NPR 2009-10-23

President Obama is praising a new Treasury 1 Department plan to rein 2 in executive compensation by 50%. The seven largest companies had received billions in taxpayer 3 bailouts. Speaking at the White House, the president said that many Americans were not pleased when top executives of the firms which have yet to repay the government continue to fund lavish 4 pay packages for their executives.

“We don’t disparage 5 wealth, we don’t begrudge 6 anybody for doing well, we believe in success. But it does offend our values when executives of big financial firms, firms that are struggling, pay themselves huge bonuses even as they continue to rely on taxpayer assistance to stay afloat."

Corporate 7 Governance Groups are also hailing the administration’s move. Paul Hodgson is a senior research associate with the Corporate Library, an independent research firm that looks at executive compensation.

“The limitations on cash payments and the delivery of stock which will be deferred 8 for a number of years would seem to, at least, level the playing field for these executives and the other highly-paid earners at the company."

Among the firms affected 9 are AIG, Bank of America and General Motors.

New government figures indicate continued weakness in the labor 11 market even though the economy seems to be reviving. NPR’s Giles Snyder reports.

The Labor Department says new claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week after falling in five of the past six weeks. New claims increased by 11,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 531,000. Economists 12 keep an eye on initial claims. They are considered to be a good gauge 13 of layoffs 14 and an indication of companies’ willingness to hire new workers. The four-week average smoothes out fluctuations 15 in the weekly data. It’s now at its lowest since mid-January, but remains 16 well above the 325,000 that economists say is consistent with a healthy economy. Many analysts 17 believe the economy started growing again over the summer. White House economic advisor 18 Lawrence Summers told Reuters yesterday that there is no doubt about that, but he said job growth will lag behind a broader recovery. Giles Snyder, NPR News, Washington.

It's being called the single biggest strike aimed at a Mexican drug cartel operating inside the US, the arrest today of more than 300 people in a series of raids across the country. Attorney General Eric Holder 19 said many of those arrested are believed to be members of La Familia, one of the newest and most violent Mexican drug gangs.

“The sheer level and depravity of violence that this cartel has exhibited thus far exceeds what we unfortunately have become accustomed to from the other cartels.”

More than 3,000 Federal agents and police officers took part in the operation over two days in more than a dozen states. Cartel’s alleged 20 leader Servando Gomez-Martinez has been indicted 21 by a New York grand jury.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 131 points to end the session at 10,081. The NASDAQ gained 14 points. The S&P 500 rose 11 points today.

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The word from the White House says that a presidential decision on whether to send additional US troops to Afghanistan will be coming within the next few weeks. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs confirmed today president had spoken with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Karzai has now agreed to a runoff election which will be held next month after some votes in a previous race were invalidated. Meanwhile, the White House today rejected criticisms from former Vice 22 President Dick Cheney and some other Republicans that the president’s decision on Afghanistan is taking too long.

The man who oversaw 23 the prosecution 24 of then-Senator Ted 10 Stevens is leaving his job at the end of the month. The Justice Department abandoned its case against Stevens after admitting prosecutorial 25 misconduct. NPR’s Ari Shapiro has more.

William Welch ran the Justice Department’s public integrity section which ran the Stevens prosecution. Now Welch is moving back to Massachusetts to work in the US attorney’s office there. A jury convicted Stevens of lying about gifts he received as a Senator. Then Stevens narrowly lost his seat in an election. But soon after the trial, government officials involved in the case said prosecutors 26 hid important evidence that should have been given to defense 27 lawyers. When Eric Holder became Attorney General, he said prosecutors screwed up. A judge overturned the conviction and Holder opened an investigation 28 into what went wrong. The man, who was Welch’s supervisor 29, Justice Lanny Breuer, confirmed the move back to Massachusetts. Assistant Attorney General Breuer praised Welch and said it was a mutual 30 decision. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

Fewer Americans believe there is solid evidence of global warming. A survey from the Pew Research Center for People and the Press found just 57% of those polls said there is strong evidence the earth’s temperature has risen over the past decades. That’s down sharply from the 76% in a survey done in 2006.