NPR 2009-05-27

From NPR News in Washington, I’m Jack 1 Speer

Two moderate Republican senators from Maine could be key in a confirmation 2 vote of President Obama’s Supreme 3 Court nominee 4; both praised Judge Sonia Sotomayor for her stellar credentials 5, but are giving no early indication of whether they will support the nomination 6. Josie Huang of Maine Public Broadcasting reports.

Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins crossed party lines in 1998 to vote in favor of Sotomayor for her current seat on the US Court of Appeals, but Collins points out Sotomayor has had 11 years on the bench since then.

“She’s ruled on many, many cases since then, so I look forward to looking at her decisions, to reading a lot of them personally and to talking with her before making a judgment 7.”

For her part, Senator Snowe in a statement commends the President for the nomination and says she will evaluate the nominee’s record and temperament 8 before making a final decision. For NPR News, I’m Josie Huang in Portland, Maine

California Supreme Court today upheld a ban on gay marriage adopted by voters in November. Proposition Eight overturned an earlier Supreme Court ruling, legalizing gay marriage. More from NPR’s Ina Jaffe.

The attorney for the supporters of Proposition Eight applauded the court’s decision. Andrew Punio said that the voters had decided 10 this issue and their view should be respected. During the few months that gay marriage was legal, roughly 18, 000 same-sex couples tied the knot. The court ruled that those marriages are still valid 11. While disappointed with the ruling, many advocates of same-sex marriage remained hopeful. Senator Dianne Feinstein said in a statement “I believe that equal marriage rights will one day be the law of the State”. Chaz Lowe, co-founder of the Yes! on Equality coalition 12 said his organization is gathering 13 signatures to put a measure on the 2010 ballot 14 to overturn Prop 9. Eight.  Ina Jaffe, NPR News.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said today he feels frustrated 15 by the lack of progress in dealing 16 with North Korea in terms of the country’s nuclear status. Ban’s comments followed the country’s underground nuclear test yesterday and its move today to reportedly launch two short-range missiles. The US Treasury 17 Department is also said to be considering further financial sanctions against North Korea.

Consumers were slightly more upbeat about the future direction of the economy this month. The business research group, the Conference Board says its consumer confidence index rose by around 14 points this month. Lynn Franco is director of Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center and says confidence appears to be on the rise.

“We’ve seen now a back-to-back month of substantial improvement. Basically, people are becoming I guess less pessimistic.”

Then the index itself, key gauges 18 measuring both the present situation and future expectations for the economy both picked up.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 196 points to close at 8,473. The NASDAQ rose 58 points. The S&P500 was up 23 points today.

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Under terms of a tentative deal being voted on this week by hourly workers at General Motors, the company will give the United Auto 19 Workers up to 20% of the company’s common stock, roughly 6.5 billion worth of preferred shares and 2.5-billion-dollar note to fund retiree health care costs. That’s in exchange for concessions 20. Workers at GM’s Canada operations have already approved the wage and other concessions. The agreement comes as GM seeks to restructure the company ahead of June 1st government mandated 21 deadline.

Following a quiet swearing-in ceremony late last week, the new head of the Food and Drug Administration and her chief deputy have laid out ambitious plans for the agency. NPR’s Joanne Silberner has more.

Commissioner 22 Margaret Hamburg and Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein lay out their plans for the agency in the New England Journal of Medicine. They note that the FDA has been said to have two speeds for approving drugs and other products: too fast and too slow. They vow 23 to get it just right. They note that both the FDA and scores of food manufacturers have failed to adequately police food safety and they say they’ll do better. They promise to work closely with other federal agencies in Congress and communicate better with the public. They say that overall success depends on focusing on what’s in the best interest of the public. Joanne Silberner NPR News, Washington.

Washington DC Appeals Court has dealt a blow to some cabled TV operators, ruling cable firms do not have exclusive rights to provide service in the apartment buildings they wire. Federal Appeals Court ruled deals that involve a company exchanging a service, such as wiring a building for cable in exchange for exclusive rights to provide service to residents in the building are anticompetitive.

I’m Jack Speer, NPR News in Washington.