NPR 2008-10-24

The Bush administration and Federal regulators are working on a plan to ease pressure on homeowners facing foreclosure. NPR's Giles Snyder has more.

A parade of Federal regulators were on Capitol Hill today including Sheila Bair--the Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. She told the Senate Banking 1 Committee that the government must help homeowners in order to cool the financial crisis. "Preventing unnecessary foreclosures will be essential to stabilizing 2 home prices and providing stability to mortgage markets and the overall economy." Bair said the FDIC is working closely with the Treasury 3 Department on a plan that includes setting standards for modifying mortgages into more affordable 4 loans and providing loan guarantees to banks. Meanwhile, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan testified before House lawmakers. He said he shocked at the breakdown 6 of the credit markets and wrong to believe that banks would be prudent 7 because of the need to protect stockholders. Giles Snyder, NPR News, Washington.

The latest weekly employment numbers confirmed what many people already know that the number of people losing their jobs is on the rise. The government announced today the first-time claims for jobless benefits last week rose by 15,000 to a seasonally 8 adjusted 478,000. That was above analysts 10' estimates and comes at a time a number of firms have announced layoffs 11. Goldman Sachs announced today it's cutting just over 3,200 jobs--about 10% of its workforce 12, also announcing job cuts this week, drug maker 5 Merck which is eliminating 7,200 jobs and Cleveland-based National City Corp which has announced 4,000 layoffs.

Democrat 13 Barack Obama has gained ground with a voter group considered part of the Republican base. A newly released survey of rural voters indicates a dead heat between Obama and Republican John McCain. NPR's Howard Berkes reports.

A bipartisan survey sponsored by the Center for Rural Strategies polled likely rural voters in 13 battleground states during the first three weeks of October. These are voters who gave President Bush his winning margins 14 and they're considered critical to John McCain's presidential hopes. But the 800 people surveyed were split evenly between Republican McCain and Democrat Barack Obama. Some political analysts believe McCain can't win the nation if he doesn't win rural voters by at least 15 points. The survey indicates that the economy costs McCain rural support. Half the respondents trust Obama more on that issue. But McCain is trusted more on addressing the war in Iraq. Howard Berkes, NPR News.

More signs of domestic automakers are facing stiff headwinds. Chrysler announced today it would cut 1,800 jobs, eliminating a shift at its Toledo, Ohio Jeep plant and accelerating the closure of a sport utility factory in Newark, Delaware. GM announced today it would suspend matching payments to employees' 401k retirement 15 plan as it seeks to conserve 16 cash.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 172 points to close at 8,691. The S&P 500 gained 11 points. This is NPR.

The FBI is releasing additional details about threatening letters that went out to Chase Bank branches across the country and contained an unidentified white powder. According to officials with the agency, the letters declared ''It's payback time." Although the FBI says more than 50 letters were sent to bank branches in 11 different cities, some of the letters also apparently 17 carried death threats, officials say so far test of the powder contained in the letters has turned out negative. There've been no arrests in that case.

As the Ted 9 Stevens' corruption 18 trial continues, jurors asked the judge today to remove one of their panel because of a "violent outburst" but the judge declined. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.

 The note passed to the judge from the jury foreman read "We the jury request that juror No.9 be removed. She's been rude, disrespectful, unreasonable 19 and" the note said "She's had violent outbursts with other jurors." Juror No.9, an African American woman, is believed to be a bookkeeper for the National Guard. In light of the note, prosecutor 20 Brenda Morris suggested that it might be time to contact the alternate jurors who were dismissed yesterday and told to stand ready if called. But defense 21 lawyers rejected that idea. The judge then called the jurors back into the court room, reminded them they should conduct themselves with civility and mutual 22 respect. And after observing that none of them appeared agitated 23, he sent them back to continue their deliberations. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

Fire crews near Los Angeles were able to extinguish a wild fire that erupted early this morning near the Getty Center Museum in West Los Angeles. Officials say there were no buildings burned or injuries as a result of the 100-acre fire. Around 400 fire fighters aided by water-dropping helicopters were able to put the flames out. The museum contains priceless works of art.