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shift could start a trend amongother large employers.

Earlier this year Ford MotorCo. said it would offer retirees alump-sum payout to offset itspension obligations.

General Motors Co. and abouta dozen other companies quicklyfollowed suit, according to thePension Rights Center, a Wash-ington, D.C., advocacy group.

For IBM, the latest movecould help save millions of dol-lars a year in compensation ex-penses, and keep valued work-ers who want to ensure theyreceive the match more tetheredto their jobs—at least until theend of a given year.

In 2011, it paid $875 millionin matching and automatic con-tributions.

The change “reflects our con-tinuing commitment to invest inour employee 401(k) plans whilemaintaining business competi-tiveness in a challenging eco-nomic environment,” IBMspokesman Douglas Shelton saidin a statement.

Financial planners say thelump-sum contributions under-mine one big advantage of

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International Business Ma-chines Corp., a bellwether foremployee benefits, is overhaul-ing its retirement program tocontribute once a year to em-ployee 401(k) accounts in alump-sum payment.

Starting next year, IBM’s con-tributions, which generallyrange from 6% to 10% of pay,will take place Dec. 31. Workerswho leave the company beforeDec. 15 won’t qualify for thematch, unless they retire.

IBM’s switch is the latest in aseries of moves big companieshave been making to rein in re-tirement-plan expenses in re-cent years—and the financialimplications for employeescould be significant.

Many U.S. companies cuttheir 401(k) match in 2009 dur-ing the economic slowdown, andsome of them have only par-tially restored it.

In 2011, 7% of employersmade no contributions at all totheir plans, up from 2% in 2001,according to benefits consultantAon Hewitt.

Benefits experts say IBM’s

ministration and congressionalofficials, would be aimed at al-lowing U.S. military operationsin Mali, Nigeria, Libya and possi-bly other countries where mili-tants have loose or nonexistentties to al Qaeda’s Pakistan head-quarters. Depending on the re-quest, congressional authoriza-tion could cover the use ofarmed drones and special opera-tions teams across a regionlarger than Iraq and Afghanistan

combined, the officials said.The idea comes as the U.S.

prepares by 2014 to draw downits remaining forces in Afghani-stan, which were authorized byCongress in response to thecountry serving as base for theal Qaeda plotters of the Sept. 11,2001 attacks. That authorizationhas since been applied to pursu-ing al Qaeda-linked groups as faras Somalia and Yemen, but thethreat posed by militants has

widened to include other areasand other alliances.

The discussion about seekingnew authority underscores thegrowing U.S. alarm over Islamicextremists in North Africa,where an al Qaeda offshoot hasseized control of territory fol-lowing a coup in Mali to provide

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WASHINGTON—Mil i tarycounterterrorism officials areseeking more capability to pur-sue extremist groups in Africaand elsewhere that they believethreaten the U.S., and the Obamaadministration is consideringasking Congress to approve ex-panded authority to do it.

The move, according to ad-

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Vital Signs

Americans are whittlingdown their debt. Outstand-ing debt held by householdsand nonprofits—includingmortgages, student loans,auto loans and creditcards—was equivalent to112.7% of disposable incomeat the end of September,compared with 116.4% ayear earlier. Consumers areboth paying off debts andseeing their after-tax in-comes rise modestly.

Household debt as a share ofafter-tax income

Source: Federal Reserve

20122011110

112

114

116

118%

>

IBM is overhauling its retire-ment program to contribute

once a year to employee 401(k)accounts in a lump-sum pay-ment. Benefits experts saythe shift could start a trendamong other big employers. A1n Tax uncertainty in Wash-ington is setting off a scram-ble among wealthy taxpayersand charities to maximizedonations before year-end. A1nU.S. officials have launcheda criminal probe of a sale ofstock by Big Lots CEO Fishmanbefore the firm announcednews that sank its shares. C3n Apple plans to build someMac computers in the U.S.for the first time in about adecade, investing $100 mil-lion next year in the effort. B1nU.S. companies were sittingatop a record pile of cash atthe end of September, but haveslowed saving as the economyhas emerged from recession.A2n The ECB slashed its eco-nomic forecasts for 2013, of-fering little hope to euro-zonemembers struggling to emergefrom the debt crisis. A12nA tech-stock bounce pushedmajor indexes higher, withthe Dow industrials gaining39.55 points, or 0.3%, to endthe session at 13074.04. C4n T-Mobile will distributeApple’s iPhone next year, adeal that will fill a major gapin the fourth-largest U.S. wire-less carrier’s product lineup. B2n The SEC said it may bringa suit against Netflix and itsCEO for potentially violatingthe agency’s disclosure ruleswith a Facebook post. B2n Congress overturned long-standing trade restrictions withRussia—a priority for U.S. busi-nesses—but slapped Moscowover human-rights abuses. A11n Investors have been flockingto buy bonds issued by top-rated firms, but some big fundmanagers warn that dangerslurk in the investments. C1n Alcatel-Lucent is consid-ering mortgaging its fast-growing Internet-routing unitor its patent portfolio to winup to $1.3 billion in loans. B1n Steelmakers have soughtspot-market price increases ofup to 15% in the U.S. in recentweeks and are getting an av-erage rise of around 10%. B6n PokerStars is in talks tobuy an Atlantic City casino inthe hope that New Jersey gam-bling regulators will let it runonline-poker games legally. B3nDiamondback told investorsit plans to close andwind downits funds after getting redemp-tion requests totaling morethan a quarter of its assets. C3n Google said it has stoppedoffering its suite of Web-based software for busi-nesses free of charge togroups of 10 or fewer users. B6n California filed a civil suitagainst Delta for failing toinclude a privacy policy in asmartphone app it offers. B4

n Egypt’s Morsi made a ten-tative concession to his foes.The president invited politicalleaders to meet with him todiscuss withdrawing an arti-cle in the draft constitutionthat awarded him near abso-lute power. Morsi’s addresscame after the governmentdeployed tanks to end dem-onstrations by the presiden-tial palace, with more pro-tests planned for today. A8More violence followedMorsi’s speech, with theMuslim Brotherhood’s Cairoheadquarters set on fire.n U.S. military officials areseeking more capability topursue extremists in Mali,Nigeria, Libya and possiblyelsewhere in Africa. A1n Budget talks resumed be-tween Boehner’s staff andthe White House. Differencesremained wide over how toavert the fiscal cliff. A6nAfghanistan’s Talibanmetwith the Northern Alliance,their historic enemy, for talkson the country’s future oncethe U.S.-led forces depart. A9nA suicide bomber posing asa Taliban peace emissary seri-ously injured Afghanistan’sspy chief, in an apparent moveto derail peace efforts. A9nGermany’s cabinet clearedthe deployment of two Patriotmissile batteries to Turkey. Clin-ton met with Russia’s foreignminister for talks on Syria. A10n Sen. Jim DeMint, whohelped bring the tea party toprominence, is quitting theSenate to run the conserva-tive Heritage think tank. A5nWashington became thefirst U.S. state to legalize pos-session of marijuana withouta doctor’s permission. A3nOakland, Calif., agreed tohand over temporary control ofits police department to a com-pliance director in a proposedcivil-rights settlement. A4nU.S. students knew onlyabout half of what they wereexpected to on a vocabularyexam, the latest sign of weak-ness in reading education. A4nTheWhite Housewas ex-pected to ask Congress for tensof billions to help Northeaststates clean up from Sandy. A5nU.N. climate talks neared anend with a standoff over howmuchmoney rich nations canspare to help developing na-tions fight global warming. A10n State health officials arereporting waves of new infec-tions from contaminated ste-roids linked to a deadly out-break of fungal meningitis. A3nMichigan officials declaredtheir support for a right-to-work bill. Backers predictedpassage by year’s end. A4nNewOrleans’s U.S. attorneyquit after a scandal involvingtwo deputies threatened to un-dermine some big cases. A5n Food and supplies reachedthree typhoon-hit towns in thePhilippines. The storm’s deathtoll rose to about 420. A11

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What’s News–i i i i i i

Tax uncertainty in Washing-ton is setting off a mad scrambleamong wealthy taxpayers andcharities to maximize donationsbefore the end of the year.

Their worry: The tax deduc-tion for charitable giving, a fix-ture of the tax code for nearly acentury, is coming under pres-sure as part of a broader fiscalagreement now being hammeredout on Capitol Hill.

The rush shows the extent towhich wrangling in Washingtonover deficit reduction already isaffecting the way taxpayers arespending their money. In addi-tion to rethinking their charita-ble giving, some taxpayers areaccelerating large medical ex-penses, selling appreciated stockand even prepaying mortgages,financial advisers say.

“People want to take advan-tage of 2012’s certainty,” saidBenjamin Pierce, head of Van-guard Charitable, a nonprofitgroup affiliated with moneymanager Vanguard Group Inc.“Front-loading is very much ontheir minds.”

Fidelity Charitable, an affili-ate of Fidelity Investments, tookin $1.2 billion for the first ninemonths of 2012, up 63% from thesame period in 2011, whileSchwab Charitable, an affiliate ofCharles Schwab Corp., recordeda 74% jump for the third quarter.Vanguard Charitable saw a 43%increase through the end of No-vember.

The charitable deduction hasbeen under fire from some poli-ticians on both sides of the aislefor several years. Speaking tobusiness leaders at the BusinessRoundtable in Washington onWednesday, President BarackObama said a complete elimina-tion of the charitable deductionis unlikely.

The deduction, which hasbeen part of the tax code since1917, allows taxpayers to reducetheir taxable income by givingmoney or other assets to certaintax-exempt groups, includingchurches, schools and charities.

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BY LAURA SAUNDERSAND HANNAH KARP

Fiscal Talks SpurCharitable Giving

BY KELLY GREENE

Benefits LeaderReins In 401(k)s

BY JULIAN E. BARNESAND EVAN PEREZ

Terror Fight Shifts to AfricaU.S. Considers Seeking Congressional Backing for Operations Against Extremists

RIGHT TO DISAGREE: Supporters and opponents square off in Lansing, Mich., over proposed right-to-work legislation affecting union fee payments. A4

AssociatedPress

To Quote Thomas Jefferson,‘I Never Actually Said That’

i i i

Librarian Tracks Sayings MisattributedTo Founding Father; ‘A Fine Spiced Pickle’

Thomas Jefferson once fa-mously wrote, “All tyranny needsto gain a foothold is for people ofgood conscience to remain silent.”

Or did he? Numerous socialmovements attribute the quote tohim. “The Complete Id-iot’s Guide to U.S. Gov-ernment and Politics”cites it in a discussionof American democracy.Actor Chuck Norris’s2010 treatise “BlackBelt Patriotism: How toReawaken America”uses it to urge conser-vatives to become moreinvolved in politics. It iseven on T-shirts and de-cals.

Yet the founding father andthird U.S. president never wrote itor said it, insists Anna Berkes, a33-year-old research librarian atthe Jefferson Library at Monti-cello, his grand estate just outside

Charlottesville, Va. Nor does hehave any connection to many ofthe “Jeffersonian” quotes thatpoliticians on both sides of theaisle have slung back and forth inrecent years, she says.

“People will see a quote and itappeals to an opinion that they

have and if it has Jeffer-son’s name attached toit that gives it moreweight,” she says. “He’sconstantly being in-voked by people whenthey are making argu-ments about politicsand actually all sorts oftopics.”

A spokeswoman forthe Guide’s publishersaid it was looking intothe quote. Mr. Norris’s

publicist didn’t respond to re-quests for comment.

To counter what she calls ram-pant misattribution, Ms. Berkes isfighting the Internet with the In-

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Thomas Jefferson

BY CAMERON MCWHIRTER

Organized Labor Plays Defense in Michigan

Fiscal-cliff talks resume, butdifferences remain wide........... A6

McConnell is taking a toughertone than in past standoffs... A6

Paramou

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In Mali, a warlord finds himselfwith some leverage.................. A14

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