Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Obama warns of 'perfect storm of financial problems': USA Today

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/02/62686117/1

February 11, 2009

Obama warns of 'perfect storm of financial problems'

07:02 AM

 

Good morning.

 

Negotiators from the Obama administration and Congress resume negotiations today to resolve the differences between the economic stimulus plans approved by the House and Senate. The goal is to have a final, House- and Senate-approved plan on the president's desk within the next few days. It's likely, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said yesterday, that the package will end up costing about $800 billion.

 

President Obama will make another pitch for the stimulus plan today when he visits a construction site in Springfield, Va.. Vice President Biden will talk about it in Pennsylvania.

 

As for the stories making headlines, they include:

 

• ABC News' Nightline -- Obama warns of "perfect storm": "On the same day his Treasury secretary detailed a $2 trillion plan to stabilize the U.S. banking systems and the Senate narrowly passed an $838 billion economic stimulus bill, President Barack Obama said, 'we are in a perfect storm of financial problems.' ... Obama said it's important to recognize that 'there is no easy out' when it comes to the current economic crisis. 'Wall Street, I think, is hoping for an easy out on this thing, and there is no easy out,' Obama told Nightline co-anchor Terry Moran in an exclusive interview in Fort Myers, Fla. 'I think that you have two choices in this situation: you can prolong the agony and shareholders will be happy until they're not happy, and that could be a year from now or two years from now or in the case of Japan, eight years later. Or you can just go ahead and acknowledge that yeah, there's, there's a lot of work that has to be done to put these banks back on a firmer footing.' "

 

• USA TODAY -- Bailout plan gets "thumbs down" from markets: "Wall Street gave the government's long-awaited plan to rescue the financial system a resounding thumbs down Tuesday, providing another sign of the mounting frustration over the financial crisis. Calling the plan from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner short on details, traders and investors slammed the Dow Jones industrials down 382 points, or 4.6%, to 7889, its biggest loss since December."

 

• The Wall Street Journal -- Administration looks to restore some funds to stimulus plan: "The White House is seeking to restore funding cut by the Senate for schools, health insurance and computerizing health records as the economic-stimulus plan headed into a final round of negotiations in Congress, with top lawmakers struggling to bring the price of the two-year package down to $800 billion."

 

• The Washington Post -- States hope for funds to be included in final bill: For many states, the differences between the House and Senate versions of the economic stimulus plan are enormous. "The House included $79 billion in direct aid to states, $40 billion more than the Senate, and governors are counting on that money to help balance budgets that are billions in the red. 'If the Senate version holds, there will be very deep cuts,' said Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D), who added that the cost to the state and its 5.3 million residents would be $600 million. 'We're going to see teachers and firefighters and police officers lose their jobs.' "

 

• Politico -- Pentagon nominee's confirmation stalls: "Former Raytheon lobbyist William Lynn's quest to become the next deputy defense secretary has hit another snag. The Senate was scheduled to vote on his nomination Tuesday, but the session came and went without any action. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said senators are 'working on an agreement' to debate Lynn's nomination and vote to confirm him Wednesday. Asked if there were a hold on the nomination, Reid spokesman Stephen Krupin replied, 'Not on the Democratic side.' Two outspoken Republican critics of President Barack Obama's choice for the No. 2 Pentagon post also denied responsibility."


 

Education for Liberation!
Peter S.. Lopez aka: Peta
Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/THIRD-WORLD-NEWS/

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