Wary

WASHINGTON - American voters may be concerned about government spending, but they don't want federal budget negotiators to cut payments to hospitals, a new poll indicates. Nearly seven in 10 registered voters said they oppose reductions in what the government Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs pay hospitals, the survey found.  Two-thirds believe that such cuts would harm access to healthcare. “This is simply not a direction that is popular with the public,” said Public Opinion Strategies co-founder Bill McInturff, a veteran Washington pollster who conducted the survey for the American Hospital Assn.

WASHINGTON - As a subdued John A. Boehner started to lay the groundwork for compromise with President Obama to avert a year-end tax and spending crisis, the House speaker also began a delicate dance around the deep divisions in the Republican Party. As Congress returns Tuesday, the Ohio Republican must contend with the tea party wing, which helped the GOP retain the House majority as many conservatives won reelection, but which also contributed to its losses in the Senate. Republican leaders are reevaluating their relationship with the tea party, a political marriage that has fueled gridlock and, some believe, played a role in the GOP's dismal outcome at the polls.

BARSTOW - Vicky Davis pulled in a hundred grand a year installing high-end corporate phone systems until the recession hit and work dried up. Now she's racing to find a job before she drains her retirement savings. She doesn't have much time to keep tabs on the upcoming election. She spends 10 hours at day at Barstow Community College, training to be a utility technician for one of the giant solar facilities sprouting in the Mojave Desert. But Davis has heard enough to be worried.

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court justices spent part of their Halloween day debating whether visitors, including policemen with dogs, have a right to stand on the front porch of a house and knock on the door, or whether such unwanted visits may violate the rights of the homeowner. The question arose in a case involving whether police may use a dog to sniff for illegal drugs at the front door of a home. A lawyer defending a Florida police officer said that since trick-or-treaters can visit a front porch, so can a police officer with his trained dog. "It's well-established, we think, going back to the common law, that there is an implied consent for people - visitors, salesmen, Girl Scouts, trick-or-treaters - to come to your house and knock on the door," said Washington attorney Gregory Garre.

In the 16 months that he has been running for president, the thrust of Mitt Romney's policy toward Afghanistan has been this: He would hew to President Obama's timeline to withdraw U.S. troops by the end of 2014, but he would part ways with the president by giving greater deference to the judgment of military commanders. Beyond that, Romney has revealed little about what his guiding principles would be for committing U.S. troops in conflicts around the world or what elements have shaped his thinking about Afghanistan -- subjects likely to be broached in Monday's foreign policy debate.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Daniel Gonzales was only 11 or 12, so details are fuzzy. He remembers two strangers came to his grandmother's door in Bolivia, drove him to the airport in La Paz, and put him on a plane to join his parents in New York. Now 27 and barrel-chested, he has never had legal status as an immigrant in the United States. Gonzales has finished high school and kept out of trouble. But he's been refused jobs at an Apple store and a Best Buy because he doesn't have a work permit.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Last month, it was South African platinum miners out on strike. This month they have been followed by other platinum miners, gold miners, coal miners and truck drivers, as workers race to match last week's 22% wage gain won by Lonmin platinum workers after a wildcat strike at the company's Marikana facility. Analysts warned Wednesday of more rogue strikes, increasing union militancy and pressure for matching wage gains, with workers abandoning existing wage agreements and their unions, as the Lonmin miners did. Every year, South Africa's "strike season" sees millions of working days lost, usually shrugged off by international investors as the price of doing business here.

USC knew that California receiver Keenan Allen would be formidable again. Cal quarterback Zach Maynard was bound to be improved. And Isi Sofele and C.J. Anderson proved last season that they were solid running backs. USC's preparation this week for Cal also included figuring out a way to contain Brendan Bigelow, who broke out last week against Ohio State. The sophomore running back scored on touchdown runs of 81 and 59 yards and finished with 160 yards in four carries in the Golden Bears' 35-28 defeat at Columbus, Ohio.

WASHINGTON - When a senior U.S. general met in Beijing recently with Lt. Gen. Cai Yingting, the deputy chief of China's armed forces, Cai forcefully objected to America's expanding military presence in Asia and the Pacific, describing it as an effort to encircle his country. "Why are you containing us?" Cai demanded, according to a U.S. official who was present and described the incident in return for anonymity. The U.S. general denied seeking to contain China, but it's easy to see why officials in Beijing might get that impression.

Like lots of people, Peter Griswold of Marina del Rey was flabbergasted when he read that City Hall wanted to spend $10 million on a three-year survey of cracked and crumbling sidewalks in Los Angeles. He sent me an email titled: "VOLUNTEERS FOR SIDEWALK BRIGADES. " "There are so many community and social organizations" that could do the survey "for nearly no costs," Griswold wrote. But judging by his neighborhood, he said, something needed to happen. Griswold suggested I meet up with him on the 800 block of Coeur D'Alene Avenue in Venice to check out some of the bad pavement that the city should be dealing with.