NPR 2008-12-05

The CEOs of the Big Three domestic automakers were back on Capitol Hill today, pushing for a financial aid package. The Chairman of the Senate Banking 2 Committee indicated he is favoring a federal bailout for Detroit's Big Three. NPR's Giles Snyder reports.

Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut endorsed 4 the government help at the beginning of a hearing that saw the return to Washington by the executives of the Big Three. Despite harsh criticism two weeks ago, Dodd said he thinks the automakers are now making a better case for assistance than the financial industry which is benefiting from a 700-billion-dollar rescue plan. "In my view, if we're going to insist on reforms by the auto 1 industry as a condition of receiving federal funding, we ought to do the same for the financial companies." Dodd pledged to put conditions on loans to financial companies in any bill to bail 3 out automakers. The Big Three are seeking some 34 billion dollars under assistance from the government. Dodd says simply allowing the auto companies to go into bankruptcy 5 would be like playing Russian roulette with the entire economy. Giles Snyder, NPR News, Washington.

Congressional officials are saying a proposal to tap fuel-efficiency loans already approved for domestic automakers will not come close to covering the billions they say they need in order to survive. Officials say they've been told privately 6 by a budget analyst 7 such move would only provide 10 to 15 billion dollars in short-term loans, far less than what the automakers are asking for. Some auto state lawmakers have been pushing a plan that would tap the program to pay for emergency bridge loan for domestic Big Three. The money has been earmarked to be used to help the automakers produce greener vehicles.

Iraq's Presidency 8 Council has approved the security deal with the U. S., the last step for the agreement to replace a United Nations mandate 9 that expires at the end of this year. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports from Baghdad.

President Jalal Talabani and his two deputies Tareq al-Hashemi and Adel Abdul-Mahdi signed the accord at their headquarters in Baghdad, providing a legal basis for American troops to remain in Iraq, though the accord will go into effect in the New Year. There will be a nationwide referendum where ordinary Iraqis will have a chance to vote for or against the pact 10. There was almost a year of tough negotiations 11 between the U. S. and the Iraqis to hammer out this deal. And after there were weeks of wrangling 12 in Iraq's parliament, still this final version was approved today in effect to end America's military involvement in Iraq. It stipulates 13 that U. S. forces must withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30th and the entire country by the first day of 2012. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Baghdad.

Telecommunications company AT&T is the latest big firm to wield 14 the jobs cutting ax. The nation's largest phone company announced today it plans to eliminate 12, 000 jobs, around 4% of its workforce 15. The New York-based company joins a host of other firms that have announced job and spending cuts in recent days as they grapple with the effects of the U. S. economy officially in recession.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 16 215 points, to close at 8, 376. The NASDAQ was down 46 points. The S&P fell 25 points.

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Faced with a no-confidence vote, he appears likely to lose. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper today shut down the parliament. The move effectively keeps his government in power for the better part of the next two months. Harper says the decision is intended to stop the clock. So, in his words, "parties can focus on the economy and work together". Opposition 17 leaders, however, have accused Harper of failing to insulate Canada from the current global economic crisis. Coming just two months after his election, the decision to close parliament which had to be approved by the unelected representative, the Head of State, Britain's Queen Elizabeth is unprecedented 18.

NASA has decided 19 to delay ambitious robotic mission to Mars. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce reports.

The mission is called the Mars Science Laboratory. It's a chemistry lab mounted on a large robotic car. It'll look for evidence that Mars is or ever was able to support microbial life. Most of the hardware is already built, but there are still some technical problems. NASA administrator 20 Michael Griffin says the agency had hopes to launch next year, but "We've determined 21 that trying for '09 would require us to assume too much risk, more than I think is appropriate for a flagship mission like Mars Science Laboratory." He says NASA will delay until the next launch opportunity in 2011. This will add to the cost of the mission. Two years ago, NASA thought the robot could be built for 1.6 billion dollars, now managers say the total will be over two billion. Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.

President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush are homeowners. Mrs. Bush’s Press Secretary announced today the First Couple has bought a home in an affluent 22 Dallas suburb where they will live after the president leaves office in January. The home is located in the Preston Hollow neighborhood, north of the city. Some of the most expensive homes in Texas are in that neighborhood.