NPR 2009-07-21

President Obama again called for action on his proposed health care overhaul 1 plan, saying the government can revamp the current health care system in a way that does not add to the deficit 2 over the next ten years. The president paid a visit to a Washington D. C. Children's Hospital today where he spoke 3 to doctors and nurses about the current problems with the health care system.

“We can’t afford the politics of delay and defeat when it comes to health care. Not this time. Not now. There are too many lives and livelihoods 4 at stake.”

Mr. Obama said out-of-pocket costs for Americans for health care are spiraling out of control. President’s latest push for his health care plan comes as some of Republicans have criticized the White House, saying it would result in a vast majority of Americans paying more to get less.

 Special Inspector 5 General for the US Treasury 6's 700-billion-dollar TARP bailout funds says the Treasury needs to require banksreceiving the money to provide more detailed 7 information on how they are using it. NPR’s John Ydstie reports.

Members of Congress have been pressuring Treasury to provide more information on how banks are using the money. A survey by the Inspector General Neil Barofsky finds that 83% of banks say that the bailout money was used to supplement lending, including residential 8, commercial and business loans. In his report and in an interview with NPR’s morning edition, Barofsky criticizes the Treasury for not asking the banks to track more precisely 9 how the money is being spent, for instance, documenting whether they’ve increased lending above what it would have been without the government funds. “In our report we show that this is something that can be done. And from a transparency perspective, we think that it must be done.” Top Treasury officials and bankers have argued gathering 10 that kind of information is infeasible. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

The index of leading economic indicators 11 was up in June for the third straight month, a sign the nation could be starting to pull out of recession. NPR’s Scott Newman has more.

The index compiled by the private New York-based Conference Board is meant to project economic growth about six months ahead. It was up 0.7% last month after gaining a revised 1.3% in May. The Conference Board's Chairman Ken 12 Goldstein says the latest figures mean we should expect a slow recovery in the autumn. The Board reported a rise in seven of the ten indicators that make up the index, including employment, building permits, stock prices and new orders for consumer goods. But the interest rates spread between yields on ten-year Treasury bonds and the Federal funds rate saw the biggest jump. With interest rates near zero, the large gap between the two could prompt investors 13 to lend more money for longer terms. Scott Newman, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 104 points to end the session at 8, 848; that was a gain of more than one percent. The NASDAQ gained 22 points today.

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The parents of an Idaho soldier kidnapped in Afghanistan say they have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support they have received. In a statement read by a county sheriff today, the parents of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl said their sole focus now is seeing their son return home safely. Pentagon confirmed over the weekend that Bergdahl was captured in Afghanistan about three weeks ago by the Taliban, something neighbors and others in the community of Hailey, Idaho said they had known about for some time. Recently released Taliban video shows the soldier eating.

Gordon Waller of the pop duo Peter and Gordon has died. During the British invasion of the 1960s, the duo had a string of hits, many written by Paul McCartney. Waller was 64. NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports.

Gordon Waller and Peter Asher had a No. 1 hit in 1964 with McCartney song "A World Without Love".

"Please lock me away, and don't allow the day, here inside, where I hide with my loneliness.”

Strumming guitars and harmonizing, Peter and Gordon were enormously popular in the US and Britain, but only for about two years. Gordon Waller then tried for a solo career without much success. On the Peter and Gordon website, Peter Asher said of Waller "I'm just a harmony guy, and Gordon was the heart and soul of our duo." Gordon Waller died of a heart attack in Connecticut. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state's top lawmakers have been looking at plans that try to close the state's projected 26.3-billion-dollar budget shortfall. State lawmakers say they expect some kind of deal be worked out this week in the Legislature.