November 2008 News History Archives

November 2008 News:
2008 Election News

_2008 News News Reference November 2008 News
November 26, 2008 News URL: #November-26-2008-News
20081126 Wednesday

- Infant - Food - Health - Science - Politics - Industrial - Maker - US - China
"FDA finds melamine traces in U.S. infant formulas." ... "The Food and Drug Administration has found trace amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in some U.S. [United States] infant formulas, but at levels 10,000 times lower than those found in Chinese-made formula." ... "In China, where faked formula killed at least four children and sickened more than 53,000, large amounts of melamine were added to watered-down milk to make it appear to have an appropriate protein content." ... "The trace amounts of melamine and cyanuric acid, a melamine by-product, were found in formula from Abbott Laboratories, Nestle and Mead Johnson, which together make more than 90% of all infant formula produced in the United States." -AP via -USATODAY

- China - Media - Politics - Entertainment - Music - Free Speech - Law - US
"China state media blast new Guns N' Roses album." ... "A newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party is blasting the latest Guns N' Roses album as an attack on the Chinese nation." ... "Delayed since recording began in 1994, "Chinese Democracy" hit stores in the U.S. on Sunday, although it is unlikely to be sold legally in China, where censors maintain tight control over films, music and publications." ... "In an article Monday headlined "American band releases album venomously attacking China," the Global Times said unidentified Chinese Internet users had described the album as part of a plot by some in the West to "grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn."" ... "The album "turns its spear point on China," the article said." -By Christopher Bodeen -AP via -Yahoo

- Economics - History - Politics
"Amity Shlaes strikes again." ... "When you hear claims that the New Deal made the depression worse, they often come directly or indirectly from the work of Amity Shlaes, whose misleading statistics have been widely disseminated on the right." ... "Now, Ms. Shlaes has found a new target: John Maynard Keynes. There’s a lot to critique in this piece, but this one takes the cake:"

"But the most telling fact about the new rush to spend is that its advocates have insisted on invoking the New Deal. They tend to gloss over the period when the phrase, “We are all Keynesians now,” was actually first uttered: the mid-1960s. (Uttered by Friedman, in fact, though he meant only that we all work in the terms of the Keynesian lexicon.)"

"The Great Society of that period was the ultimate Keynesian experiment, and it didn’t work very well."

- Jeff Sessions - Auto - Makers - Workers - Health Care - Pension - Politics - Federal - Economy - 2010 Election - Michigan - Ohio - US - Foreign - Alabama - Georgia - Kentucky - Japan - South Korea
"It's North vs. South in Big Three bailout fight." ... "Should taxpayers in Alabama be required to bail out [American] automakers whose plants are concentrated in Northern states like Michigan and Ohio?" ... "Alabama is home to three Honda [Japan automaker] and Hyundai [South Korea automaker] plants. And just across the state line in Georgia, a new Kia [Hyundai] plant is set to open and will likely employ many Alabamans." ... "[Alabama Republican Senator] Sen. Jeff Sessions, R- Ala. [Republican-Alabama], told reporters Wednesday, “I can not imagine a real justification for a worker in Alabama who does not have any health insurance at his company to be taxed to maintain a Cadillac health care plan for somebody in Detroit [Michigan].”" ... "The struggle over whether Congress should make the loan is a classic regional battle: North vs. South, unionized states like Michigan vs. mostly non-union ones like Alabama." ... "“There are some states that might think there’s a competitive advantage for them if the Big Three don’t make it,” [Michigan Democratic Senator] Sen. Carl Levin, D- Mich. [Democratic-Michigan], a Big Three ally, told reporters Tuesday." ... "[Kentucky Republican Senator] Sen. Jim Bunning, R- Ky. [Republican-Kentucky], who is up for re-election in 2010, said Wednesday, “It’s not a balancing act. It’s whether the federal government should intervene in the private-sector economy. And I believe it should not. I am very concerned that people as hard-headed as the three people who spoke to us yesterday would not have a plan in place and not have any concession to make, but they would just want the money so they can burn through it. That’s unacceptable.”" ... "And if Chrysler and General Motors go into bankruptcy or liquidation?" ... "“I think that’s probably the best thing that can happen,” [Kentucky Republican Senator] Bunning replied. “Then there will be a reorganization and they’ll be able to jettison things they couldn’t ordinarily jettison, like health care benefits, like pension benefits and there will be someone to pick those up like the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. And then they will be able to restructure their salaries to get more in line with foreign producers and they may come out of bankruptcy a heck of a lot better off than they go into it.”" (1, 2) -By Tom Curry -MSNBC

- Georgia - Nevada - 2008 Election - Politics
"RNC gives NRSC $2 million for GA runoff." ... "[Nevada Republican Senator] Sen. John Ensign said Wednesday that the Republican National Committee (RNC) has transferred $2 million earmarked for the Senate runoff in Georgia to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which was $4 million in debt after [2008] Election Day." ... "The committee has already launched a $700,000 ad buy in the Georgia race, which pits [Georgia Republican Senator] Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga. [Republican-Georgia]) against former state [Georgia State Democratic Representative] Rep. Jim Martin (D [Democratic])." -By Aaron Blake -TheHill.com

- John McCain - Barack Obama - 2008 Election - Missouri - Arizona - Politics
"McCain wins Missouri; State's streak over!" ... "Fifteen days after [2008] Election Day, Republican [Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain has narrowly edged out [Democratic] President-elect Barack Obama in the state, according to CNN's review of the latest unofficial vote totals from the Missouri Secretary of State. This resolves the final outstanding contest of the 2008 presidential race." ... "With Missouri's 11 electoral votes in Senator McCain's column, the final count is 365 for Obama and 173 for McCain." ... "McCain's edging out of Obama in Missouri breaks the state's bellwether streak in which Missourians correctly picked the presidential candiate in every election dating back to the 1960 contest. Missouri got it wrong in 1956, voting for the Democratic challenger Adlai Stevenson, who lost the election to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Before that election, Missouri correctly picked the winner in every race for the White House dating back to 1904." -By Paul Steinhauser with contributions by Robert Yoon -CNN

- Lawmakers - Politics - Auto - Makers - Industry - Union
"Union busting is the real motivation." ... "The same lawmakers who were okay with handing over tens of billions of dollars to white collar execs at AIG and in the mortgage industry are now balking at saving hundreds of thousands of American blue collar jobs via a similar handout to the auto industry. Instead, the chorus is growing - particularly among conservatives - calling for automakers to declare bankruptcy and throw themselves on the mercy of the court." ... "This possibility has anti-labor activists and pundits practically beside themselves with glee, as they see forced bankruptcy as a backdoor route to union busting. That's because in a bankruptcy filing, all union contracts could be terminated at the discretion of the trustee overseeing the proceeding." ... "Of course, unions have already made significant concessions in recent years, in an attempt to save members' jobs and America's legacy industry. And the same people who want to see a union autoworker earning 50K a year make less in salary, and pay more for his health insurance don't seem that concerned about the fact that the white-collar management at these companies continues to earn obscene salaries, even as the companies they lead are dying. (When management earns ever-increasing salaries even as the performance of their companies tanks, that's not capitalism, and it's got nothing to do with unions.)" ... "Bailout may not be the right answer for our auto industry. But fair discussion of the issue is impossible when the real motivation for some legislators is not what's best for the American economy, but their not-so-secret desire to kill off the American labor movement." -By Katie Allison Granju -KnoxNews.com

- Ted Stevens - Criminal - Oil - Money - Federal - Law - Alaska - History - 2008 Election
"Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens loses re-election bid." ... "[Alaska Republican Senator] Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in Senate history, narrowly lost his [2008 Election] re-election bid Tuesday, marking the downfall of a Washington political power and Alaska icon who couldn't survive a conviction on federal corruption charges. His defeat by Anchorage [Alaska] Mayor Mark Begich moves Senate Democrats within two seats of a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority." ... "Stevens' ouster on his 85th birthday marks an abrupt realignment in Alaska politics and will alter the power structure in the Senate, where he has served since the days of the [Democratic President] Johnson administration while holding seats on some of the most influential committees in Congress." ... "Last month just days before the election, Stevens was convicted by a federal jury in Washington of lying on Senate disclosure forms to conceal more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations from an oil field services company. -By Michael R. Blood with contributions by Jesse J. Holland, Andrew Taylor and Rachel D'Oro -AP via -Yahoo

- Children - Food - Poverty - Health - Safety - Government - Language - Politics - Economics - Accounting
"50 percent more US children went hungry in 2007." ... "Some 691,000 children went hungry in America sometime in 2007, while close to one in eight Americans struggled to feed themselves adequately even before this year's sharp economic downtown, the Agriculture Department reported Monday." ... "The department's annual report on food security showed that during 2007 the number of children who suffered a substantial disruption in the amount of food they typically eat was more than 50 percent above the 430,000 in 2006 and the largest figure since 716,000 in 1998." ... "Overall, the 36.2 million adults and children who struggled with hunger during the year was up slightly from 35.5 million in 2006. That was 12.2 percent of Americans who didn't have the money or assistance to get enough food to maintain active, healthy lives." ... "Almost a third of those, 11.9 million adults and children, went hungry at some point. That figure has grown by more than 40 percent since 2000. The government says these people suffered a substantial disruption in their food supply at some point and classifies them as having "very low food security." Until the government rewrote its definitions two years ago, this group was described as having "food insecurity with hunger."" -By Michael J. Sniffen -AP via -Yahoo

- Obama - Government - Law - Enforcement - Markets - Accounting - History - Enron - Noteworthy - Eliot Spitzer - New York  - US - Global
"How to Ground The Street: The Former 'Enforcer' On the Best Way to Keep Financial Markets in Check." ... "[Democratic] President-elect Barack Obama will soon face the extraordinary task of saving capitalism from its own excesses, much as [Democratic President] Franklin D. Roosevelt had to do 76 years ago. Up until this point in the crisis, policymakers have appropriately applied the rules of triage -- Band-Aids and tourniquets, then radical surgery -- to keep the global financial system alive. Capital infusions, bailouts, mega-mergers, government guarantees of unimaginable proportions -- all have been sought and supported by officials and corporate chief executives who had until now opposed any government participation in the marketplace. But put aside for the moment the ideological cartwheel we have seen and look at the big picture: The rules of modern capitalism have been re-written before our eyes." ... "The new president's team must soon get to the root causes of the mistakes that have brought us to the economic precipice. Yes, we have all derided the explosion of leverage, the failure to regulate derivatives, the flood of subprime lending that was bound to default and the excesses of CEO [Chief Executive Officer] compensation. But these are all mere manifestations of three deeper structural problems that require greater attention: misconceptions about what a "free market" really is, a continuing breakdown in corporate governance and an antiquated and incoherent federal financial regulatory framework." ... "First, we must confront head-on the pervasive misunderstanding of what constitutes a "free market." For long stretches of the past 30 years, too many Americans fell prey to the ideology that a free market requires nearly complete deregulation of banks and other financial institutions and a government with a hands-off approach to enforcement. "We can regulate ourselves," the mantra went." ... "Those of us who raised red flags about this were scoffed at for failing to understand or even believe in "the market." During my tenure as New York state attorney general, my colleagues and I sought to require investment banking analysts to provide their clients with unbiased recommendations, devoid of undisclosed and structural conflicts. But powerful voices with heavily vested interests accused us of meddling in the market." ... "When my office, along with the Department of Justice, warned that some of American International Group's reinsurance transactions were little more than efforts to create the false impression of extra capital on the company's balance sheet, we were jeered at for attacking one of the nation's great insurance companies, which surely knew how to balance risk and reward." ... "And when the attorneys general of all 50 states sought to investigate subprime lending, believing that some lending practices might be toxic, we were blocked by a coalition of the major banks and the [Republican President] Bush administration, which invoked a rarely used statute to preempt the states' ability to probe." ... "No major market problem has been resolved through self-regulation, because individual competitive behavior doesn't concern itself with the larger market. Individual actors care only about performing better than the next guy, doing whatever is permitted -- or will go undetected. Look at the major bubbles and market crises. Long-Term Capital Management, Enron, the subprime lending scandals: All are classic demonstrations of the bitter reality that greed, not self-discipline, rules where unfettered behavior is allowed." ... "Those who truly understand economics, as did Adam Smith, do not preach an absence of government participation. A market doesn't exist in a vacuum. Rather, a market is a product of laws, rules and enforcement. It needs transparency, capital requirements and fidelity to fiduciary duty. The alternative, as we are seeing, is anarchy." (1, 2) -By Eliot L. Spitzer -WashingtonPost

- Corporate - Television - Media - Politics
"If it’s Sunday, it’s still conservative." ... "In 2006, Media Matters conducted a study on Sunday political talk shows, finding that “Republicans and conservatives have been offered more opportunities to appear on the Sunday shows — in some cases, dramatically so.” From 2001 to 2005, conservative guests outnumbered progressives “by 58 percent to 42 percent.” Atrios notes that tomorrow’s shows will also be dominated by conservative guests:"

"7 Appearances by Republican current elected officeholders"
"3 Appearances by Democratic current elected officeholders."
"2 Appearances by Republican former elected officeholders."
"1 Appearance by a [Republican President] Bush Cabinet Secretary."
"T. Boone Pickens [former Republican swift boat contributor]"
"Ted Turner. "

- Global - Financial - Crisis - Terrorism - Intelligence - Nuclear - US - Pakistan - China - Afghanistan - Yemen
"Experts See Security Risks in Downturn: Global Financial Crisis May Fuel Instability and Weaken U.S. [United States] Defenses." ... "Intelligence officials are warning that the deepening global financial crisis could weaken fragile governments in the world's most dangerous areas and undermine the ability of the United States and its allies to respond to a new wave of security threats." ... "U.S. government officials and private analysts say the economic turmoil has heightened the short-term risk of a terrorist attack, as radical groups probe for weakening border protections and new gaps in defenses. A protracted financial crisis could threaten the survival of friendly regimes from Pakistan to the Middle East while forcing Western nations to cut spending on defense, intelligence and foreign aid, the sources said." ... "The crisis could also accelerate the shift to a more Asia-centric globe, as rising powers such as China gain more leverage over international financial institutions and greater influence in world capitals." ... "Some of the more troubling and immediate scenarios analysts are weighing involve nuclear-armed Pakistan, which already was being battered by inflation and unemployment before the global financial tsunami hit. Since September, Pakistan has seen its national currency devalued and its hard-currency reserves nearly wiped out." ... "Analysts also worry about the impact of plummeting crude prices on oil-dependent nations such as Yemen, which has a large population of unemployed youths and a history of support for militant Islamic groups." ... "Annual spending for U.S. intelligence operations currently totals $47.5 billion, a figure that does not include expensive satellites that fall under the Pentagon's budget." ... "U.S. officials are following developments with particular concern because of Pakistan's critical role in the campaign against terrorism, as well as the country's arsenal of dozens of nuclear weapons. Al-Qaeda has appealed directly to Pakistanis to overthrow their government, and its Taliban allies have launched multiple suicide bombings, some aimed at economic targets such as the posh Marriott hotel in Islamabad [Pakistan's capital], hit in September." ... "Economic and social unrest has helped drive recruiting for militant groups that cross into Afghanistan to attack U.S. troops." ... "China already was on track to surpass the United States as the world's largest economy, perhaps as early as 2030. Now, many experts believe the global recession could help it do so faster." (1, 2, 3) -By Joby Warrick -WashingtonPost

- Gay - Religion - Politics - People - San Francisco - California - Salt Lake City - Utah
"Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage." ... "Less than two weeks before [2008] Election Day, [Frank Schubert] the chief strategist behind a ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California called an emergency meeting here." ... "The campaign issued an urgent appeal, and in a matter of days, it raised more than $5 million, including a $1 million donation from Alan C. Ashton, the grandson of a former president [David McKay] of the Mormon Church." ... "The California measure, Proposition 8, was to many Mormons a kind of firewall to be held at all costs." ... "First approached by the Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco [California] a few weeks after the California Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in May, the Mormons were the last major religious group to join the campaign, and the final spice in an unusual stew that included Catholics, evangelical Christians, conservative black and Latino pastors, and myriad smaller ethnic groups with strong religious ties." ... "Shortly after receiving the invitation from the San Francisco Archdiocese, the Mormon leadership in Salt Lake City [Utah's capital] issued a four-paragraph decree to be read to congregations, saying “the formation of families is central to the Creator’s plan,” and urging members to become involved with the cause." ... "“And they sure did,” Mr. Schubert said." ... "Jeff Flint, another strategist with Protect Marriage, estimated that Mormons made up 80 percent to 90 percent of the early volunteers who walked door-to-door in election precincts." ... "In the end, Protect Marriage estimates, as much as half of the nearly $40 million raised on behalf of the measure was contributed by Mormons." (1, 2) -By Jesse McKinley and Kirk Johnson -NYTimes

- Political - Corporate - Television - Media - Michigan - Massachusetts - New York - Arizona - Georgia - Louisiana - Alabama
"More Muscle." ... "TPM Reader RS ..."

"Here is something progressives really need to address. On Sunday morning political shows, three Democrats are confirmed as guests: [Michigan Democratic Senator] Carl Levin, [Massachusetts Democratic Representative] Barney Frank, and [New York Democratic Representative] Charlie Rangel. It's as if Democrats didn't just win huge electoral advances in the Presidential, House, and Senate elections. So we get the same thing we've had the past 8 years--republican hegemony on Sunday. [Arizona Republican Senator Jon] Kyl? Check. [former Georgia Republican Representative Newt] Gingrich? Check. [Republican Michael] Steele? Check. [Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby] Jindal and [Alabama Republican Senator Richard] Shelby? Check and check? Just look at The Page for the whole list. When is the "liberal media" going to give some of the oxygen to Democrats?"

- Don E Siegelman - Karl Rove - Michael Mukasey - Leura G Canary - Bob Riley - Criminal - US Attorney - Politics - Federal - Law - Alabama - Georgia - Michigan
"More Allegations of Misconduct in Alabama Governor Case." ... "Next month in Atlanta [Georgia's capital], a federal court will hear the high-profile appeal of former [Democratic] Alabama governor Don E. Siegelman, whose conviction on corruption charges in 2006 became one of the most publicly debated cases to emerge from eight years of controversy at the [Republican President] Bush Justice Department. Now new documents highlight alleged misconduct by the Bush-appointed [United States] U.S. Attorney and other prosecutors in the case, including what appears to be extensive and unusual contact between the prosecution and the jury." ... "The documents, obtained by TIME, include internal prosecution e-mails [PDF] given to the Justice Department and Congress by a whistle-blower during the past 18 months. [Michigan Democratic Representative] John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which investigated the Siegelman case as part of a broader inquiry into alleged political interference in the hiring and firing of U.S. Attorneys by the Bush Justice Department, last week sent an eight-page letter [PDF] to Attorney General Michael Mukasey citing the new material." ... "Conyers says the evidence raises "serious questions" about the U.S. Attorney in the Siegelman case, who, documents show, continued to involve herself in the politically charged prosecution long after she had publicly withdrawn to avoid an alleged conflict of interest relating to her husband, a top GOP operative and close associate of Bush adviser Karl Rove. Conyers' letter also cites evidence of numerous contacts between jurors and members of the Siegelman prosecution team that were never disclosed to the trial judge or defense counsel." ... "Critics, including a bipartisan group of 52 state attorneys general, have raised numerous questions, including the allegation that Siegelman was prosecuted at the insistence of Bush-appointed officials at the Justice Department and Leura G. Canary, a U.S. Attorney in Montgomery [Alabama] whose husband [William "Bill" Canary] was Alabama's top Republican operative and who had worked closely with Rove for years." ... "The documents — whose authenticity is not in dispute — include e-mails written by Canary, long after her recusal, offering legal advice to subordinates handling the case. At the time Canary wrote the e-mails, her husband — Alabama GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican operative William J. Canary — was a vocal booster of the state's Republican governor, Bob Riley, who had defeated Siegelman for the office and against whom Siegelman was preparing to run again. Canary also received tens of thousands of dollars in fees from other political opponents of Siegelman." ... "A key prosecution e-mail describes how jurors repeatedly contacted the government's legal team during the trial to express, among other things, one juror's romantic interest in a member of the prosecution team." ... "What's more, when prosecutors conducted their own investigation of suspected improper conduct by jurors after the trial, two of them were interviewed, despite instructions from the judge that no contact with jurors should occur without his permission. Those interviews were not publicly disclosed until nearly two years later, when the head of the [Department Of Justice] DOJ's criminal division belatedly wrote all parties, including the appeals court in Atlanta, to inform them." ... "Further undisclosed evidence of prosecution team members speaking with jurors following the verdict emerges in [Justice Department staffer Tamarah] Grimes' written statement to the DOJ." -By Adam Zagorin -TIME.com

- Auto - Makers - Federal - Politics - Unemployment - Michigan - Ohio - Indiana
"GM Collapse at $200 Billion May Exceed Bailout Plan (Update1)." ... "General Motors Corp., seeking a federal bailout as its cash dwindles, would cost the government as much as $200 billion should the biggest U.S. [United States] automaker be forced to liquidate, a forecasting firm estimated." ... "A GM [General Motors] collapse would mean ``more aid to specific states like Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, and more money into unemployment and extended benefits,'' Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts, said today in an interview. He prepared the estimate for Bloomberg News." ... "The projected expense of $100 billion to $200 billion covers funds for existing programs, such as unemployment insurance, and new measures that would be needed to revive economic growth after millions of auto-related job losses." ... "Such a sum would be an eightfold increase over the $25 billion bailout package that will be debated in Congress next week to help prop up Detroit-based GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC amid the industry's worst sales year since 1991." ... "A GM shutdown would cost jobs among suppliers as well as at the automaker itself, pushing the U.S. unemployment rate next year to 9.5 percent, compared with current projections of as high as 8.5 percent due to the weakened economy, Behravesh said." -By Alex Ortolani and Mike Ramsey -Bloomberg

- AIG - Workers - Federal - Politics
"AIG to Pay Millions To Top Workers: Move Comes on Heels Of Revised Bailout." ... "American International Group plans to pay out $503 million in deferred compensation to some of its top employees, saying it must tap the funds to keep valuable workers from exiting the troubled insurance giant." ... "News of the payments to top AIG [American International Group] talent comes as the federal government has just put more money into saving the company from bankruptcy, beefing up the total public commitment to $152 billion. Meanwhile, members of Congress are questioning the company's expenditures -- including lavish business trips to resorts -- during a time when taxpayers are on the hook for the bailout." ... "AIG's troubles stem from bad bets it made guaranteeing and buying risky mortgage investments. On Monday, the U.S. [United States] government announced that it would have to expand its rescue of the company to nearly double the $85 billion loan it first provided in September when AIG was unable to pay billions of dollars in claims." ... "The company reported losses this week that brought total losses to $37.63 billion for the first nine months of the year." -By Carol D. Leonnig -WashingtonPost

- Criminal - Computer - Hackers - E-Mails - Corporation - Technology - California - US - Worldwide
"Spam traffic plunges after report blames server hosting company: The number of such e-mails falls about two-thirds worldwide after Internet providers cut off a server company accused of enabling nefarious activity." ... ""I'm not under the illusion that it's going to last forever, but it's nice to have these small victories," said Paul Ferguson, an advanced threat researcher at software security company Trend Micro Inc. who contributed to the effort." ... "He and other analysts circulated a dense report Wednesday that blamed some companies for allowing spam to proliferate. Two big providers of Internet connections named in it -- Hurricane Electric Internet Services and Global Crossing Ltd. -- acted quickly to cut ties to the core subject of the document, a little-known Silicon Valley [California] company called McColo Corp. [Corporation] that rents out servers to clients." ... "The researchers didn't say whether McColo knowingly aided criminals, but they described some of the nefarious activities conducted on some websites the company hosted. Among other things, McColo reportedly enabled its customers to control vast networks of hijacked computers to send spam and take payments for fake anti-virus software." ... "The criminal groups that allegedly used McColo are largely believed to be based overseas. The groups now have to find other service providers." -By Joseph Menn -LAtimes

- Henry Paulson - Corporate - Government - Investigation - Legislation
"Bailout Lacks Oversight Despite Billions Pledged: Watchdog Panel Is Empty; Report Is Unfinished." ... "In the six weeks since lawmakers approved the Treasury's massive bailout of financial firms, the government has poured money into the country's largest banks, recruited smaller banks into the program and repeatedly widened its scope to cover yet other types of businesses, from insurers to consumer lenders." ... "Along the way, the [Republican President] Bush administration has committed $290 billion of the $700 billion rescue package." ... "Yet for all this activity, no formal action has been taken to fill the independent oversight posts established by Congress when it approved the bailout to prevent corruption and government waste. Nor has the first monitoring report required by lawmakers been completed, though the initial deadline has passed." ... "The legislation grants the special inspector, who is expected to be the primary overseer of the program, a budget of $50 million. The measure calls for him to conduct audits and investigations of how the government spends money under the bailout program, including on equity investments in firms. In particular, he is to report about any assets acquired and their value, plus an explanation of why they were acquired and details on individuals or companies involved in the transactions." ... "The leading candidate for the post is Neil M. Barofsky, a federal prosecutor in New York, and his nomination could come as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter." ... "For their part, lawmakers have yet to nominate the five-member Congressional Oversight Panel, though leaders of both parties said they hoped they would be named by the end of the month and start work by December." ... "The legislation also created a body called the Financial Stability Oversight Board, whose five members include [Republican President Bush's Treasury Secretary Henry] Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. But it has no staff of its own, and few expect that policymakers can conduct oversight of themselves. "It's sort of a joke in terms of oversight," a congressional aide said." (1, 2) -By Amit R. Paley -WashingtonPost

- Labor- Market
"Jobless claims hit 25-year high, imports plunge." ... "The number of U.S. workers drawing jobless benefits hit a 25-year high this month and imports suffered a record fall in September, according to reports on Thursday that underscored a rapid drop-off in the U.S. economy." ... "The number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose by an unexpectedly steep 32,000 last week to 516,000, the highest since the weeks following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, the Labor Department said." ... "The number of workers still on the benefit rolls after drawing an initial week of aid hit 3.9 million in the week to November 1, the highest since January 1983." ... ""This is obviously very, very serious deterioration in the labor market, more than a lot of people had expected even a couple of months ago," said Scott Brown, chief economist with Raymond James & Associates in St. Petersburg, Fla." ... ""We are looking at the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression and the biggest economic crisis we have had in the United States since the early 1980s."" (1, 2) -By Doug Palmer with contributions by Lisa Lambert and Diane Craft -Reuters

- Henry Paulson - Government - Emergency - Politics - AIG
"Washington's $5 Trillion Tab: Fighting the financial crisis has put the U.S. on the hook for some $5 trillion a report says. So far." ... "For all the fury over [Republican President Bush's] Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's $700 billion emergency economic relief fund, it seems downright puny when compared to the running total of the government's response to the credit crisis." ... "According to CreditSights, a research firm in New York and London, the U.S. government has put itself on the hook for some $5 trillion, so far, in an attempt to arrest a collapse of the financial system." ... "The Fed has taken on much of that total, including lending a cumulative $1 trillion in overnight or short-term loans since March to primary dealers through its emergency discount window and making a cumulative $1.8 trillion available through its term auction facility, a series of short-term transactions it began making available twice a month in January. It should be noted that a portion of the funds lent in these programs has been repaid and that the totals represent what has been made available." ... "The Fed also took on tens of billions in debt, including $29 billion in debt of Bear Stearns, and made $60 billion of credit available to American International Group  (nyse: AIG -  news  -  people ). It is committing $22.5 billion to set up a special purpose vehicle to manage some of AIG's residential mortgage-backed securities, and it is financing $30 billion of a second fund to hold $70 billion of multi-sector collaterized debt obligations on which AIG wrote credit default swaps." ... "The Treasury, in addition to the $700 billion raised in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, agreed to guarantee money market funds against losses up to $50 billion, will inject $40 billion of capital into AIG and is backing the conservatorship of Fannie Mae (nyse: FNM - news - people ) and Freddie Mac (nyse: FRE - news - people ), to the tune of $200 billion." ... "The FDIC [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation], meanwhile, is guaranteeing $1.5 trillion of senior unsecured bank debt." ... "Not included in the total are the Fed's long-existing discount window lending to commercial banks, the mortgage modification plan announced by regulators on Tuesday, support for the Federal Home Loan Banks and a myriad of other programs." -By Elizabeth Moyer -Forbes

- Auto - Makers - Jobs - Government - History - Military - Politics - Ohio
"Failure of auto industry could set off catastrophe." ... "Advocates for the nation's automakers are warning that the collapse of the Big Three -- or even just General Motors -- could set off a catastrophic chain reaction in the economy, eliminating up to 3 million jobs and depriving governments of more than $150 billion in tax revenue." ... ""We've got to do this because the cost of inaction is so high to communities, to workers, to companies," said [Ohio Democratic Senator] Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio. He was among many lawmakers worried that an industry collapse would be devastating for everything from school districts to small businesses." ... "Even if just GM [General Motors] collapsed, the failure could bring down the other two companies -- and even the U.S. [United States] operations of foreign automakers -- as parts suppliers run out of money and shut down." ... "Concern about the automakers hit new heights Friday when GM and Ford reported they spent a combined $14.6 billion more than they took in last quarter. GM said it could run out of money by the end of the year." ... "Ford said it could last through 2009, but only because it arranged a hefty credit line last year." ... "All this comes after tight credit and economic uncertainty in October reduced U.S. auto sales to their lowest level in 25 years -- with no rebound in sight." ... "The Big Three have cut their combined U.S. hourly work force more than 40 percent since 2005, from 244,000 to about 139,000." ... "Brown, the Ohio senator, said letting the industry collapse would also be a national security risk, eliminating companies that were essential in two world wars." -By Tom Krisher and Ken Thomas -AP via -Yahoo

- Blackwater - Corporate - Military - Federal - Investigation - NC - US - Iraq
"Blackwater likely to be fined millions in Iraq weapons case." ... "The State Department is preparing to slap a multi-million dollar fine on private military contractor Blackwater USA for shipping hundreds of automatic weapons to Iraq without the necessary permits." ... "Some of the weapons are believed to have ended up on the country's black market, department officials told McClatchy, but no criminal charges have been filed in the case." ... "The expected fine is the result of a long-running federal investigation into whether employees of the firm shipped weapons hidden in shrink-wrapped pallets from its Moyock, N.C. [North Carolina] headquarters to Iraq, where Blackwater is the State Department's largest personal security contractor." ... "Since the arms shipment allegations first became public 14 months ago, Blackwater, which has received $1.2 billion in federal contracts, according to the Web site fedspending.org, has consistently denied involvement in illicit arms trafficking." ... "However, the State Department found that Blackwater shipped 900 weapons to Iraq without the paperwork requ