The openly gay state representative led the fight to legalize same-sex marriage in what may be the most Catholic state in the nation's most Catholic region.

In early May, Rhode Island became the sixth and final New England state to allow gay couples to marry. The Democratic-dominated Legislature, led by an openly gay House speaker, overcame years of successful lobbying by the Catholic Church.

"They put the fear of God into people," Ferri said, claiming that "the influence of the church" had been the primary stumbling block as every other neighboring state, and many people across the country, started embracing gay marriage.

Ferri's victory marked the Catholic Church's most significant political defeat in an area where more than 40 percent of the population is Catholic.

Perhaps more problematic for the church is that state-by-state setbacks on gay marriage illustrate a widening divide between the church hierarchy and its members that may be undermining Catholic influence in American politics.

The disconnect plays out in polling.

In March, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found that a majority of Catholics, 60 percent, felt the church was out of touch with the views of Catholics in America today.

A CBS News/New York Times poll in February found that 78 percent of Catholics said they were more likely to follow their own conscience than the church's teachings on difficult moral questions.

That poll highlighted several areas where most Catholics break with church teachings: 62 percent of American Catholics think same-sex marriages should be legal, 74 percent think abortion ought to be available in at least some instances and 61 percent favor the death penalty.

At Vatican, newly selected Pope Francis, while a bishop in Argentina, angered other church leaders by supporting civil unions for gay couples ahead of that country's vote to legalize gay marriage.

He has taken no such position as pope.

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a member of one of the most storied Catholic families in American politics, says she's encouraged by Francis' early leadership. But she says the church's political influence will continue to wane unless it adapts.

"Gay marriage is part of a larger refusal on the part of the church to listen to, and to understand, the people in the pews," said Townsend, who regularly attends church and wrote the book, "Failing America's Faithful: How Today's Churches Are Mixing God With Politics and Losing Their Way."

Church officials in Washington, Boston and Providence declined to be interviewed for this report.

The church for decades has employed aggressive lobbying efforts on a range of political issues, and Catholic leaders have used the power of the pulpit and substantial financial resources to maintain clout. At times they've gone so far as to tell leading Catholic lawmakers they were not welcome to receive Communion if they opposed church teachings on matter such as abortion and gay marriage.

These days, the church remains active in political battles over abortion, President Barack Obama's health care law, poverty and immigration. But the church had little success influencing the gay marriage debate here and elsewhere.

In many statehouses, the church relies on lobbying consortiums made up of lay people, known as Catholic conferences, to influence state policy, aided by donations from dioceses across the country.

In Washington, the church's primary voice is the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which had an annual budget last year of $26.6 million, according to the Pew Forum of Religion and Public Life.

"They've certainly been players at the national level," said Mark Silk, the director of Trinity College's Leonard Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life.

He noted that the church has been most successful in recent years by building alliances with other religious lobbies, including evangelicals, to help shape public policy such as the contraception provision in the president's health care law. Religious leaders have successfully pushed to tighten abortion laws in some states.

Thirty states have adopted constitutional provisions limiting marriage to a man and a woman, although that's mostly in the South and West where there are fewer Catholics.

Silk suggested that some Catholic leaders in the United States may be eroding their influence by "jumping up and down" to fight gay marriage despite strong public support.

As American attitudes rapidly shifted in favor of legalized same-sex marriage in recent months, the archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, likened gay marriage to male breastfeeding and denounced Rhode Island's vote as violating "the very design of nature."

In Minnesota, Catholic leaders spent nearly $1 million last year to support a ballot measure banning gay marriage. The year before, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis produced and distributed 400,000 copies of a DVD in which Archbishop John C. Nienstedt called same-sex marriage, at best, "an untested social experiment."

Thousands of Minnesota Catholics returned the DVDs in protest. Last month, the state Legislature voted to legalize gay marriage, making Minnesota the 12th state to do so.

In Providence, the Rev. Bernard Healey led the lobbying effort to counter legalization attempts. The Catholic priest is well-known at the Rhode Island Capitol.

In late April, before the final gay marriage vote, Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin warned Rhode Island lawmakers: "It is only with grave risk to our spiritual well-being and the common good of our society that we dare to redefine what God himself has created."

The Legislature overwhelmingly voted days later to support same-sex marriage.

That led Tobin to condemn "immoral or destructive behavior" and say that Catholics should "examine their consciences very carefully" before deciding whether to attend gay marriage ceremonies, "realizing that to do so might harm their relationship with God and cause significant scandal to others."

As for Ferri, he said he's at peace with God, regardless of the warnings of the church. A faithful member of his church choir for decades, he recalled sitting alone at the altar while struggling with his homosexuality years ago.

"I got a message from God: 'You're going to be OK. Be who you are,'" he said during a recent interview in his small office in the Statehouse.

Noting that a church lobbyist would be pushing abortion-related legislation later that day, Ferri said the Catholic Church will always have some political influence in Rhode Island.

"They just picked the wrong battle this time. And I think it hurt them," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Brian Bakst in Minnesota and AP Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta in Washington contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new chief of the Internal Revenue Service conceded on Friday there was "inappropriate" spending on a 2010 agency conference, a subject set to be the focus of one of three U.S. congressional hearings next week at which the IRS will likely face more criticism.

The IRS is already embroiled in a major political scandal over extra scrutiny it gave to conservative groups seeking tax-free status, and Republicans in the House of Representatives are likely to keep the White House on the defensive over the agency's actions.

Acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said expenses associated with a conference held three years ago "should not have occurred."

The conference will be the focus of a report set for release on Tuesday from an IRS watchdog, Werfel said in a statement.

"This conference is an unfortunate vestige from a prior era. While there were legitimate reasons for holding the meeting, many of the expenses associated with it were inappropriate," said Werfel, named acting IRS commissioner two weeks ago.

The IRS has been under a spotlight for three weeks since a mid-level administrator publicly apologized at a conference for the extra scrutiny given to applications for tax-exempt status filed by conservative political groups.

The controversy that followed led to the ousting by President Barack Obama of the agency's top executive and an FBI investigation, and has become a major distraction for the White House.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, a watchdog agency that monitors the IRS, is expected to issue a long-planned report on the agency's spending on conferences, travel and awards, next week.

Republican Representative Darrell Issa, among the lawmakers probing the IRS, will hold a hearing on the report on Thursday, a congressional aide said.

The panel will hear from watchdog agency head J. Russell George, who earlier this month issued an audit on the extra scrutiny by the IRS of Tea Party groups' applications.

The aide said the hearing would be about "an upcoming audit uncovering information about excessive spending at IRS conferences."

A spokesman for the watchdog agency said he could not comment on the matter.

Werfel said that a conference like the one that took place in 2010 would not happen today. "Sweeping new spending restrictions have been put in place at the IRS," he said.

Earlier this year, Representative Charles Boustany, a Republican in charge of a House oversight subcommittee, wrote the IRS about reports that it produced a video including a parody of the television show "Star Trek" as part of an employee training program.

Steve Miller, whose last day as acting IRS Commissioner was Friday after he was asked by Obama to resign, responded at the time that the video was part of worker education to reduce travel and other costs, according to Boustany.

Boustany on Friday released what he said was a video made by IRS employees, showing several in a mock dance lesson of "SB-SE" executives at "an undisclosed location." Those initials refer to the IRS small business-self employed division.

The earlier "Star Trek" video shows IRS workers dressed as characters from the show in a spaceship.

"Its never-ending mission is to seek out new tax forms, to explore strange new regulations, to boldly go where no government employee has gone before," a narrator says.

These two and a third video with a theme using the television show "Gilligan's Island" were all produced for an Anaheim, California, employee conference, according to a congressional aide.

Boustany said Miller acknowledged that the Star Trek and Gilligan's Island videos cost at least $60,000 to make.

THREE HEARINGS

Several congressional committees are probing the scandal involving extra scrutiny for the conservative groups, while others in the past week have raised other concerns.

Issa's House Government and Oversight Committee will hear from George on Thursday. The House Ways and Means Committee will hear from Tea Party groups on Tuesday, and Werfel will testify before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government on Monday.

All are controlled by Republicans.

Obama tapped Werfel to take over as acting IRS head several days after an IRS official apologized for the scrutiny to a meeting of tax attorneys in Washington. The president said he first learned about the scrutiny when that official revealed it on May 10.

The watchdog agency report found no evidence that Obama administration officials directed the targeting of groups with "Tea Party" in their names. Still, many Republicans are skeptical and note that there seems to have been no corresponding list of names for liberal groups seeking tax-exempt status.

Agency officials say the rise of the Tea Party movement at the time led low-level officials to take shortcuts in processing a surge of new applications for tax-exempt statue.

The IRS is late in providing documents to three of the congressional committees that have sought internal emails and other correspondence.

The agency in a statement said it is "moving aggressively and taking the data requests very seriously. As a precautionary measure, the IRS is casting a wide net to capture any potentially related materials."

(Additional reporting by Patrick Temple-West; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Eric Walsh)

"If there is no basis to the , then how do you explain the suns alignment with the center of our galaxy that is predicted to occur on Dec. 21?"

Putting as earnest a look on my face as possible, I replied, "Youre absolutely correct the sun will indeed be aligned with the center of our galaxy on Dec. 21." I then quickly added, "But of course that happens every year on Dec. 21." []

The look on my inquisitors face was priceless. "Really? But how can that be?"

The sun's annual path

As the Earth moves around the sun, we see the sun change its position against the background stars a full 360-degree circle around the sky during the course of a year. That apparent path is known to astronomers asout toward the sky.

As it turns out, the moon and the seven other planets that comprise thealso move in orbits whose planes dont vary too greatly from that of Earths orbit. As a result, the moon and the other planets also appear to stay relatively close to the ecliptic.

The sun never deviates from the ecliptic and so as Earth travels around it, from our perspective, it will always take the exact same path against the same background stars every year.

Since when were looking towardwere also looking toward the center of the Milky Way, when the sun reaches that same point on the ecliptic in Sagittarius on Dec. 21 every year, the sun and the galaxys center are indeed aligned.

The ecliptic is a very important feature because it marks "the pathway," so to speak, for the sun, moon and planets as they move across the sky. Most sky charts plot the position of the ecliptic for this reason, for it provides sky watchers with a clue as to where one or more of these objects will appear.

Because theyre not located exactly in the same orbital plane as Earth, the moon and planets usually are not found exactly on the ecliptic line, but rather within several degrees of it. Thus, instead of a line, we find the moon and planets wandering along the sky within a band that encompasses the entire sky, which we call the zodiac.

The ecliptic runs exactly along the middle of that zodiacal band.

The 'classic 12'

The word "zodiac" is derived from the Greek, meaning "animal circle." A sort of "celestial zoo."

And with the sole exception of one of the "classic 12"that belong to the zodiac, all of the zodiac members refer to living things. Many of these constellations are named for animals, such as Leo, the Lion, Taurus, the Bull and Cancer, the Crab, just to name a few.

The sole inanimate member is Libra, the Scales.

All of these names can be readily identified on sky charts and are familiar to millions of horoscope users (who ironically would be hard pressed to find them in the actual sky.) []

If we could see the stars in the daytime, we would see the sun slowly wander from one constellation of the zodiac to the next, making one complete circle around the sky in one year.

Ancient astrologers were able to figure out where the sun was on the zodiac by noting the last zodiacal constellation to rise ahead of the sun, or the first to set after it. Obviously, the sun had to be somewhere in between.

Each month a specific constellation was conferred the title, "house of the sun," and in this manner each month-long period of the year was given its "sign of the zodiac."

Some discrepancies

A couple of years ago, a board member of the Minnesota Planetarium Society caused quite a stir when he pointed out that the zodiacal sign that had been assigned for a given month in the newspaper horoscope is not where the sun actually is for that month.

He pointed out that, in reality, todays astrologers continue to adhere toby at least a millennium. For instance, according to astrology, youre a Leo if you were born between July 23 and Aug. 22 because thats the time of year where the sun supposedly is in the zodiac.

That might have been true 1,000 years ago, but no longer. In fact, on July 23, the sun is not in Leo, but in Cancer. This discrepancy is due to the "wobble" of the Earths axis (known as precession).

As a consequence, there then came the revelation (even though it has been known by astronomers for a long time) that astrologers continue to adhere to star positions that for all intents and purposes are out of date by 10 centuries or more.

Outcasts of the zodiac

One thing that I have never been able to understand is why astrologers fail to recognize Ophiuchus, the serpent holder. He certainly should be considered as a card-carrying member of the zodiacal fraternity since the sun spends more time traversing through Ophiuchus than .

It officially resides in Scorpius for less than a week: from Nov. 23 to 29. It then moves into Ophiuchus on Nov. 30 and remains within its boundaries for more than two weeks until Dec. 17. And yet, the serpent holder is not considered a member of the Zodiac.

In addition, because theand planets are often positioned either just to the north or south of the ecliptic, they sometimes appear within the boundaries of several other non-zodiacal star patterns.

The revered Belgian astronomical calculator Jean Meeus has pointed out that there are actually 22 zodiacal constellations in which the moon and some of the planets from Mercury to Neptune can occasionally enter.

In addition to the 12 classical zodiacal signs and , we can also add: Auriga, the charioteer; Cetus, the whale; Corvus, the crow; Crater, the cup; Hydra, the water snake; Orion, the hunter; Pegasus, the flying horse; Scutum, the shield; and Sextans, the sextant.

And in case youre interested, in the upcoming month, the moon will be in Orion on May 13, Sextans on May 19 and Ophiuchus on May 26.

I guess you can say that so far as the celestial zoo is concerned, these three constellations are on the outside of the cage looking in.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for the New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York. Follow us on , and . Original article on .

According to state police, Goodson was a passenger in a vehicle driven by 31-year-old Garant Evans of Roselle. After receiving a 911 call from a tow-truck driver at about 3:15 a.m., police found them stopped in the left-center lane of Interstate 80 west in Denville, about 25 miles west of New York City.

State Police Sgt. Adam Grossman said both men were charged with marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and weapons offenses stemming from a 45-caliber semi-automatic handgun, that included a hollow-point bullet, found in the vehicle. Grossman wouldn't say whether either man was the registered owner of the gun.

Evans also was charged with DWI, several traffic violations and possession of a weapon with a prior felony.

Goodson was evaluated at a hospital in Denville and released into police custody, Grossman said.

Both men were being held Friday pending transfer to the Morris County jail, Evans on $150,000 bail and Goodson on $50,000 bail. It wasn't immediately known when they were scheduled to appear in court.

"This is a pending legal matter," a Jets spokesman said. "There will be no further comment until the legal process has run its course."

The 25-year-old Goodson, from Spring, Texas, played three seasons for Carolina and one for Oakland before the Jets signed him to a three-year, $6.9 million deal, which includes a $1 million signing bonus, in March.

Goodson was drafted by the Panthers in the fourth round out of Texas A&M and has played in 40 games in the NFL, rushing for 722 yards and three touchdowns on 160 carries. He also has 59 receptions for 524 yards and a score.

He spent last season with Oakland as a backup to Darren McFadden, and ran for 221 yards and caught 16 passes for 195 yards last season. Goodson was expected to compete for playing time with Chris Ivory, Bilal Powell and Joe McKnight, and was brought in to be an asset in new offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg's West Coast system because of his speed and ability to catch the ball out of the backfield.

Two weeks ago, the Jets cut defensive end Claude Davis and cornerback Cliff Harris a day after they were arrested and charged with marijuana possession in Morristown, several miles from where Goodson was arrested.

The Jets train in nearby Florham Park.

Trout hit for the cycle and drove in five runs, Josh Hamilton celebrated his 32nd birthday with a homer and a triple his first two times up, and Howie Kendrick also went deep in the Los Angeles Angels' 12-0 rout of the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.

Trout, last season's AL rookie of the year and MVP runner-up, became the youngest AL player to hit for the cycle and third youngest in the major leagues since 1930. He's also the sixth player in Angels history to complete the cycle and the first to do it since Chone Figgins on Sept. 16, 2006, at Texas.

"It was one of those nights," Trout said. "I didn't really think about it until about the eighth inning. And when I got on deck, I started feeling it a little bit. To be honest, I thought Josh was going to hit for the cycle after his those first two at-bats. I wasn't thinking about myself."

After taking a called third strike his first time up, Trout reached on an infield single in the third inning, hit an RBI triple in the fourth and added a three-run double in the sixth before homering in the eighth on a 2-0 pitch from Lucas Luetge.

"At 2-0, I think I was swinging at anything," Trout said. "It was in the back of my mind, trying to hit a home run. I just barreled it up and it went out. It feels great."

Jerome Williams (3-1) scattered six hits over eight innings, struck out six and walked two while helping send the Mariners to their season-high fifth straight loss. The right-hander got one more run of support as he did in his three-previous starts this season combined.

Aaron Harang (1-5) lasted only 3 1-2 innings in his first outing since May 7, giving up seven runs and nine hits seven of them for extra bases. The 35-year-old right-hander, who missed his previous turn in the rotation because of stiffness in his lower back, has yet to go more than six innings in any of his six starts with the Mariners.

"About the only good thing that came out of tonight was the fact that the back wasn't an issue," Harang said.

The Angels grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first. Erick Aybar led off with a double, Albert Pujols singled him home, and Hamilton drove a 3-2 pitch to left-center for his sixth homer. In the three previous games Hamilton played on his birthday in the major leagues, he did not have an RBI in 12 at-bats.

Los Angeles extended the margin to 7-0 in the fourth, scoring four runs on five extra-base hits. Hamilton legged out his second triple of the season leading off and Kendrick drove the next pitch to right-center for his seventh home run, one fewer than he had last year. Alberto Callaspo followed with a double, Aybar drove him in with a two-out double, and Trout chased Harang with his triple to right-center.

"We saw him do a lot of these things last year as a leadoff guy, and now he's hitting in the two spot," Kendrick said. "He's a great player and he has the ability do some of the things he's done especially being a five-tool player like he is."

Luetge followed Danny Farquhar out of the Seattle bullpen during the Angels' four-run sixth, giving up Trout's three-run double on his first pitch. Pujols got an RBI single two pitcher later to give the Angels an 11-0 cushion.

The Mariners threatened in the third before Kyle Seager grounded into an inning-ending double play with runners at first and second. At the time, Seager had the most at-bats by any AL player who hadn't grounded into one (168).

The game marked the return to Angel Stadium of Mariners first baseman/DH Kendrys Morales, following the December trade that sent the switch-hitter to Seattle for starting pitcher Jason Vargas. He was one for 4 with a ground-rule double and two strikeouts.

NOTES: Aybar left for a pinch-hitter in the sixth due to soreness in his right knee. ... Angels LHP Sean Burnett was reinstated from the disabled list, bolstering an injury-ravaged bullpen that is still waiting for Ryan Madson and Kevin Jepsen to come off the DL while rookies Robert Coello and Dane De La Rosa fill the void. RHP Ryan Brasier, another rookie reliever, was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake to clear a roster spot for Burnett who missed 22 games because of irritation in his forearm. ... Mariners SS Brendan Ryan, 0 for 14 lifetime against Williams, got the night off. ... Harang's next start will be his 300th in the majors. ... Angels ace Jered Weaver, sidelined since April 8 because of a broken bone in his non-pitching arm, is scheduled to throw in an extended spring training game at the team's Arizona complex on Wednesday and may not need a minor league rehab assignment. "There's only so much you can get done in minor league rehab starts," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We definitely want to control this and get him into a five-inning look with 75 to 80 pitches, and we can accomplish that down there. I think that where he lines up after that is going to be contingent on how he feels coming out of it."

The right-hander broke his throwing hand chasing an inside fastball after pitching himself toward his first win in seven starts, and the San Francisco Giants returned from a terrible road trip to beat the Washington Nationals 8-0 on Monday night.

Vogelsong was injured while fouling a ball off his hand in the fifth inning. He grimaced in pain while grabbing the hand knowing immediately it was serious. He was quickly examined near the batter's box and left the game.

Vogelsong broke two bones along the right pinkie and dislocated a knuckle the area that the medical staff couldn't get popped back into place. He was scheduled for surgery Tuesday morning at Stanford and said he likely would have pins inserted to stabilize the hand and help speed the healing process.

"We're not talking about Tommy John or anything here," Vogelsong said, his eyes misty. "Basically as fast as we can get it to heal so I can start throwing again."

Nationals manager Davey Johnson announced after the game that reliever Ryan Mattheus broke his pitching hand punching a locker in frustration Sunday. The right-hander allowed five runs in one inning of Washington's 13-4 loss to the San Diego Padres, but didn't tell the team about the injury until just before Monday's game.

"Last night after the game he came in and was in the locker room and banged his glove against his locker with his hand in it," Johnson said. "His hand didn't swell up but when he went out to throw today his hand swelled up and he couldn't throw the ball."

Vogelsong (2-4) snapped a six-start winless stretch with just his second victory of 2013 and first since April 11 against the Cubs at Wrigley Field and seemed back on track.

He walked off to warm ovation as Nick Noonan pinch hit. Vogelsong allowed three hits in five scoreless innings and lowered his ERA from 8.06 to 7.19.

"It's really a shame because tonight was the Vogey that we know, the way he threw all of last year, good stuff," manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's a tough one. I feel bad for him. I know he felt really good tonight. You've got to deal with these things. He'll be back, hopefully, in a couple months."

Brandon Belt hit a solo home run, matched his career best with four hits and scored three runs as San Francisco pounded a season-high 17 hits. Angel Pagan hit an RBI double and two-run single for San Francisco, also making a great leaping catch against the center-field wall.

Andres Torres had three hits and drove in a run and Marco Scutaro added an RBI single among his two hits.

Vogelsong got the defensive gem from Pagan when the center fielder slammed into the wall on Adam LaRoche's deep fly in the second.

The 2011 All-Star ended a six-start winless stretch in which he had lost his last two outings and gone 0-3. He was tagged for eight runs three earned and six hits in two innings for his shortest outing of the year last Wednesday at Toronto.

"It was awesome," Belt said. "The special thing about this team is everybody roots for everybody. We were as happy for him as can be, and it's tough to see him go down like this. But we know he'll be back, and strong and ready to go."

Javier Lopez took over for Vogelsong in the top of the sixth and received a little bit more warm up time. Three more relievers finished for the Giants' sixth shutout. San Francisco snapped a three-game skid after a 1-5 road trip through Toronto and Colorado.

The Giants have until next Tuesday before they need a fifth starter.

Bryce Harper went 0 for 4 in his return to the Nationals' lineup after last season's NL Rookie of the Year missed two games with a bruised left knee. He was hurt in a hard collision with the outfield wall a week earlier at Dodger Stadium that also caused him to need 11 stitches on his chin.

Left-hander Zach Duke (0-1) lasted just 3 1-3 innings in a spot start for Ross Detwiler, who is sidelined with back spasms. Duke allowed four runs and seven hits in his first start of the year.

Washington was shut out for the sixth time.

Vogelsong retired the first eight Nationals hitters in order.

The right-hander lasted only 2 2-3 innings in his first career start against Washington last year, allowing eight runs on nine hits with two walks.

"That's the best I've felt in a long time, from a mental aspect, physical aspect, everything felt good," he said. "It was nice to be able to get out there and have everything I've been working on for the last couple weeks kind of fall into place. From that standpoint it's a good place to start when I come back."

Scutaro extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a third-inning single. The second baseman fielded Roger Bernadina's grounder in the fifth but dropped the ball in exchange from glove to hand, for the Giants' 15th error in their last eight games.

Notes: Nationals OF Jayson Werth, on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring, is expected to need at least two more weeks to heal after a second MRI showed he "has some problems in there," Johnson said. "He's going to rest a bit." ... A moment of silence was held for the Oklahoma tornado victims before the national anthem. ... RHP Matt Cain (3-2) starts for the Giants in Tuesday night's middle game against righty Stephen Strasburg (2-5). ... San Francisco's Buster Posey has hit safely in 11 of his last 12. ... Belt's homer was the Giants' 21st at home. Last season through their first 23 games at AT&T Park, they had hit just six HRs.

The changes, which are more favorable than the previous tax law for the country's most vulnerable, could boost Islamists in parliamentary elections slated for later this year.

The interim parliament, led by Islamist allies of President Mohammed Morsi, approved the measure last week.

Ahmed el-Sayyed el-Naggar, an economic expert at the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, argued that the tax reforms target an already struggling middle class, but leave the country's richest people untouched.

Lawmaker Mohammed Gouda, a member of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated party and a member of parliament's economic committee, told The Associated Press that the law was aimed at protecting foreign investments, fostering economic equality and bolstering revenues.

The new tax law may also help reduce a burgeoning budget deficit projected to reach $28.5 billion in the coming fiscal year, around $1.7 billion more than this year.

Egypt is negotiating a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund that could restore confidence among foreign investors in the economy. The IMF is pushing Egypt to overhaul its tax and subsidy system as conditions for the loan.

The IMF loan is one measure that could increase foreign currency reserves, about $14.4 billion last month, a third what they were before Egypt's 2011 uprising. The country's currency has meanwhile lost more than 10 percent of its value since December.

The law signed Tuesday by Morsi stipulates that anyone who earns 5,000 Egyptian pounds or less a year ($716) will be exempt from paying income tax as it was under ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

But the new law also takes into consideration everyday expenses, allowing up to 7,000 pounds ($1,000) in tax deductions. This technically expands the bracket of those exempt from paying income tax to include those who earn salaries up to 12,000 pounds ($1,700) a year.

The second, third and fourth tier tax brackets have also been expanded, lowering taxes by around five percent on a range of annual incomes up to 250,000 Egyptian pounds ($35,000).

The new tax law will benefit the country's poor and could help improve their living conditions, according to economist Wael Gamal.

It could also help bolster the popularity of Islamist parties eyeing elections expected to take place sometime this year, though no date has been set.

The uprising that toppled Mubarak was fueled in large part by poorly paid civil servants and impoverished Egyptians tired of rampant corruption and striking social inequities.

Around 40 percent of Egyptians live near or below the international poverty line of $2 a day. In a sign of the worsening economy, the percentage of people living on under $1 a day rose to 25 percent in 2011, up from 21.6 percent in 2009.

Among the other changes approved by parliament are assessing small and medium-sized businesses the same tax rate as multi-million dollar concerns.

The bill raises taxes by five percent on companies earning $1.4 million or less a year. They previously paid 20 percent.

Gouda said a unified 25 percent tax levied on all companies would discourage business owners from evading taxes and underreporting income.

"Where will a person go to hide from the government if all are paying the same," he said.

Many smaller companies are already reeling from economic fallout after the 2011 uprising and are suffering from the depreciation in the Egyptian pound.

A proposal that would have added a progressive layer to the law by raising taxes to 30 percent on people who earn 5 million Egyptian pounds (almost $720,000) or more was not included in the bill.

El-Naggar, the economist from the Cairo think tank, said the new law, while alleviating tax burdens for the poor, makes no changes to what the wealthiest pay.

"This is a corrupt approach that benefits the rich businessmen that support Morsi," el-Naggar said. "Taxes should increase with an increase in income. It is the basic philosophy for taxation."

While the new income tax laws are set to be implemented starting next month, a less popular increase in sales tax has not yet been introduced.

Additionally, possible changes to the country's subsidy system could impact millions who rely on government help to pay for fuel and bread.

A report by the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPR) and Egypt's statistics agency found that nearly 14 million Egyptians, or roughly 17 percent of the population, suffered from food insecurity in 2011, as opposed to 14 percent in 2009. The report defines food security as "when all people, at all times have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their basic dietary needs."

It found that around 40 percent of household expenditures are spent on food, and poorer people spend more than half.

The report said that reforms to the current subsidy system would allow for savings that could be invested in nutritional interventions and job creation.

Also Tuesday, Standard & Poor's Rating Services said an increasingly difficult set of economic circumstances could raise inflationary pressures and lead to further social unrest in Egypt. Its report said inflation causing erosion of incomes could further bring down an "already low standard of living for the majority of the population."