NPR 2008-05-22

The US House passed a broad 50-billion-dollar income tax relief package today, including incentives 1 for alternative energy production. NPR's Debbie Elliott has more.
 
The bill extends popular and non-controversial tax incentives, ranging from expense deductions 2 for teachers to a research and development credit for businesses. But it also provided a forum 3 for Democrats 4 and Republicans to debate energy policy. The bill includes more than 18 billion dollars in tax credits for renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydropower. Republicans argue the best way to bring down gas prices is to step up domestic oil and gas production. Debbie Elliott, NPR News, the Capitol.
 
House lawmakers easily mustered 5 the necessary two-thirds majority today to override 6 a presidential veto of a 300-billion-dollar farm bill. In opposing the measure, Mr. Bush had said the bill amounts to a tax increase on regular Americans at a time of escalating 7 food prices. The White House claimed the bill gives away too much money to wealthy farmers. About two-thirds of the measure would pay for nutrition programs like food stamps and emergency aid for the needy 8. Forty billion is allocated 9 for farm subsidies 10. Another 30 billion dollars would go to farmers to idle their land and to environmental programs. Senate lawmakers will next take up consideration of the bill.

 In a sign of deepening trouble for the nation's airlines, American Airlines announced today it will cut thousands of jobs and impose new fees on customers for formerly 11 free services. From Dallas, NPR's Wade 12 Goodwyn reports.
 
The biggest impact of American's announcement is that starting June 15th, all passengers will be charged 15 dollars for the first piece of checked baggage. The company says the spike 13 in the cost of jet fuel has meant its annual expenses have risen by more than three billion dollars, and that's just since the start of this year. CEO Gerard Arpey indicated that he intends to cut thousands of jobs and slash 14 service by a little over 10%. American said it would start charging customers for telephone reservations too, and retire up to 80 jets. Wade Goodwyn, NPR News, Dallas.
 
The Federal Reserve is indicating it may be done trimming interest rates. That was contained in minutes from the Fed's April meeting. Fed is also lowering its growth forecast. Adam Davidson reports.

 It's a sign of how things have gotten that words like "bleak 15" and "downbeat " count as good news about the economy. But there we are. The Federal Reserve says that the US economy will certainly stay slow for some time, that there is still a risk of more severe shocks to the global financial system, but that for now, the risks seem to have moderated a bit. In fact, the danger of economic recession has lowered just enough to allow the Fed to focus its attention on the threat of inflation. That means there will almost certainly be no further rate cuts for a while. Adam Davidson, NPR News.
 
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 227 points. This is NPR.

 Time Warner says it plans to split off its cable television business. The move by the media conglomerate 16 is expected to result in a more-than-nine-billion-dollar windfall and allow the company to focus on network, entertainment and publishing operations. Time Warner Cable is currently the second largest cable TV provider in the nation behind Comcast, with more than 13 million subscribers. The split is expected to be finalized 17 by the fourth quarter of this year. Though, it still must be approved by federal regulators.

 For the first time ever, astronomers 19 have witnessed a star at the moment it exploded as a supernova. NPR's Richard Harris has the story.
 
When a star, much more massive than our own Sun, finally burns out, one of the most spectacular of death throes is an explosion known as a supernova. The star simply collapses 20 under the stress of its own gravity and generates a shockwave that creates a huge burst of radiation. The carbon in our bodies was actually cooked up in supernovas from long ago. But until now, nobody has witnessed one at the very moment it happened. Usually, astronomers see them a few days or weeks after the event starts. But now, a team of 43 astronomers from around the world reports in Nature magazine that they have caught a supernova in the act. A young astronomer 18 at Princeton University was the first to notice an intense burst of X-rays from a distant galaxy 21. Further observation showed that blast came from a dying star. Richard Harris, NPR News.

 For the first time ever, American motorists are paying a national average of $3.80 a gallon for regular self-serve unleaded, and in some states, a whole lot more than that. That's according to the latest figures from AAA and the Oil Price Information Service, which reports that gas prices rose by another seven-tenths of a cent overnight.