NPR 2009-03-27

From NPR news in Washington. I'm Jack 1 Speer.

A key Senate committee has sighed off on President Obama's budget blueprint 2 setting the stage for debate on the 3.6 trillion dollars spending package some time next week. Approval by the Senate Budget Committee sets up what’s likely to be a showdown between backers of the plan and those lawmakers unhappy over the large deficits 3 it contains. Over on the House side today GOP lawmakers released their response to the budget including a promise to simplify the tax code and cut income tax rates to 10% for those making less than 100,000 dollars a year. Lawmakers also promised to cut domestic spending below current levels.

President Obama tomorrow will unveil his new strategy for Afghanistan. Officials said it includes even more US troops to provide training for Afghan forces and more civilian 4 experts to help rebuild the war-torn country. NPR's Tom Bowman has more.

The president has already announced that he’ll send 17,000 American troops to Afghanistan. Tomorrow at the White House, Mr. Obama is expected to say he'll send another 4,000 US soldiers to help train the Afghan security forces. Pentagon sources tell NPR those trainers will come from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and they’ll head over some time this summer. American commanders in Afghanistan hope to double the size of the Afghan army to 134,000 by 2011. The president will also say he's sending hundreds more civilian government experts to help rebuild Afghanistan and will ask NATO countries to do the same. Tom Bowman NPR News, Washington.

A couple of new initiatives announced by Vice 5 President Joe Biden are aimed at helping 6 to get the lagging economy moving again. The vice president said today that individuals who received disability or social security will be getting a one time payment of 250 dollars, something the vice president said would pump 13 billion into the US economy. Biden also said state and local governments are set to begin receiving grants to weatherize government buildings.

General Motor says 7,500 union workers accepted a special buyout offer, that's about 12% of the automaker's remaining hourly workers. Michigan Radio’s Tracy Samilton reports.

In 2006, 34,000 hourly GM workers took buyouts followed by another 19,000 in 2008. This time 7,500 workers took the buyout even though it was less generous than previous offers. Richard Block is a professor of Labor 7 and Industrial Relations at Michigan State University. He says the offer would be most attractive to older workers near retirement 8 and it came after months of speculation 9 about GM’s survival. "That uncertainty 10 also may have encouraged some people (to) take it out with something as opposed to perhaps getting out with nothing." GM must reduce the size of its workforce 11 as one of the conditions for getting more federal loans. For NPR News, I'm Tracy Samilton in Ann Arbor 12.

You have to go a long way to find mortgage rates as low as they are right now. Freddie Mac says from its latest survey, the interest rate on the 30-year, fixed-rate loan fell to 4.85%. That's the lowest level on record.

On Wall Street today, the Dow was up 174 points. The NASDAQ gained 58 points. This is NPR.

Somali pirates are reported to have hijacked 13 two European-owned tankers 14 within 24 hours of one to another. It was being described as the highest profile strike since foreign (na) navies began patrolling the area’s busy sea lanes. The first vessel 15, a 9, 000-ton Greek-owned ship with a crew of 19 was 450 miles east of Somalia’s south coast when it was taken over. Officials say the second ship, a 23, 000-ton Norwegian-owned vessel was seized 250 miles off the coast. Somali pirate gangs’ demanding millions of payments have become a growing problem.

New York musician Manny Oquendo has died. The 70-year-old percussionist 16 died after suffering a heart attack Wednesday night in New York. That's according to his record producer. Manny Oquendo was a behind-the-scenes musician influential 17 to development of the sound of Latin music. NPR's Felix Contreras has this appreciation 18.

Manny Oquendo played timbales. Just as a drummer sets the pace for a jazz big band, the job of a timbalero in a typical Afro-Cuban band is to play intricate parts along with congas and bongos to create a seamless wall of rhythm. What Manny Oquendo did was make it sound easy. Manny Oquendo started his career in the late 1940s as a sideman with many of the great Latin band leagues, became a leader in 1974 with his own band Conjunto Libre which he led until his death. Manny Oquendo’s recordings 19, his improvisations and his encyclopedic knowledge of Afro-Cuban music influenced a whole generation of percussionist world wide. Felix Contreras, NPR News.