NPR 2010-12-18

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President Obama signed the 858-billion-dollar tax-cut bill this afternoon, extending Bush-era tax rates for another two years. As NPR's Scott Horsley reports, the tax bill passed the House last night with nearly equal support from Democrats¹ and Republicans.

Many Democrats, including President Obama, wanted to extend tax cuts only for the middle class. But Mr. Obama agreed to a two-year extension even for the wealthy, saying that was the only way Senate Republicans would go along. A majority of House Democrats ultimately agreed with the president that it's worth striking the compromise in order to win extended unemployment benefits and a one-year cut in the payroll² tax. That payroll tax break's a sign to speed the economic recovery by leaving more than 100 billion extra dollars in workers' paychecks next year. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.

House lawmakers are backing a 160-billion-dollar spending bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They voted 341-48 in favor of the legislation after House and Senate Democrats agreed to cut out several provisions, including one that would have repealed⁴ "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". Well, while the Senate is now taking up the proposed repeal³ of that policy as a stand-alone bill, the Pentagon is drafting guidance for troops in the event Congress votes to overturn the law banning openly gay military service. Marine⁵ Col. Dave Lapan told reporters today that troops would also be reminded that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" would remain in effect for at least two months after President Obama signs it into law. The repeal passed the House, but again faces resistance in the Senate.

As the year draws to a close, the US economy is getting stronger, according to the Conference Board, an industry research group. Its gauge⁶ of leading indicators⁸ rose 1.1 percent last month, the biggest jump since March. Danielle Karson reports the index suggests the pace of economic growth should pick up next year.

Economic growth was crawling at 2.5 percent in the third quarter, but last month's index, which measures data on real estate, manufacturing, employment and the financial markets, suggests there are new signs of life in the economy. Wells Fargo economist⁹ Mark Vitner says nine of the ten indicators went up.

"Not only were we up big, but it was up across virtually every indicator⁷. And the only one that was down was building permits, and you don't have to be an economist and know that housing is stuck in the doldrums, and we're not going to see a pickup¹⁰ until we get past this foreclosure mess."

Reports show that new claims for jobless benefits falling, a sign that employers are laying off fewer workers, retail¹¹ sales are stronger and factory production is up. If the data stay strong, economists¹² expect overall growth could reach four percent next year. For NPR News, I'm Danielle Karson in Washington.

Dow Jones Industrial Average down slightly at 11,497 with NASDAQ up 11 at 2,648.

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Wikileaks founder¹³ Julian Assange says he fears the US is secretly preparing to indict¹⁴ him and his organization after Wikileaks released record amounts of classified documents without US authorization¹⁵. A day after being released on bail¹⁶ in Britain, Assange said Wikileaks would continue to release information that he says the public has a right to know. This, a day after Assange again was released on bail in Britain while he fights extradition¹⁷ to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning in a sex crimes investigation¹⁸.

Separately, US diplomatic cables published in the Guardian¹⁹ newspaper show officials feared lax security at Indian biological laboratories. As Larry Miller²⁰ reports from London, the documents released by Wikileaks indicate the US worried the facilities would be targeted by terrorists.

Concerns were raised in a confidential²¹ cable from the US embassy in New Delhi that terrorists planning attacks anywhere in the world could use India's advanced laboratories to steal bacteria, parasites²², viruses or toxins²³. Getting inside is not very difficult, according to one expert. Bribing²⁴ a guard with a pack of cigarettes would do it. Another said there would be Indian scientists willing to help terrorists through ideology²⁵ or for money. In another cable from earlier this year, India's home minister complained to the FBI director that Pakistan had "done damn near nothing" to prosecute²⁶ the Mumbai suspects. She said there'd be no peace talks until Pakistan did more to dismantle²⁷ terrorist networks targeting India. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

Arizona suing Bank of America alleges²⁸ the institution violated state consumer fraud law by misleading people who wanted to get home loan modifications²⁹.