RTAmerica - 19/10/2012 - CIA demands more drones ,Assange vs Britain: Political standstill ,Koch brothers threaten employees against voting for Obama

CIA Director David Petraeus is urging the White House to expand the agency's drone fleet, insisting it will allow the agency to carry on with its missions in Pakistan, Yemen and North Africa. The Pentagon is also planning to increase its inventory by 35% in the future. So in total the US has 791 operational drone right now and is planning to buy another 732. Are those military machines really necessary? Lieutenant Col. Anthony Schaffer of Advanced Defense Studies joins RT's Meghan Lopez. CIA demands more drones Assange vs Britain: Political standstill Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been locked up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for four months and the political stalemate between the whistleblower and the UK shows no signs of progressing to a possible solution. Assange has been labeled an enemy of the US for the exposure of sensitive information by the US military. So when will this standstill end? Meghan Lopez has more. Koch brothers threaten employees against voting for Obama There are 18 days left until Americans will go to the polls to exercise their civil duty and vote for their next president. The mainstream media has exploited the battle between Mitt Romney and President Obama and to some this election is crucial in determining the future of America. Reports that employers are intimidating employees to voter for a particular candidate have surfaced and Mike Elk, labor journalist for In These Times, breaks down how employers are trying to impose their political will on employees. Buckling up cats and dogs?! While unemployment in New Jersey is the highest it has been in 30 years - at 9.8 percent, some state lawmakers are busy debating the future of pets inside cars. A bill proposing buckling up cats and dogs that are not in a carrier would make the nanny state the first in the U.S. to make restraining pets a rule, even though the Governor has promised to veto the legislation if it reaches his desk. Should lawmakers be wasting their time on bills like this? RT's Anastasia Churkina finds out. Taxation without representation angers DC residents Washington DC is considered to be the symbol of American power and freedom. However as the saying goes - the District has a long history of taxation without representation. DC residents have no members representing them in either the House or the Senate and yet they pay their taxes like everyone else and in many cases much higher taxes. RT's Liz Wahl looks at how this works and how the people feel about it.