NRA leader doubles down: New gun laws won't work

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: NRA's LaPierre: If this idea is crazy, "then call me crazy"


• NEW: Sen. Lieberman says NRA is willing to deal with every possible cause "except guns"


• The gun control debate was reignited by the mass shooting at Connecticut elementary school


• Hutchinson tells CNN his panel will give educators instructions on placing guards in schools

(CNN) -- The National Rifle Association made clear Sunday it will not budge on its opposition to any new gun laws, despite heated criticism of the organization's response to the Connecticut school massacre.

"I know this town wants to argue about gun control," the group's CEO, Wayne LaPierre, told NBC's "Meet the Press" in Washington. "I don't think it will work."

LaPierre stood by remarks he made at an event Friday billed as a news conference -- though he took no questions -- in which he argued for armed guards in schools.

"If it's crazy to call for putting police and armed security in our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy," he said on Sunday.

He added that in Friday's news conference, "I said what I honestly thought and what millions, and hundreds of millions, of people all over this country believe will actually make a difference."

"We're going to support an immediate appropriation before Congress to put police officers in every school," he vowed.

Legislation being pushed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, to restore an assault weapons ban is not going to make kids any safer, LaPierre insisted.

Read more: Gun owners fear new laws

Pressed on whether high-capacity magazines should be banned, limiting the number of bullets that can be fired from a single weapon without reloading, LaPierre said no. "There are so many different ways" that a "monster" could carry out a massacre, as Adam Lanza did in Newtown, Connecticut, LaPierre argued.

He would not express support for any new gun restrictions, saying most gun laws on the books are currently rarely enforced.

"I know there's a media machine in this country that wants to blame guns every time something happens," he said, adding, "I know there's an anti-Second Amendment industry in this town."

The NRA supports efforts to improve mental health care in the country in hopes of avoiding such nightmare scenarios, LaPierre said.

Meanwhile, Asa Hutchinson, the man charged with developing the NRA's program to place armed guards in schools, told CNN his "high-level panel of experts" will present educators with safety options and detailed instructions.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, told CNN, "I have found the statements by the NRA over the last couple of days to be really disheartening, because the statements seem to not reflect any understanding about the slaughter of children that happened in Newtown. ...

"The NRA spokespeople have been willing to deal with every possible cause of gun violence, except guns. They're right that there's a problem for our society -- how do you spot a child or a person who is troubled before they become a killer? What's the influence of violence in our entertainment culture on people? But it's obviously also true that the easy availability of guns, including military-style assault weapons, is a contributing factor, and you can't keep that off the table. I had hoped they'd come to the table and say, everything is on the table."

Lanza shot his way into Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown and killed 20 children -- none of them older than 7 -- and six adults. He used a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle to mow down his victims before killing himself with one of the two handguns he was carrying.

On Friday, a week after the shooting, LaPierre spoke out for the first time on the massacre, blaming video games and the media, while also proposing an armed guard in every U.S. school. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," he said.

Some gun owners and mostly Republican officials rallied around LaPierre, and some -- such as Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- have indicated they support putting armed guards, or even teachers with concealed weapons, in schools.

Read more: NRA breaks silence after shootings

CNN iReporter Jason Asselin applauded the NRA's stance, proposing that U.S. troops returning from war zones could serve as armed guards. "Right now, our schools remain unprotected," he said. "Action is needed. Our children deserve to be protected."

But most of the reaction to LaPierre was negative.

Democratic Sen.-elect and U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, whose district includes Newtown, called LaPierre's words "the most revolting, tone-deaf statement I've ever seen." New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent, blasted them as "a shameful evasion of the crisis facing the country." And former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said he found the remarks "very haunting and very disturbing."

This wave of criticism continued into the weekend.

Would your gun fall under the '94 weapons ban?

New York's tabloids, normally political polar opposites, offered the same take: The Daily News' headline called LaPierre the "Craziest Man on Earth," while Rupert Murdoch's New York Post ran with, "Gun Nut! NRA loon in bizarre rant over Newtown."

Rick Huffman, another CNN iReporter and a retired police officer, cut up his NRA membership card in the wake of the mass shooting, which he said changed his views on gun control.

"There's got to be a limit to what they let citizens have at their disposal," the Michigan resident said.

Both sides, at least, appear to agree something needs to be done to prevent more mass shootings like what happened December 14 in the once quiet Connecticut town. President Barack Obama used his speech at a prayer service for the massacre's victims to call for action and subsequently tapped Vice President Joe Biden to lead a group charged with coming up with solutions.

Polls suggest that, after Newtown, the American public is increasingly open to measures such as a ban on assault weapons, which was in effect in the 1990s until it lapsed in 2004.

A CNN/ORC poll conducted after the shooting shows that a slight majority of Americans favor restrictions on guns. Conservative Democrats and some Republicans who have supported gun rights have said they are open to discussing gun control.

In a speech last Sunday night, Obama insisted inaction was not an option, especially when it comes to protecting children.

"We can't tolerate this anymore," the president said, alluding not only to Newtown but three other mass shootings over the past two years. "These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change."

Opinion: Don't let this moment pass without acting on gun control

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Syria activists: Airstrike kills dozens near Hama

BEIRUT A government airstrike killed dozens of people Sunday waiting on line to buy bread in a town near the central city of Hama, anti-regime activists in Syria and media reports said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said "tens of people" were killed in a strike by a fighter jet on Halfaya Sunday.

According to some residents as many as 90 people were killed.

"There is no way to really know yet how many people were killed," activist Samer al-Hamawi told Al-Jazeera. "When I got there, I could see piles of bodies all over the ground."

If confirmed, it would be one of the deadliest air strikes in the nation's civil war.

An amateur video released online Sunday (warning: graphic) shows people rushing toward a building an off-camera narrator says is a bakery. The bodies of about a dozen dead or seriously wounded people lie in the street, some of them in puddles of blood.

Rubble and dust cover another pile of bodies along the building's wall. Residents and armed rebels carry the wounded away while others dig through the rubble looking for survivors.

It was unclear why Syrian forces targeted the town.

Activists and rights groups accuse the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad of taking revenge for victories by rebel forces on civilian populations who support them.

The attack came as the main international envoy was beginning talks in Damascus aimed at ending the civil war.

Rebels have been clashing with government forces in recent days in the region around Halfaya, some 15 miles northwest of Hama, most notably in the village of Morek. Activists say rebels have taken over a number of regime checkpoints there as part of an effort to control the country's main north-south highway.

Syria's crisis began in March 2011 with political protests and has since evolved into a civil war, with scores of rebel groups across the country battling Assad's forces.

Activist say more than 40,000 people have been killed.

International diplomacy has failed to slow the crisis.

International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi was in Damascus Sunday to push for a negotiated solution to the conflict. Previous efforts have proved fruitless.

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Norquist: Obama, Democrats Using Newtown for 'Political Purposes'

Dec 23, 2012 11:23am

(ABC News)

National Rifle Association board member and president of Americans for Tax Reform Grover Norquist said on Sunday that President Obama and Democrats are politicizing the Newtown tragedy by pushing for gun control.

“We ought to calm down and not take tragedies like this, crimes like this, and use them for political purposes,” Norquist told me on “This Week.” “President Obama has been president for four years. If he thought some gun control could solve this problem, he should have been pushing it years ago.”

“Democrats had a majority in the House and a supermajority in the House and the Senate for the first two years that they were in office. If they thought that this was really an important issue they might have done something then. They didn’t,” he added.

Read a full transcript of this week’s show HERE. 

On Wednesday, Obama announced that Vice President Joe Biden would head a task force of leaders from across the country to evaluate solutions to reduce gun violence.

Norquist endorsed the recommendation made by NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre at a press conference on Friday to place armed guards in schools across the country.

Other members of the political roundtable pushed for what they called “common sense” gun laws.

Like “This Week” on Facebook here. You can also follow the show on Twitter here.

Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker, who is a member of the pro-gun control group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, said that there is more agreement than disagreement on measures to stop the mentally ill and criminals from acquiring weapons.

“I don’t know if anybody here has seen somebody shot – I have,” Booker said. “I don’t know if anybody here has had to put their hand in somebody’s chest, and try to stop the bleeding so that person doesn’t die—I have. What frustrates me about this debate is that it is a false debate.”

“Most of us in America including gun owners agree on things that would stop the kind of carnage that is going on in cities all across America,” Booker said, adding that loopholes that allow criminals to buy guns in “secondary markets” should be closed.

Get more pure politics at ABC News.com/Politics and a lighter take on the news at OTUSNews.com.

Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan said that LaPierre’s suggestion that the effect of a violent culture on the mentally ill has contributed to increased gun violence, but she believes that Congress should pursue some gun control measures.

“I am for the banning of the extended magazines and extended clips,” Noonan said.

Editor and Publisher of The Nation Katrina vanden Heuvel said that focusing on the mentally ill is a distraction from the issue of gun violence.

“The mental illness argument has been used to evade action,” vanden Huevel said. “More guns and bullets, more dead children.”

SHOWS: This Week

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Will media stay on gun story?

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Howard Kurtz: Conventional wisdom is that media will lose interest in guns


• He says that's been the pattern of media behavior after Columbine, other shootings


• This time seems like it might be different, he says


• Kurtz: Reporters profoundly shaken by story, should stay on it

Editor's note: Howard Kurtz is the host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" and is Newsweek's Washington bureau chief. He is also a contributor to the website Daily Download.

(CNN) -- The conventional wisdom is that Newtown has just a few more days to run as a major media story.

The reporters are pulling out of the grief-stricken Connecticut town, which means no more live shots every hour. The White House press corps responded to President Obama's announcement Wednesday of a task force on gun control with the first three reporters asking about the impending fiscal cliff. And after every previous mass shooting, from Columbine to Aurora, the media's attention has soon drifted away.

But I believe this time will be different.

Howard Kurtz

I believe the horror of 20 young children being gunned down has pricked the conscience of those in the news business, along with the rest of America.

I could be wrong, of course. The press is notorious for suffering from ADD.

But every conversation I've had with journalists has quickly drifted to this subject and just as quickly turned intense. Most have talked about how their thoughts have centered on their children, and grandchildren, and the unspeakable fear of anything happening to them. All have spoken about how hard it is to watch the coverage, and many have recalled crying as they watch interviews with the victims' families, or even when Obama teared up while addressing the nation.

Watch: Blaming Jon Stewart for the Newtown Shootings?

I've watched Fox's Megyn Kelly choke back tears on the air after watching an interview from Newtown. I've heard CNN's Don Lemon admit that he is on the verge of crying all the time. I've seen MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, say that day in Connecticut "changed everything" and prompted him to rethink his longstanding opposition to gun control, which earned him top ratings from the NRA.

Maybe Newtown will be the 9/11 of school safety.

Watch: Media Fantasy: Touting Ben Affleck (Uh Huh) for the Senate

The media paid scant attention to gun control in the past, in part because of a conviction that the NRA would block any reform on Capitol Hill. At the same time, they took their cue from the fact that officeholders in both parties were avoiding the issue at all costs—Republicans because they mainly support the status quo, Democrats because they mostly deem it political poison.

But since when is it our job solely to take dictation from pols? When it comes to subjects like climate change and same-sex marriage, the press has been out ahead of the political establishment. Given the carnage in Newtown as the latest example, journalists should demand whether we can do better. The fact that Obama now promises to submit gun legislation to Congress will help the narrative, but it shouldn't be a mandatory requirement for coverage.

Watch: From Joe Scarborough to Rush Limbaugh, the conservative media meltdown

This is not a plea for a press-driven crusade for gun control. In fact, it's imperative that journalists be seen as honest brokers who are fair to all sides. MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts, in an interview with Republican Rep. Jack Kingston of Georgia, who opposes gun restrictions, said: "So we need to just be complacent in the fact that we can send our children to school to be assassinated." That is demonization, just as some conservative pundits are unfairly accusing liberal commentators who push for gun control of "politicizing" a tragedy or of pushing God out of the public schools.

The question of school safety extends beyond guns to mental illness and societal influences. With even some NRA supporters asking why law-abiding hunters need automatic rifles with high-capacity magazines, it's time for a nuanced debate that goes beyond the usual finger-pointing. Bob Costas got hammered for using an NFL murder-suicide to raise the gun issue during a halftime commentary, but he was right to broach the subject.

Here is where the media have not just an opportunity but a responsibility. The news business has no problem giving saturation coverage to such salacious stories as David Petraeus' dalliance with Paula Broadwell. Isn't keeping our children safe from lunatics far more important by an order of magnitude?

I think the press is up to the challenge. Based on what I've heard in the voices of people in the profession, they will not soon forget what happened in Newtown. And they shouldn't let the rest of us forget either.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Howard Kurtz.

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Male model sentenced in NY murder

Renato Seabra was convicted of the 2011 murder of a Portuguese news anchor in New York City.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Male model Renato Seabra killed, mutilated Carlos Antonio De Castro, jury finds


• Both men were from Portugal visiting New York City in late 2010, early 2011


• Castro, 65, a TV journalist, broke off the relationship with Seabra, then 20


• Castro was found bludgeoned and castrated on the floor of their hotel room

(CNN) -- He was a 20-year-old male model. His lover was a 65-year-old man who was a television journalist. They were from Portugal, visiting New York City. The older partner broke off the relationship and ended up mutilated and dead.

Now, almost two years later, a New York judge has sentenced model Renato Seabra to 25 years to life in prison -- the maximum sentence -- for the grisly second-degree murder of Carlos Antonio De Castro in their InterContinental Hotel room in Times Square.

"This was a brutal and sadistic crime, where Renato Seabra bludgeoned, choked, and mutilated his victim before murdering him," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said following the jury's guilty verdict this month.

"But the jury's verdict now, finally, holds Seabra accountable. It is particularly tragic that Carlos Castro was not only ... betrayed by his spurned lover, but met a very painful and violent end far from his home," Vance said.

Castro was found bludgeoned and castrated in the hotel room in January 2011, a law enforcement source told CNN at the time.

Seabra, now 23, attacked Castro because he was angry that Castro had ended their relationship, prosecutors said.

Court document: Model confessed to choking and castrating victim

Following the prolonged attack, Seabra showered, took about $1,600 from Castro's wallet, and hung a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door, prosecutors said.

On his way out of the hotel, Seabra bumped into a friend of Castro's in the lobby, who later testified that Seabra said Castro "won't be leaving the room," prosecutors said.

Castro's body was found shortly after an acquaintance appeared at the hotel asking to see him, saying she had been in contact with him earlier in the day, but was unable to reach him for some time, officials said.

A hotel employee found Castro's unclothed body on the room floor on January 7, 2011, and the cause of death was later determined to be blunt injuries to the head and neck compression, prosecutors said.

Seabra was taken into custody after he was spotted leaving a New York hospital where he received treatment for lacerations to his wrists, authorities said. He underwent a psychiatric evaluation at Bellevue, the source said at the time.

The day after the murder, Seabra confessed to the crime at Bellevue Hospital, prosecutors said.

Previously on CNN.com: Model indicted in killing of Portuguese journalist

A television journalist, Castro had also been a recent gossip columnist for the Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha. Seabra was a recent finalist on a Portuguese model-search television show called "A Procura de um Sonho."

The two men departed from Portugal on December 29, 2010, prosecutors said.

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Rebels threaten to storm 2 Syrian Christian towns

BEIRUT Rebels have threatened to storm two predominantly Christian towns in central Syria, saying regime forces are using them to attack nearby areas, an activist group said Saturday. It says such an attack could force thousands of Christians from their homes.

Russia's foreign minister, meanwhile, said that Damascus has consolidated its chemical weapons into one or two locations to protect them from a rebel onslaught.

Concerns over Syria's chemical arsenal have escalated as the regime of President Bashar Assad suffers losses on the battlefield. U.S. intelligence officials have said the regime may be readying chemical weapons and could be desperate enough to use them, while both Israel and the U.S. have also expressed concerns they could fall into militant hands if the regime crumbles.

Moscow's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia, which has military advisers training Syria's military, has kept close watch over Damascus's chemical arsenal. He said the Syrian government has moved them from many arsenals to just "one or two centers" to properly safeguard them.

Lavrov also told reporters on a flight from an EU summit late Friday that countries in the region had asked Russia to convey an offer of safe passage to Assad.

Syria refuses to confirm or deny if it has chemical weapons but Damascus is believed to have nerve agents as well as mustard gas. It also possesses Scud missiles capable of delivering them.

Meanwhile, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that one rebel group has issued an ultimatum to the towns of Mahrada and Sqailbiyeh in the province of Hama.

A video released by rebels showed Rashid Abul-Fidaa, who identified himself as the Hama commander of the Ansar Brigade, calls on residents to "evict" regime forces or be attacked.

"Assad's gangs in the cities are shelling our villages with mortars and rockets destroying our homes, killing our children and displacing our people," said Abdul-Fidaa, who wore an Islamic headband and was surrounded by gunmen. "You should perform your duty by evicting Assad's gangs," he said. "Otherwise our warriors will storm the hideouts of the Assad gangs."

He accused regime forces of taking positions in the two towns in order to "incite sectarian strife" between Christians and the predominantly Sunni opposition. Assad belongs to the Alawite minority sect, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam.

Mahrada was the hometown of Ignatius Hazim, the former Patriarch of the Damascus-based Eastern Orthodox Church who passed away on Dec. 5 at the age of 92.

Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Syria's population, say they are particularly vulnerable to the violence sweeping the country of 22 million people. They are fearful that Syria will become another Iraq, with Christians caught in the crossfire between rival Islamic groups.

1/2

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'Fiscal Cliff' Leaves Boehner a Wounded Speaker

John Boehner is a bloodied House speaker following the startling setback that his own fractious Republican troops dealt him in their "fiscal cliff" struggle against President Barack Obama.

There's plenty of internal grumbling about the Ohio Republican, especially among conservatives, and lots of buzzing about whether his leadership post is in jeopardy. But it's uncertain whether any other House Republican has the broad appeal to seize the job from Boehner or whether his embarrassing inability to pass his own bill preventing tax increases on everyone but millionaires is enough to topple him.

"No one will be challenging John Boehner as speaker," predicted John Feehery, a consultant and former aide to House GOP leaders. "No one else can right now do the job of bringing everyone together" and unifying House Republicans.

The morning after he yanked the tax-cutting bill from the House floor to prevent certain defeat, Boehner told reporters he wasn't worried about losing his job when the new Congress convenes Jan. 3.

"They weren't taking that out on me," he said Friday of rank-and-file GOP lawmakers, who despite pleading from Boehner and his lieutenants were shy of providing the 217 votes needed for passage. "They were dealing with the perception that somebody might accuse them of raising taxes."

Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo

Cliffhanger: Congress Heads Home after 'Plan B' Vote Pulled from House Floor Watch Video

President Obama on Fiscal Cliff: 'Nobody Gets 100 Percent of What They Want' Watch Video

Next Steps for Fiscal Cliff? 'God Only Knows,' Says Boehner Watch Video

That "somebody" was a number of outside conservative groups such as the Club for Growth and Heritage Action for America, which openly pressured lawmakers to reject Boehner's bill. Such organizations often oppose GOP lawmakers they consider too moderate and have been headaches for Boehner in the past.

This time, his retreat on the tax measure was an unmistakable blow to the clout of the 22-year House veteran known for an amiable style, a willingness to make deals and a perpetual tan.

Congressional leaders amass power partly by their ability to command votes, especially in showdowns. His failure to do so Thursday stands to weaken his muscle with Obama and among House Republicans.

"It's very hard for him to negotiate now," said Sarah Binder, a George Washington University political scientist, adding that it's premature to judge if Boehner's hold on the speakership is in peril. "No one can trust him because it's very hard for him to produce votes."

She said the loss weakens his ability to summon support in the future because "you know the last time he came to you like this, others didn't step in line."

Boehner, 63, faces unvarnished hostility from some conservatives.

"We clearly can't have a speaker operate well outside" what Republicans want to do, said freshman Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan.

Huelskamp is one of four GOP lawmakers who lost prized committee assignments following previous clashes with party leaders. That punishment was an anomaly for Boehner, who is known more for friendly persuasion than arm-twisting.

He said Boehner's job would depend on whether the speaker is "willing to sit and listen to Republicans first, or march off" and negotiate with Obama.

Conservative Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said one of the tea party's lasting impacts would be if Boehner struggled to retain his speakership due to the fight over the fiscal cliff, which is the combination of deep tax increases and spending cuts that start in early January without a bipartisan deal to avert them.

"If there's a major defeat delivered here, it could make it tough on him," King said. "He's in a tough spot."

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Goodbye, U.S. Postal Service?

This Christmas could be the Post Office's last, says John Avlon.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The U.S. Postal Service is bleeding money and heading toward insolvency


• John Avlon: Congress can save the postal service in deal on the fiscal cliff


• He says the urgency is clear, let's hope for a Christmas miracle


• Avlon: But be prepared that Washington dysfunction can doom the postal service

Editor's note: John Avlon is a CNN contributor and senior political columnist for Newsweek and The Daily Beast. He is co-editor of the book "Deadline Artists: America's Greatest Newspaper Columns." He is a regular contributor to "Erin Burnett OutFront" and is a member of the OutFront Political Strike Team. For more political analysis, tune in to "Erin Burnett OutFront" at 7 ET weeknights.

(CNN) -- It's the time of year for dashing through the snow to the crowded post office, with arms full of holiday gifts for family and friends.

Not to break the atmosphere of holiday cheer, but this Christmas could be the last for the U.S. Postal Service. It is losing $25 million dollars a day and staring down insolvency -- unless Congress steps in to pass a reform package that reduces its costs.

With just a few days left in the congressional calendar, there is still some small hope for a Christmas miracle -- maybe the Postal Service can be saved as part of a deal on the fiscal cliff. But with even Hurricane Sandy relief stalled, skepticism is growing.

John Avlon

The real question is, what's taken them so long? After all, back in April the Senate passed an imperfect but bipartisan bill by 62-37. It would have saved some $20 billion, cut some 100 distribution centers, and reduced head count by an additional 100,000 through incentives for early retirement, while reducing red tape to encourage entrepreneurialism and keeping Saturday delivery in place for at least another two years. At the time, Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware said, "The situation is not hopeless; the situation is dire. My hope is that our friends over in the U.S. House, given the bipartisan steps we took this week, will feel a sense of urgency."

To which the House might as well have replied, "Not so much."

In August, the Postal Service defaulted for the first time, unable to make a $5.5 billion payment to fund future retirees' health benefits. The headline in Government Executive magazine said it all: "Postal Service defaults, Congress does nothing."

The usual suspects were at fault -- hyperpartisan politics and the ideological arrogance that always makes the perfect the enemy of the good.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa greeted the news of the Senate bill by calling it a "taxpayer-funded bailout." His primary complaint was that the Senate bill did not go far enough. He was not alone -- Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe also expressed disappointment at the scope of the Senate bill, saying that it fell "far short of the Postal Service's plan."

But Issa's alternative couldn't even get to a vote in the Republican-controlled House. And so nothing happened. Even after the USPS defaulted on a second $5.5 billion payment, the response was crickets.

Washington insiders said that action would be taken after the election, when lawmakers would be free to make potentially unpopular decisions. But despite a series of closed-door meetings, nothing has been done.

It's possible that the nearly $20 billion in savings could be part of a fiscal cliff deal. Sen. Joseph Lieberman has suggested that ending Saturday delivery, except for packages, could be part of a compromise that could save big bucks down the road. Another aspect of a savings plan could be suspending the USPS' onerous obligation to fully fund its pension costs upfront, a requirement that would push many businesses into bankruptcy. And last fiscal year, the post office posted a record $15.9 billion loss.

"As the nation creeps toward the 'fiscal cliff,' the U.S. Postal Service is clearly marching toward a financial collapse of its own," says Carper. "The Postal Service's financial crisis is growing worse, not better. It is imperative that Congress get to work on this issue and find a solution immediately. ... Recently key House and Senate leaders on postal reform have had productive discussions on a path forward, and while there may be some differences of opinion in some of the policy approaches needed to save the Postal Service, there is broad agreement that reform needs to happen -- the sooner the better."

The urgency couldn't be clearer -- but even at this yuletide 11th hour, signs of progress are slim to none. If Congress fails to pass a bill, we'll be back to square one in the new year, with the Senate needing to pass a new bill which will then have to be ratified by the House. There is just no rational reason to think that lift will be any easier in the next Congress than in the current lame duck Congress, where our elected officials are supposedly more free to do the right thing, freed from electoral consequences.

So as you crowd your local post office this holiday season, look around and realize that the clock is ticking. The Postal Service is fighting for its life. And Congress seems determined to ignore its cries for help.

"Neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor gloom of night" can stop the U.S. Postal Service from making its appointed rounds -- but congressional division and dysfunction apparently can.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Avlon.

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India seeks life sentences for Delhi bus rapists

NEW DELHI: India's government, facing swelling protests over the gang-rape of a female student on a bus, vowed on Friday to press for life sentences for her six attackers and promised stricter policing.

Home Secretary R.K. Singh also said the government would pay the medical bills of the 23-year-old victim of the brutal Sunday night attack, who is fighting for her life after suffering serious injuries to her intestines.

"We will ask for the maximum punishment of life imprisonment and ask the court for the speedy trial of the accused," Singh said as New Delhi and other cities continued to be swept by an unprecedented wave of demonstrations by women demanding better safety.

Six drunken men were joyriding on a bus when they picked up the physiotherapy student and her 28-year-old male companion and took turns raping her. Afterwards, they threw the pair off the speeding vehicle.

Police say the woman was attacked with an iron rod after being raped.

Experts say a combination of abusive sexual behaviour, a scant fear of the law and India's creaky judicial system encourage such attacks in the bustling city of 19 million people.

Late Friday, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported that all six accused had now been apprehended after a search for the last remaining suspect.

City police commissioner Neeraj Kumar had earlier said at a joint news conference with the home secretary that five people, including the bus driver, had been detained and charged with rape and attempted murder.

Kumar pledged a series of measures to "make Delhi safe," promising squads of officers would patrol the city, crack down on vehicles with darkened windows and zero in on drunken motorists.

"All hooliganism will be swiftly punished," the home secretary added.

The number of rape cases in New Delhi has risen 17 per cent from 2011 to 661 this year. The number of rapes is triple the number reported in India's financial capital Mumbai.

Hundreds of people kept a vigil outside the hospital where the woman was being treated after several rounds of surgery. The PTI said she had been taken off a ventilator but showed early signs of infection in a "mixed response".

Kumar said police would deploy marshals on buses which are commonly used by women commuters.

"The (policing) regime that we are going to put in place will be very, very strict," the police commissioner said, adding public transport drivers will be forced to carry identity tags.

If there is any wrongdoing "we will catch those people," Home Secretary Singh added.

Singh also said the under-pressure government would take a "view" on the demands by protesters in several Indian cities for mandatory death sentences for rapists.

A parliamentary panel overseeing internal security said it would meet next week to review existing laws to deal with sex offenders.

The meeting will "deliberate on issues linked to incidents of rape", panel chief Venkaiah Naidu told reporters.

New Delhi's metro system reserves a carriage in every train for women, while several police stations in university districts have all-female staff to try and stem rising crime against women.

- AFP/jc

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Best moments

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• CNN asked people from all over the world to send in their best moments of 2012


• From the Philippines to Scotland, hundreds of people sent their most memorable images


• Submissions include exhilarating holidays, the birth of kids, the realization of dreams

What was your best moment of 2012? Send us your pictures

(CNN) -- For some it was an exhilarating holiday to an exotic place, finding new love or conquering their greatest fear. For others, it was witnessing an historic event.

And for a few, it was simply a case of being in the right place at the right time to capture a moment that will forever stick in the mind.

CNN asked people from all over the world to send in their highlight of the year. From the Philippines, to Scotland, to South Africa, hundreds of people shared their most treasured images.

2012 was the year the Olympics games came to London, and, unsurprisingly, many people sent in their images of the various competitions held around the capital.

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Gaya Ilang, who works as the artist Gaya3in1, was lucky enough to participate in the Games' spectacular opening ceremony -- playing a nurse. She sent in an image of proud participants posing eagerly just before they took part in the ceremony.

"I like this [image] as it has performers from different categories -- a snapshot of the ceremony -- and reminds me of the excitement of the day, clearly visible on everyone's faces," she said.

Sport of a non-Olympic kind captured the imagination of Jamie McCaffrey from Ottawa, Canada. He submitted this lively image of soldiers from the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment of the Canadian Army Reserves competing in the tug of war at the annual Glengarry Highland Games in Maxville Ontario.

"The sight of these soldiers in a brutal test of raw strength while combined with the skirl of the pipes, the colors and flash of the different tartans on the kilts, and the cheer of the crowd was a feast for the eyes and ears," he said.

"Although, I understand that the music of the bagpipes may not be for everyone -- subtle it is not," he added.

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From the bombast of organized games to the quiet joy of a proud parent, many people chose their children as the source of their best moments of 2012.

Charlotte Brocker from Berlin, Germany, captured a wonderful image of her son Malik wearing his Ramones t-shirt on a bike ride in August.

My cheerful and determined young man helped me to realize what matters in life and what doesn't
Charlotte Bröcker, iReporter

Malik was born with clubbed feet and a physical condition called Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenitas, which means he has little muscle strength in his limbs.

His mother took the photo in August after casts set on Malik's legs to strengthen them had been taken off.

"My cheerful and determined young man helped me to realize what matters in life and what doesn't," she said.

"Malik is a very happy, easy going young man, not much can hold him back, not even being stuck in casts. I also love how he's rocking that t-shirt!"

For some, 2012 was the year not just of striking out on to new journeys, but of returning home.

Jessica Munoz from California, U.S., was thrilled to be reunited with her soldier husband on his return from Afghanistan. The poignant moment when she was reunited with her husband was captured by her friend, Libby Lugo.

"My friend literally grabbed the camera out of my hands and pushed me in the right direction [to her husband]," she said.

"All the stress and fear and pain suddenly were replaced with love and magic and joy. I felt like I had gotten something precious back that was taken from me."

And sometimes it was images even closer to home that made for the best moments of the year. Even right outside the window.

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Abdel Hamid Zein took these beautiful, surreal images from the window of his 50th floor apartment in Dubai.

All the stress and fear and pain suddenly were replaced with love and magic and joy
Jessica Munoz, iReporter

"It is foggy in Dubai on rare occasions and usually lasts for two to three hours in the morning," he said.

"It was quite impressive, because it's not everyday you wake up and you find yourself above the clouds."

And of course what year would be complete without at least one ambition being realised?

For Julie Fox, a trip to Elvas, Portugal to ride a balloon at the International Hot Air Balloon Festival provided the chance to tick one dream off her life list -- particularly when she found out the rides were free.

"I'd always had a romantic image of hot air ballooning over the Serengeti or somewhere like that but have never been able to afford it," she said.

"The whole experience: Inflation, take off, the quiet contemplation of the countryside and the aerial views, wondering where we would land and the fun of packing up the balloon before driving back to the launch site is something that will stay with me forever."

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