Magnuson says that for Kavi and Damai, romance is in the air. In a carefully choreographed courtship, the pair spend time together daily and have actually mated. No announcements yet, but Kanai undergoes a daily ritual to get her accustomed to the feeling of an ultrasound probe against her belly. The treat of frozen blook helps. SOUNDBITE: MARIE MAGNUSON - ANIMAL KEEPER/GREAT CATS UNIT, SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL ZOO, SAYING: "I'm amazed how tolerant she's of been touched. A lot of cats really don't really like it." Female tigers don't ovulate until after they've mated but zoo-keepers believe the chances of pregnancy for Damai are good. The Wolrd Wildlife Fund supports the idea of captive breeding but, according to Sybile Klenzendorf, would prefer that what remains of their natural habitat be left alone. WWF camera traps have clearly revealed what the Sumatran tiger species faces in the wild. A curious tiger appears one night...one week later the same camera records a bulldozer levelling the forest. SOUNDBITE: SYBILLE KLENZENDORF, WWF MANAGING DIRECTOR, SPECIES CONSERVATION PROGRAM, SAYING: "We've seen about 50 per cent of Sumatra's forest lost in the last 25 years and that trend is continuing. However, there is still enough habitat for a good population of tigers, you know, there is 56-thousand square miles of habitat left on Sumatra, that is actually the size of the state of New York, and, you know, with those populations they are being poached and we are losing tigers, in conflict with people as the forest is gone, but I'm still hopeful that we can recover these tigers if we stop deforestation of what's remaining there." In the meantime though, captive breeding can produce a genetically diverse insurance population. The zoo says a litter of cubs for Kavi and Damai would be a boost not just for the zoo but the species as a whole.

Jan. 16 - Washington's Smithsonian National Zoo is playing Cupid to two Sumatran tigers in hopes they will produce offspring to offset falling numbers in the wild. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that only 400 tigers survive in the forests of Sumatra, their habitat decimated by deforestation and poaching. The zoo says a captive population will help ensure the species' long-term survival. Rob Muir has more.

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1 of 15. A man walks past the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington December 17, 2012.

WASHINGTON | Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:27am EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress comes back on Monday without a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" and only a few hours of actual legislative time scheduled in which to act if an agreement materializes.

Negotiations involving Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell appeared to offer the last hope for avoiding the across-the-board tax increases and draconian cuts in the federal budget that will be triggered at the start of the New Year because of a deficit-reduction law enacted in August, 2011.

A jolt from the financial markets could also prod the parties, as it has occasionally in the past.

"I believe investors will show their displeasure" at the lack of progress in Washington, said Mohannad Aama, managing director at Beam Capital Management, an investment advisory firm in New York.

Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate had hoped to clear the way for swift action on Sunday. But with the two sides still at loggerheads in talks, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid postponed any possible votes and the Senate adjourned until Monday.

The main sticking point between Republicans and Democrats remained whether to extend existing tax rates for everyone, as Republicans want, or just for those earning below $250,000 to $400,000, as Democrats have proposed.

Also at issue were Republican demands for larger cuts in spending than those offered by President Barack Obama.

Hopes for a "grand bargain" of deficit-reduction measures vanished weeks ago as talks stalled.

While Congress has the capacity to move swiftly when motivated, the leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have left themselves little time for what could be a complicated day of procedural maneuvering in the event of an agreement.

House Speaker John Boehner has insisted that the Senate act first, but that chamber does not begin legislative business until about noon Monday.

OTHER BUSINESS ALSO ON AGENDA

And the cliff is not the only business on the House agenda. Farm-state lawmakers are seeking a one-year extension of the expiring U.S. farm law to head off a possible doubling of retail milk prices to $7 or more a gallon in early 2013.

Relief for victims of Superstorm Sandy is waiting in line in the House as well, though it could still consider a Senate bill on assistance for the storm until January 2, the last day of the Congress that was elected in November 2010.

Expiring along with low tax rates at midnight Monday are a raft of other tax measures effecting tens of millions of Americans.

A payroll tax holiday Americans have enjoyed for two years looks like the most certain casualty as neither Republicans or Democrats have shown much interest in continuing it, in part because the tax funds the Social Security retirement program.

The current 4.2 percent payroll tax rate paid by about 160 million workers will revert to the previous 6.2 percent rate after December 31, and will be the most immediate hit to taxpayers.

A "patch" for the Alternative Minimum Tax that would prevent millions of middle-class Americans from being taxed as if they were rich, could go over the cliff as well. Both Republicans and Democrats support doing another patch, but have not approved one.

At best, the Internal Revenue Service has warned that as many as 100 million taxpayers could face refund delays without an AMT fix. At worst, they could face higher taxes unless Congress comes back with a retroactive fix.

After Tuesday, Congress could move for retroactive relief on any or all of the tax and spending issues. But that would require compromises that Republicans and Democrats have been unwilling to make so far.

Obama said on Sunday he plans on pushing legislation as soon as January 4 to reverse the tax hikes for all but the wealthy.

(Editing by Christopher Wilson)

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U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama visit military personnel and their families as they walk into Anderson Hall base chow hall at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii December 25, 2012.

WASHINGTON/HONOLULU | Wed Dec 26, 2012 7:30pm EST

WASHINGTON/HONOLULU (Reuters) - Efforts to prevent the U.S. economy from going over a "fiscal cliff" stirred back to life on Wednesday with less than a week to go before potentially disastrous tax hikes and spending cuts kick in at the New Year.

In a sign that there may be a way through deadlock in Congress, Republican House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner urged the Democrat-controlled Senate to act to pull back from the cliff and offered to at least consider any bill the upper chamber produced.

President Barack Obama will try to revive budget crisis talks - which stalled last week - when he returns to Washington on Thursday after cutting short his Christmas holiday in Hawaii.

But the White House and Republicans are still far apart, as hopes for legislation to prevent the economy from tumbling off the fiscal cliff switch to the Senate.

Democrats control a majority in that chamber but still need some support from Republicans across the aisle for a likely attempt to raise taxes on the wealthy.

A senior administration official told reporters traveling with Obama in Hawaii that senior Republican leaders in Congress, Senator Mitch McConnell and Boehner, should step up to head off the looming tax and spending hit.

"It's up to the Senate Minority Leader not to block a vote, and it's up the House Republican leader, the Speaker of the House ... to allow a vote," the official said.

Months of congressional gridlock on how reduce the deficit and rein in the nation's $16 trillion federal debt have begun to affect ordinary Americans.

Shoppers might have spent less this holiday season for fear of looming income tax increases and reports of lackluster retail holiday sales added to the urgency for a deal. U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, dragged lower by shares of retail companies.

TREASURY BUYING TIME

To avoid defaulting on the national debt if the budget crisis spins out of control, the Treasury Department announced measures essentially designed to buy time to allow Congress to resolve its differences and raise the debt borrowing limit.

Obama flies back from Hawaii overnight and is due in the White House on Thursday morning.

Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz is urging workers in the company's roughly 120 Washington-area coffee shops to write "come together" on customers' cups on Thursday and Friday to tell politicians to end the crisis.

"We're paying attention, we're greatly disappointed in what's going on and we deserve better," Schultz told Reuters.

Boehner and his House Republican leadership team said in a statement that "the Senate must act first."

That puts the ball in the court of the Democrats in the Senate, which is likely to base any legislation on a bill it passed earlier this year to continue tax breaks for households with incomes below $250,000.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid issued a strongly worded statement calling on Republicans to "drop their knee-jerk obstruction."

"The Senate bill could pass tomorrow if House Republicans would simply let it come to the floor," the spokesman said.

A Senate bill would likely contain an extension of expiring unemployment benefits for those who have been out of work for extended periods.

With the 435 members scattered throughout the country because the House is in recess, House Republican leaders scheduled a conference call for Thursday with members to possibly discuss bringing the chamber back into session to deal with the fiscal cliff.

The budget fight is not just about taxes, however.

The country faces $109 billion in across-the-board spending cuts starting in January unless a deal is reached to either replace or delay them. Democrats want to switch the spending cuts to tax increases for the most part.

House Republicans have passed a bill to stop the military portion of the spending cuts and place the entire burden on domestic activities, including some social safety net programs.

But the main focus is on how to stop tax hikes on January 1.

"This is the (emergency) scenario that we have long believed would rise in probability the closer we go to December 31, which essentially calls for extending all the rates for those individuals making under $200K and households under $250K and does not address the debt ceiling or the deficit," analyst Chris Krueger of Guggenheim Securities wrote in a research note.

Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, who is retiring at year's end, told MSNBC that $250,000 "is too low of a threshold" for raising income taxes.

RAISING TAX THRESHOLD

She said that in conversations she has had with some Senate Democrats, "they are saying maybe more in the $400,000 to $500,000 category."

Obama himself recently offered to raise the threshold to $400,000, before negotiations with Boehner broke off.

Boehner and other Republican leaders said in a statement that if the Senate sends the House new fiscal cliff legislation, "The House will then consider whether to accept the bills ... or to send them back to the Senate with additional amendments.

"The House will take this action on whatever the Senate can pass, but the Senate first must act."

But even if a handful of Senate Republicans support Democrats on a measure to avoid the worst of the fiscal cliff, time is short. When the Senate returns on Thursday it is due to work on a disaster aid bill to help New York and New Jersey recover from Superstorm Sandy and other measures.

All 191 House Democrats might have to team up with at least 26 Republicans to get a majority if the bill included tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans, as Obama is demanding.

Some of those votes could conceivably come from among the 34 Republican members who are either retiring or were defeated in the November elections and no longer have to worry about the political fallout.

An alternative is for Congress to let income taxes go up on everyone as scheduled. Then, during the first week of January, lawmakers would strike a quick deal to reduce them except on people in the highest brackets.

They could also pass a measure putting off the $109 billion in automatic spending cuts that most lawmakers want to avoid.

Once the clock ticks past midnight on December 31, no member of Congress would have to vote for a tax increase on anyone - taxes would have risen automatically - and the only votes would be to decrease tax rates for most Americans back to their 2012 levels.

(Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro in Washington and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles, Writing by Alistair Bell)

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U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the fiscal cliff at the White House in Washington December 21, 2012.

WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 26, 2012 1:23pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It is one of those occasions that is quintessential Washington: the inauguration of a president, a multi-day festival of patriotism, politics, optimism and self-congratulation.

All of that will be on display on January 21, when President Barack Obama is publicly sworn in for his second four-year term. But this inauguration will be far less grand than Obama's first in 2009, when a record 1.8 million visitors flooded the city to see the nation's first black president take office.

This time the celebration is likely to attract no more than 800,000 or so guests, city officials estimate. As a result, some luxury hotel rooms and coveted tables at high-end restaurants are still available, less than a month before the inauguration.

The swanky Mandarin Oriental Hotel, with its sweeping views of the National Mall, initially required inauguration guests to make reservations for four nights. Now it has relaxed that requirement to three nights to try to fill its rooms.

But the "inauguration markup" still applies: The Mandarin's least expensive room, normally available for $295 a night, starts at $1,195 a night during the long inauguration weekend.

Even so, the demand for hotel and restaurant reservations for this inauguration pales compared with the rush that followed Obama's first election.

Back then, the scramble for accommodation was so desperate that homeowners and renters in Washington and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs leased their homes for the inauguration, creating a vast secondary market in housing that week.

Hundreds of those homeowners - including former Tennessee senator and actor and Fred Thompson, who offered to rent out his condominium for five days for $30,000 - sought to profit from the festivities and leave town to avoid the crowds.

Today the website Craigslist shows only a few dozen ads offering housing for the inauguration.

"They swarmed to the market last time," said real estate agent Hill Slowinski, who deals in luxury properties. "We are not seeing the same level of interest" this year.

The story is similar at the Palm restaurant, which offers a $54 rib-eye steak and is a favorite of Democratic power brokers. Some tables are still free for Sunday night, January 20, the evening before the ceremony.

Looking over the reservations for that night, Tommy Jacomo, who has run the restaurant for four decades, said: "It's mediocre. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Jacomo said that for many of Obama's supporters, the 2009 inaugural celebration was a history-making one that can't be topped.

"The second time, it's always not that big," he said.

That has been the case in recent second-term inaugurations, particularly Republican Ronald Reagan's in 1985. Thanks to brutally cold weather, that became a mostly-indoor affair in which Reagan took the oath of office and delivered his inaugural address in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda rather than outside the Capitol.

For Obama's second inauguration, the thrill might be lessened further by the fact that he will take the official oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts in a closed ceremony the day before the public festivities - on January 20, as required by law.

Because that day falls on a Sunday, the public events - the swearing-in outside the Capitol, Obama's inaugural address, the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House, and the inaugural balls - will be held a day later.

Hans Bruland, the general manager of the Hay-Adams Hotel who is working his fifth inauguration, said the lack of excitement for a president's second time around should be expected.

He said the ongoing negotiations between the White House and Congress over looming tax increases and budget cuts - and the threat of economic calamity if some sort of deal isn't reached - are clouding the mood in Washington and could be affecting the plans of some potential celebrants.

Obama's first inauguration took place as a worldwide financial crisis was unfolding, but his history-making ascent to the White House seemed to trump such concerns, at least for a few days.

"Oftentimes, we don't remember what normal feels like," Bruland said. "People tend to panic a little."

FEWER INAUGURAL BALLS

Such economic jitters are one reason Obama's second inauguration will feature just two official balls, rather than the 10 that were held in 2009.

Both will be at the Washington Convention Center on January 21. One ball will be for the public and guests, the other primarily for military families and veterans.

There will be a few unofficial balls held by various groups, but this will be the fewest number of official inaugural balls by any president since Dwight Eisenhower's first term in 1953 - a reflection of Obama's effort to keep the celebration low-key at a time when many Americans are struggling financially.

For all that relative austerity, there will be plenty of opportunities for big-spending Obama supporters to wrap themselves in luxury.

For $60,000, guests can stay four nights in the Mandarin Oriental's presidential suite, with 24-hour butler service and a private dining room.

A champagne cork's flight from the White House, the Hay-Adams is renting its largest suite for $7,900 a night. Before the 2009 inauguration, Obama and his family occupied an entire wing of the hotel before he was able to move into his new digs at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

One early indication that there will be fewer visitors filling such expensive beds - and contributing to the festivities - was the president's decision to widen the search for funds for his second inauguration.

In 2009, Team Obama raised a record $53 million for his inauguration, without donations from corporations, lobbyists, and political action committees as part of a "commitment to change business as usual in Washington."

This time, Obama supporters have welcomed donations from such groups. A spokesperson for the presidential inauguration committee, which manages the effort, declined to comment on the pace of fundraising so far.

In 2009, the maximum donation for individuals accepted by the committee was $50,000. This year, Obama's fundraising committee is encouraging gifts of $250,000 from individuals. That kind of generosity will earn givers access to VIP receptions, reserved seats for the inaugural parade and other benefits.

THE FIRE STILL BURNS

There is one group that appears to be fired up and ready to go to Washington: his former campaign workers.

One volunteer, Catherine Lyons, a phone bank coordinator in Emeryville, California, said she was so excited that she bought plane tickets for Washington before Obama's re-election was assured.

On the morning of November 6, Election Day, Lyons went online and bought a seat for a cross-country flight.

"It was a little risky," Lyons, 25, said. "Bravery or a little stupidity, however you want to see it."

Also heading to Washington will be Shomari Figures, 27, a lawyer who was a field organizer for Obama's campaign in Akron, Ohio.

"The excitement," Figures said, "is still there."

(Editing by David Lindsey and Xavier Briand)

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1 of 10. U.S. President Barack Obama waves next to first lady Michelle Obama as they prepare to depart Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, for their holiday trip to Hawaii, December 21, 2012.

KAILUA, Hawaii | Sat Dec 22, 2012 6:35pm EST

KAILUA, Hawaii (Reuters) - Taking what promised to be a very brief Christmas break from the ongoing struggle to avoid the "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and spending cuts, President Barack Obama relaxed with his family on Saturday at a beach retreat in Hawaii.

Congress was to return to Washington next Thursday and Obama has pledged to work with lawmakers to strike a deal to avoid the economic shock from tax and spending measures set to take effect on January 1 if a deal can't be reached, which many economists say could push the U.S. economy back into recession.

The president is expected to indulge in some of his favorite pastimes on the island where he was born and raised: golf, an expedition for the local treat "shave ice," and an evening out with family and friends. He hit the links at the nearby Marine Corps base under sunny skies on Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday, he is expected to attend funeral services for Senator Daniel Inouye, the long-serving Democrat from Hawaii who died on Monday, but the president has no other public events on his schedule.

On Saturday, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he had urged Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat, to name Inouye's successor "with due haste."

"It is critically important to ensure that the people of Hawaii are fully represented in the pivotal decisions the Senate will be making before the end of the year," Reid, of Nevada, said in a statement.

Obama's idyll was not expected to last more than four days, and he will likely retrace the more than 4,800-mile trip from the Aloha State to Washington after Christmas in a bid to cut a deal with Republicans, who failed on Thursday to agree on competing tax and spending bills of their own.

Before leaving Washington on Friday evening, Obama urged Congress to come up with a stopgap measure to spare the U.S. economy the jolt of $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts economists say would likely derail the economy.

The president asked lawmakers for a stripped-down deal to continue lower tax rates on middle income earners and extend unemployment insurance benefits to avoid some of the worst effects of the "fiscal cliff" in the new year.

Obama's family holiday, in a quiet beach front community on the other side of the island from bustling Honolulu, should also provide some respite from the somber focus on the Newtown, Connecticut, school massacre and the consequent bitter debate over measures to change America's gun culture and prevent violence.

The president's weekly radio and Internet addresses, which in recent weeks have centered on his argument for extending tax cuts for all but the wealthiest Americans, on Saturday offered holiday greetings to U.S. military forces.

(Reporting By Mark Felsenthal and Richard Cowan; Editing by Vicki Allen, Todd Eastham and Paul Simao)

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