2008 AIG employee bonuses drew widespread criticism earlier this year. CNN News Item 22
The raw politics of health is heating up in the Senate. Just before air last night, Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid announced a group of 10 liberal and conservative Democrats had reached a deal to replace the
hotly debated public option with a package of alternatives. Senator Reid offered few details. But today,
President Obama praised the emerging compromise. Now, the public plan deal came just hours after the
Senate killed a controversial amendment to restrict abortion coverage in its health care bill to ensure that no
federal funds go toward covering any kind of abortion in this new reform. Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson had
introduced that amendment. He called it a deal-breaker. He’s also one of the 10 senators to hammer out the
deal to drop the public plan. CNN News Item 23
Over in Europe, the financial outlook for a few countries isn’t looking too good. The investment ratings
for Spain, Portugal and Greece all went down this week. Greece might be the worst situation. Experts are
using the word “junk” to describe that nation’s investment rating. Basically, they’re saying that it’s very risky
to put your money there. Greece has a massive debt, nearly $400 billion. That’s bigger than the country’s
economy. Greece is developing ways to cut spending, but Greek workers aren’t too happy about some of
those plans, and they’ve been protesting about it. Greece is also asking for financial help from the European
Union: a bailout of more than $50 billion. CNN News Item 24
Well moving around to the East of Asia now, Southeast of Asia, a gloomy forecast out of Singapore.
The government says its economy will likely shrink by between 6 and 9% this year. The announcement
comes as the city-state’s first quarter GDP fell almost 12% from the, from a year ago. In seasonally adjusted
terms it was even more brutal than that actually. Singapore is reducing its output for the third time this year,
as demand for its exports continues to fall amidst a worsening financial crisis. It previously predicted just a
5% contraction for the full year. CNN News Item 25
The Treasury says the country’s largest banks will start receiving 125-billion dollars this week. Beginning the biggest government bailout in history, the money is being sent to 9 major financial institutions
including Bank of America, Citigroup and JP Morgan chase. The government is also in talks with a group of
more than a dozen regional banks about sharing part of an additional 125-billion dollars. Treasury Secretary
Henry Paulson says 250 of the 700-billion-dollar bailout package will be spent by the end of the year.
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CNN News Item 26
In the United States, President Obama is scheduled to sit down today with the heads of some of the
country’s biggest banks to talk about small businesses, ones that have 500 or fewer employees. Many of
them are having a hard time getting loans from banks. But banks argue that the policies put in place because
of this financial crisis have affected how they can offer the loans. CNN News Item 27
Goldman Sachs surprised investors on Monday with an early release of its quarterly profits, which were
way better than analysts had expected, twice as good, in terms of earnings per share. Now profits for the first
3 months of the year came into a total of $1.81 billion. Goldman also announced plans for a $5 billion share
sale to help back its, help pay back rather, its so called TARP loan from the U.S. government. $10 billion
under the troubled assets relief program. CNN News Item 28 7000
Lawmakers say they’re close to a deal on the 700-billion-dollar package to rescue the troubled financial
system. A bipartisan group has been meeting today to hash out differences. Democratic Senator Chuck
Schumer, chairman of the joint economic committee, says he hopes to reach a deal by this afternoon. Among
the details being hammered out, how much the plan will cost? The most common amount being talked about
is 700-billion dollars; another key point in the negotiations is whether the government will actually become a
shareholder in troubled companies. One part of the plan that seems certain to become a law will be a
provision to limit executive pay and bonuses at companies that sell assets to the Treasury. CNN News Item 29
During a speech yesterday, President Obama offered some ideas on how to create new jobs and help out
the country’s economy. Offering tax breaks to small businesses, expanding some of the government’s
stimulus programs, and spending more money on infrastructure projects things like roads, bridges and water
systems. The thing is, all of that costs money and that’s where the TARP comes in. That’s the Troubled Asset
Relief Program, the financial industry bailout passed last year. The bailout ended up not costing as much as
expected and President Obama thinks the extra could be used to help out in other ways. CNN News Item 30
OPEC is going ahead with another oil production cut. OPEC has agreed to cut production by 2.2
million barrels a day. U.S. crude for January delivery dropped to just over 42 dollars a barrel after the
announcement. Crude oil prices have dropped nearly 70% since July. OPEC cut production in September
and October, but those cuts didn’t have much impact on prices.
CNN News Item 31
Chrysler and Italian automaker Fiat has signed off on a deal brokered by Uncle Sam to become what’s
known as Chrysler Group. Fiat will initially take a 20 percent stake. It can’t take a majority stake until the
new Chrysler pays back the 15.5 billion dollars it took from the Treasury Department. The UAW holds a 55
percent stake, leaving an 8 percent stake for the U.S., 2 percent for Canada. The Supreme Court cleared the
way for the deal yesterday, after delaying the sale pending review of a case brought by Indiana state pension
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funds.
CNN News Item 32
Major concerns now about the U.S. auto industry, these numbers are just out, and Toyota finally
overtook GM as the world’s biggest automaker in terms of sales for all of last year. That’s a title GM has
held for nearly eight decades. Even worse than that, a GM executive warns the company will run out of cash
by March 31st if it doesn’t get that second installment of government funds soon. GM is supposed to get the
five-billion installment within a matter of days. CNN News Item 33
Some new developments in the Wall Street investment fraud case, the bail hearing for Bernard Madoff
has been canceled for today, meaning he will remain free for the time being. Meantime, the head of the
Securities and Exchange Commission is criticizing his own agency for failing to spot the investment scheme
by former NASDAQ Chairman Bernard Madoff. SEC Chairman Christopher Cox says there were many
instances over a decade that should have been flagged. CNN News Item 34 CEO
CEOs from Ford, Chrysler and General Motors are making their case for a 25-billion-dollar emergency
loan. They want Congress to tap into the 700-billion-dollar Wall Street bailout approved last month. Many
Republican critics point to financial mismanagement at the Big Three and argue the companies don’t deserve
any help. Most Democrats disagree, saying the auto industry is too important to the overall economy to fail. CNN News Item 35
China is where U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was yesterday. During a week-long trip to
Asia that he is taking, Secretary Geithner stopped over in Beijing and meet with his Chinese counterpart.
One issue they were expected to talk about was the value of the yuan; that’s China’s currency. Some U.S.
officials claim that China is undervaluing the yuan; they’re accusing China of saying that the yuan is worth
less than what it should be. China denies that. This matters because the yuan and the dollar are connected.
And if the value of the yuan is down, it could encourage people to spend more on Chinese products than on American ones.
CNN News Item 36 7870
The battle over the 787-billion-dollar stimulus bill officially ends after President’s Day. President
Obama says he will sign the bill into law in Denver On Tuesday. He is calling the measure “a major
milestone in the recovery of the U.S. economy.” Administration officials say the President wants to get away
from the politics of Washington and sign the bill in an area hit hard by the recession. They say Denver is a
place that will see the bill’s benefits in hiring workers. CNN News Item 37
One of the FBI’s most wanted terrorists is dead. Imad Mougniyeh was killed in an explosion in Syria
this morning. Mougniyeh was a top Hezbollah commander. He was blamed for several high-profile terrorist
acts that left hundreds of Americans and Israelis dead, including the 17-day hijacking of a TWA Flight in
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1985. He was also suspected of masterminding the attacks on the U.S. embassy and Marine barracks in
Lebanon that killed more than 260 Americans in 1983. CNN News Item 38
Moving from Thailand to the Persian Gulf now, where Iran is running a massive military drill expected
to last three days. An Iranian official says the goal is to show off the country’s military strength. It might
look like a real battle what you are seeing here is just practice. U.S. Navy says Iran has done this sort of
thing in the past. This one is getting more attention because Iran talked about it ahead of time. CNN News Item 39
No commitment by President-elect Barack Obama on a missile defense program in Eastern Europe.
That’s according to a senior Obama advisor. The statement comes after claims on the Polish president’s
website — The two had a call on the matter and that Obama said he intended to continue the program.
Obama’s senior foreign policy advisor denied that claim. He said Obama talked with the Polish president
about continuing military and political cooperation and possibly meeting in person some time soon.
CNN News Item 40
Congress considers a new bill that would make some soldiers eligible for the Purple Heart. Representative John Carter introduced the new legislation yesterday. The Fort Hood army post is located in
his home district in Texas. This bill is focused on the victims of the recent shooting there. The Purple Heart
first created in 1782 is given to any U.S. service member who is wounded and killed while serving in action
against an enemy or in a terrorist attack. Representative Carter says the Fort Hood victims deserved the
Purple Heart because he considers the shooting to be an enemy attack. CNN News Item 41
The U.S. government says it will stop making new, nuclear weapons, and it’s reconsidering what to do
with the weapons that already exist. The announcement came yesterday, two days before President Obama is
scheduled to sign a treaty with Russia that would reduce how many nuclear weapons both countries have. It
also comes one week before he hosts a global meeting on nuclear security. More than 40 countries are
expected to attend that. But back to yesterday’s announcement. This new policy would stop production of
nuclear weapons. It would also invest about $5 billion in extending the life of weapons that already exist.
Seven countries are officially recognized as nuclear powers, meaning they have nuclear weapons. But there
are other countries that are suspected of trying to make them. U.S. officials hope this change from America
will encourage other countries all countries to help control the spread of nuclear weapons. U.S. has
promised not to use its own nukes against anyone who does that. But as Defense Secretary Robert Gates
pointed out, that doesn’t mean retaliation is out of the question in every situation. CNN News Item 42
Gaza is facing its worst humanitarian crisis in more than 40 years. A new report by aid agencies and
humanitarian groups says things haven’t been this dismal since Israel’s 1967 occupation. It says the Israeli
blockade has left more than one million Palestinians isolated, dealing with poverty, dealing with
unemployment, with little access to education and healthcare services. It found water and sewage systems
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are on the verge of collapse. Israel blames the hardships on Hamas militants who keep firing rockets into Israel.
CNN News Item 43
We are getting things started with START. It stands for Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. It’s an
agreement between the United States and Russia for both countries to reduce the number of nuclear weapons
they have. President Obama also says it’s part of the effort to “reset” the relationship between the two
countries. Yesterday, he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev got together in the Czech Republic to sign
off on START. The agreement cuts the number of nuclear weapons that the U.S. and Russia have by about a
third. The White House is scheduled to hold a meeting on nuclear security next week. It’s something that
President Obama says affects the entire world. CNN News Item 44
Just how far will Iran push the international community this weekend? Well today, it reportedly tested