NPR 2009-02-03

After years of big spending, Americans continue to pull back. Consumer expenditures 1 fell for a sixth straight month that's according to the Commerce Department. NPR's Frank Langfitt reports.

Consumer spending was down 1% in December. Amid all the recent layoffs 2 and fears of more, ordinary people are trying to hold on to their money. Last month the personal savings 3 rate hit 3. 6%. That's striking in a country where, in recent years, many people actually spent more than they made. All that savings though does not help a recession. Consumption makes up most of America's Gross Domestic Product. And while it's good for individuals to save, economists 4 say it isn't good if everyone does it at once. Not surprisingly personal income fell 0. 2% last month as well. That was driven by the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs across the economy. Frank Langfitt, NPR News, Washington.

Attorney General nominee 5 Eric Holder 6 appears to be headed for almost certain confirmation 7. Debate is underway in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Despite some partisan 8 bickering 9, the ranking Republican on the Committee, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has said Holder is well-qualified for the job and should be confirmed.

Hillary Clinton, with her husband President Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea standing 10 by her side, was officially sworn in as the Obama administration's new Secretary of State. Today's swearing-in comes as the former first lady prepares for her first substantial meeting since her appointment. A session is scheduled for tomorrow with the foreign ministers of Germany and Britain.

Weak oversight 11 and greed help undermine US efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, that's according to the US Inspector 12 General who says the 50-billion-dollar effort amounted to a significant waste of taxpayer 13 dollars. Stuart Bowen has issued a report containing that part of the problem was poor planning from the start. NPR's Tom Bowman has more.

So where was most of the money wasted? Bowen says rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure 14 like the electrical grid 15, but six years later, electricity and oil production are still below goals. And key watering and sewer 16 projects have not lived up to plans. Bowen did not see much evidence of fraud but simple waste, from contractors 17 overhead cost, award fees and delays, sometimes due to lack of security. But some of those billion spent, Bowen says, were better put to use  rebuilding Iraq's army and police. Bowen's report was called hard lessons. Among them, the US government, especially the Pentagon, thought the Iraqis could quickly resume control in 2003. While that didn't happen, Bowen says, there was no well-defined plan B. Tom Bowman, NPR News, Washington.

Department store chain Macy's is cutting 7, 000 jobs around 4% of its workforce 18 in response to the economic slowdown. Macy's expects a difficult year with forecast that the same-store sales will fall by between six and eight percent.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 64 points to close at 7, 936. The NASDAQ gained 18 points today.

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The Treasury 19 Department announced today it will need to borrow nearly 500 billion dollars in the first three months of this year. That's a record amount for the January to March period. The announcement comes on top of 569 billion the government borrowed for the October to December quarter. Large amounts of borrowing come as the government works to fund the 700-billion-dollar financial rescue program and deal with the deepening recession that is cutting into tax revenues. For the budget year that began October 1st, the government is forecasting a budget deficit 20 set to reach record trillion dollars or more.

President Obama says his decision to close Guantanamo Bay has been met with positive reaction around the world. Mr. Obama said he is worried, however, released detainees could go back to the battlefield. NPR's Jackie Northam reports.

President Obama said closing Guantanamo is the right thing to do. He said he has to make the best judgments 21 as to what's going to keep the US safe. Mr. Obama indicated that equally important, though, is upholding the US Constitution and American sense of due process. "If we don't uphold our Constitution and our values, that over time, that will make us less safe and that will be a recruitment tool for organizations like Al Qaeda. That's what I've got to keep my eye on. " Only two dozen of the roughly 245 men remaining at Guantanamo have been charged with any crime. The Obama administration is trying to release at least one third of the detainees and will have to decide how to try and where to hold the remaining prisoners once Guantanamo is closed a year from now. Jackie Northam, NPR News, Washington.

The groundhog saw his shadow today meaning, according to legend, we're in for six more weeks of winter, when our weather prognosticator Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his burrow 22 this morning in front of an estimated 13, 000 witnesses to issue his annual forecast.