NPR 2008-10-31

While it takes two quarters of economic contraction 1 for most economists 2 to call a recession, one of those quarters is now in the record books. That follows an announcement from the Commerce Department today, the nation's Gross Domestic Product, the broadest measure of U. S. economic growth, shrank at a 0. 3% annual rate in the third quarter. The contraction for the three months ending in September was the sharpest in seven years. Many economists are looking for even worse numbers for the current quarter as consumer sharply rein 3 in their spending as a result of the weakened economy.

Campaigning in Sarasota, Florida, Democrat 4 Barack Obama reacted to the news the nation's GDP had fallen. He says it's further evidence of the failed economic policies of the Bush administration. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

The new GDP numbers came out just prior to an Obama rally in Florida's Gulf 5 Coast. In response, he added the following to a speech at an outdoor rally on a baseball diamond. "That means we're producing less, we are selling less, our economy is actually shrinking. Florida's in its first recession in 16 years. Across the country we saw the largest decline in consumer spending in 28 years. As wages failed to keep up with the rising costs of living, folks have to watch every penny. We've got to work hard these last five days. " In his speech, Obama said an economic turnaround won't be easy, but he says John McCain's policies will do nothing more than continue the path taken by President Bush. Don Gonyea, NPR News, in Sarasota.

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain was joined on a campaign trail for the first time today by the Ohio plumber 6 he made famous. NPR's Scott Horsley has that story.

John McCain has been talking for weeks about Joe, the plumber, using Ohio plumber Joe Wurzelbacher as an example of the kind of person who's concerned about having his taxes raised by Barack Obama. Wurzelbacher appeared alongside McCain for the first time during a campaign bus trip through Ohio at the first stop in Sandusky. Wurzelbacher simply urged people to get informed about the issues and vote. He later offered a more clear-cut endorsement 7. "Smaller governments, you know, as far as everyone else here, you know, lots of questions have been asked. I’m going to vote for a real American - John McCain. " While McCain has credited Wurzelbacher for raising concern about Obama's tax plan, the plumber would almost certainly qualify for a tax-break under the Illinois Senator's proposal. Scott Horsley, NPR News, traveling with the McCain campaign.

Big cuts at American Express, the New York-based financial services giant, said today it will ax roughly 7, 000 jobs, or 10% of its workforce 8 as it seeks to reduce expenses by 1. 8 billion dollars next year. The nation's fourth largest issuer of credit cards says it is the biggest restructuring at the company since 2001. The cuts at AMX come as the company faces increased numbers of bad loans and higher financing costs.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 189 points to close at 9, 180. The NASDAQ was up 41 points today. The S&P 500 gained 24 points. This is NPR.

Two white supremacist skinheads will remain behind the bars. They were accused of hatching a bizarre plot that included killing 9 students at a predominately black high school, donning white tuxedos 10 and top hats and attacking Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. A federal magistrate 11 in Tennessee today granted a defense 12 motion to delay a hearing in the case of 20-year-old Daniel Cowart and 18-year-old Paul Schlesselman in order to give lawyers more time to prepare for a hearing on whether the case should go to a grand jury. The pair are accused of possessing illegal firearm, planning to steal weapons and threats against the presidential candidate.

Two weeks before a proposed meeting by Nebraska lawmakers to change the state's Safe Haven 13 law, another teenager has been dropped off at a hospital there. From NET Radio in Nebraska, Sarah McCammon reports.

The 17-year-old left at an Omaha Hospital last night is the 24th child to be dropped off since mid-September. Nebraska's Safe Haven law includes no age limit for children that can be left at hospitals. Governor Dave Heineman announced yesterday, he is calling a special legislative 14 session to address the issue. He said a majority of the legislature has agreed to a proposal that would limit the age of children who can be dropped off to 72 hours. The special session will begin November 14th. Many of the two-dozen children given up so far were teenagers and none were newborns. Children from Iowa, Michigan and Georgia have also been left at Nebraska hospitals since the law took effect. For NPR News, I'm Sarah McCammon in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Hubble Space Telescope is back up and running a month after a breaking down. Scientists at the Hubble Space Telescope Institute in Baltimore said the 10-billion-dollar space telescope is working as well as it was before a September shutdown. Scientists made two repair attempts for successfully switching to a backup computer.