NPR 2009-11-05

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Carol Van Dam.

President Obama appeared at a middle school in Madison, Wisconsin this past hour to challenge states to get their education priorities in line with his administrations’ educational goals, if they want a part of the federal government's 4.3 billion dollars in grants.

"There's always excuses for why these schools can't perform. But part of what we want is an environment in which everybody agrees. From the governor to the school superintendent 1, to teachers, principals, and most importantly parents and students, that there's no excuse for mediocrity."

The president says his administration’s first obligation is to strengthen the economy, but he said long-term economic success can only be achieved by investing in education.

The White House says victories by Republicans in gubernatorial races in New Jersey 2 and Virginia are not a rebuke 3 of President Obama, even though he campaigned for losing Democrats 4 in each state. NPR’s Don Gonyea reports from the White House.

The White House says results in Virginia and New Jersey were driven by local issues and by individual candidates and that it was not a referendum on the president. In both places, governors’ mansions 5 will go from Democratic to Republican, but President Obama’s spokesman Robert Gibbs says this is not predictive of anything in the future, including next year’s mid-term elections. Gibbs did argue that the Democratic win in New York’s 23rd congressional district speaks to internal problems that Republicans must deal with. In that race, a moderate Republican dropped out over the weekend as many national Republican figures, among them, Sarah Palin, backed a conservative third party candidate. The conservative lost. Gibbs said it shows that anger only gets you 45% of the vote. Don Gonyea, NPR News, the White House.

There is a new sick leave bill on Capitol Hill. It’s directed at the new H1N1 swine flu pandemic. NPR’s Joanne Silberner has more.

There are already two bills in the House and Senate that would require employers to grant seven days of sick leave for any illness or to take care of a sick relative. The new bill, sponsored by Democratic Representatives George Miller 6 and Lynn Woolsey, both of California, would require that if an employer with 15 or more workers sends a worker home because the worker has a contagious 7 disease, the employer has to provide up to five days of paid sick leave. The employer could call the worker back if he or she thinks the worker has gotten better. The legislation was sparked by the new H1N1 swine flu pandemic, the idea being that if sick workers stay home, it could help stop the spread of the virus. The legislation would sunset after two years. Miller plans to hold a hearing on the bill November 16th. Joanne Silberner, NPR News.

On Wall Street, just before the close, the Dow Industrials are up 31 points to 9,802. The NASDAQ is down a point to 2,055.

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Thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched in the streets of Teheran today. The marches occurred at several avenues and squares in downtown Teheran. Many protestors were shouting "Death to the dictator" which appeared to be aimed at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran’s Supreme 8 Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Today is the 30th anniversary of the seizure 9 of the US embassy in Tehran.

It’s been a while since there’s been a sixth game in the World Series and tonight's game at Yankee stadium has a stellar pitching matchup -- Andy Pettitte for the New York Yankees against Pedro Martinez for the Philadelphia Phillies. The Yankees lead the series 3 games to 2. NPR’s Margot Adler has details.

Pettitte and Martinez have faced each other six times, but never have the stakes been so high, as the New York Yankees seek their 27th championship. Pettitte has had only three days’ rest. Martinez described the matchup as two old goats going out there doing the best they can and having fun with it. Pettitte is 37 and Martinez is 38. The Phillies are hoping Chase Utley's homers will help them become the first team to rally from a 3 to 1 World Series deficit 10 since the 1985 Kansas City Royals. Utley has had five home runs, matching the mark of Yankee Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson in 1977. The weather will be cool with temperatures in the 40s and no rain predicted. Margot Adler, NPR News, New York.

A bipartisan group of Senators is launching a rescue operation for a climate change legislation that’s run into trouble. Democratic Senator John Kerry, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Independent Senator Joe Lieberman announced they’d work together to come up with a compromised bill that the full Senate could approve. Kerry’s bill, which would impose caps on heat-trapping gases, is stalled in committee.

I’m Carol Van Dam, NPR News in Washington.