NPR 2008-04-10

Day two of testimony 1 by the nation’s top military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus told the House lawmakers while Iraqi security forces did well in recent fighting in Basra, he said overall they’re what he called “a mixed bag”. Petraeus also told lawmakers that even if security does deteriorate 2 in Iraq, he’s unlikely to call for another US troop build-up. The comments today followed testimony before Senate lawmakers yesterday.

 A survey released today says Americans are getting more pessimistic about the state of the economy. NPR’s Jim Zarroli reports.

 The Pew research Center released a survey on consumer attitudes and it found that most Americans feel like they’ve made no economic progress over the past five years. Almost a third said they’re just holding their ground while a quarter said they've fallen behind. Four out of five people said it’s become more difficult for middle-class Americans to maintain their standard of living. On the other hand, two-thirds of middle-class Americans say their standard of living is greater than their parents’ was at a similar age, and 80% of wealthy people thought that. And there was no clear consensus 3 about who is to blame for the problems in the economy. Twenty-six percent blamed the government; fifteen percent the price of oil; and 11% blamed the people themselves. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

 On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 49 points today to end the session at 12,527. The NASDAQ declined 26 points. The S&P500 was down 11 points to end the session at 1,354. This is NPR.

 US officials said they’ve now confirmed that a top al-Qaeda leader is dead. They say Abu Ubaida al-Masri apparently 4 died of natural causes last year in a tribal 5 area located on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Al-Masri has been linked to not only attacks on US forces in Afghanistan, but also the deadly 2005 bombings in London and an unsuccessful attempt to blow up jetliners flying between Europe and the US. Officials say it’s believed he died from either hepatitis or a blood disease.

 House leaders are moving to put off a vote on a Colombian trade agreement. President Bush had tried to force a vote on the controversial deal before the fall election. NPR’s Debbie Eliott reports.

 Earlier this week, President Bush sent Congress a free trade agreement with Colombia under fast-track authority which started a 90-day clock for lawmakers to vote. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Thursday the House will vote to eliminate that timetable. “I believe that the issue of trade is an important one to our country, that the discussion of it has to be managed in a way that is as unemotional as possible, and that is not possible if the president of the United States is going to usurp 6 the discretion 7 of Speaker of the House to bring a bill to the floor.” House Republican leader John Boehner says any vote to delay consideration of that Colombia Free Trade Agreement will violate the spirit of the law and “be cheating”. Debbie Eliott, NPR News, the Capitol.

 Another day, another record high for US gas prices with the national average for self-serve unleaded now at $3.34 a gallon. The latest increase follows word that crude oil supplies fell by surprising 3.2 million barrels last week. According to AAA and Oil Price Information Service, gas prices were up 55 cents from a year ago.