NPR 2009-03-06

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack 1 Speer.

President Barack Obama opened the administration conference on the nation's health care system today, saying for years federal officials have talked and tinkered around the edges of revamping health care. He said now it's time to address the situation. "The status quo is the one option that's not on the table. And those who seek to block any reform at all, any reform at any costs, will not prevail this time around." Mr. Obama complained about the soaring cost of health care, which, as he put it, causes a bankruptcy 2 in America every 30 seconds. The president spoke 3 as over 100 policymakers gathered at the White House today to begin moving forward on a plan to overhaul 4 the nation's health care system.

Auditors 5 for General Motors say there is substantial doubt about the company's ability to survive without bankruptcy. The notice came in GM's annual filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Dustin Dwyer of Michigan Radio has more.

GM has lost 82 billion dollars since 2005. It's borrowed 13 billion dollars from the federal government. By now, just about everyone has doubts about the company's ability to stay in business. Auto 6 industry analyst 7 Aaron Bragman of IHS Global Insight says GM's auditors still have to make their concerns official. "This is something that's required under accounting 8 laws. The auditors have an obligation to go over GM's books and determine what their chances are, what their future looks like." And that assessment 9 creates a new set of problems for GM. Auto parts suppliers could start demanding payment up front for new orders and GM's cash drain could accelerate. To survive, the company is asking for a total of up to 30 billion dollars from the federal government. For NPR News, I'm Dustin Dwyer in Ann Arbor 10, Michigan.

A number of countries are saying efforts to prosecute 11 Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will undermine peace efforts in Darfur. NPR's Gwen Tompkins has more.

China, Russia, the African Union and Arab states have all been reluctant to see the case move forward. All claimed that the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will spoil the gains made toward peace in Darfur. The court wants to try Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in that region. The Chinese Foreign Ministry 12 today said that China opposes anything that could disrupt peace efforts. But like many foreign powers who oppose Bashir's arrest, China has a strong economic interest in Sudan. China is Sudan's most vital trading partner with enormous investments in that country's oil industry and Beijing is believed to be the Khartoum government's largest supplier of weapons. Gwen Tompkins, NPR News, Nairobi.

Government's weekly unemployment numbers fell off slightly from the previous week, nonetheless remained at recession levels. Labor 13 Department reported today first time jobless claims last week fell to 639,000.

On Wall Street, a difficult day for the stock market: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 281 points today; the NASDAQ was down 54 points; the Standard & Poor's 500 lost 30 points today.

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After an alarming spike 14 in the number of soldier suicides in January, the army said today there were another suspected 18 suicides last month. The army, which generally only releases such numbers on an annual basis, said it's decided 15 to release monthly numbers to help focus attention on the problem and on prevention. Army vice 16 chief of staff says there were two confirmed suicides by soldiers last month with 16 other suspected cases that remain under investigation 17.

Democrats 18 continue to hammer radio host Rush Limbaugh's comments that he wants President Obama to fail. Liberal activists 19 have a television ad campaign. Now the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is calling on Republicans to disavow Limbaugh's comments. NPR's Ari Shapiro has more.

Democrats believe they can force Republicans to alienate 20 their base or alienate moderates by making them take sides for or against Limbaugh. This TV ad came out Monday. "Call the Republican leadership, tell them to just say no to the politics of Rush Limbaugh. 'I hope he fails.'" And now Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy has said this at a committee business meeting: "I realize that the person who's now been considered the putative 21 head of the Republican Party says he does not want the president to succeed. I would hope, however, they were independent enough not to take orders from him." Committee Republicans have been trying to move beyond the controversy 22 and they did not reply. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

The Cook County Sheriff's Office in Chicago has filed a suit against the popular online classified ad site Craigslist, alleging 23 the service helps promote prostitution. County Sheriff Tom Dart 24 in the suit says he wants the company to eliminate its erotic services section, suggesting many of the ads amount to blatant 25 solicitations for prostitution.

I'm Jack Speer, NPR News in Washington.