NPR 2010-03-04

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President Obama wants Congress to finish work on healthcare legislation. He’s calling on lawmakers to bring bills to the floor and vote on them. Republicans hate the bills and many want to scrap¹ the existing legislation. And Mr. Obama says that’s a fatal mistake. “For us to start over now could simply lead to delay that could last for another decade or even more. The American people and the US economy just can’t wait that long.” He disagrees with the Republican view loosening restrictions² on health insurance companies would help them lower healthcare costs. Mr. Obama says with fewer restrictions, companies would be able to drop people from their coverage³ plans.

Congressman⁴ Charles Rangel of New York is temporarily stepping down from a key House panel over accusations⁵ that he violated ethics⁶ rules. NPR’s Audie Cornish reports.

Rangel has chaired the influential⁷ House Ways and Means Committee which deals with taxes. For the last year, the House Ethics Panel has been investigating his travel, income and rent-controlled apartments in New York. That panel said last week that Rangel violated rules related to trips to the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008. “I have, this morning, sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi, asking her to grant me a leave of absence, until such time, as the Ethics Committee completes its work.” The decision comes just as House Democrats⁸ are trying to pull together votes for a healthcare overhaul⁹ proposal and legislation dealing¹⁰ with expiring tax breaks. Audie Cornish, NPR News.

The latest check on the US economy shows that the US service sector¹¹ grew in February at its fastest pace in more than two years. That is according to the latest index from the Institute for Supply Management. Danielle Karson reports.

The ISM report shows non-manufacturing activity grew at a healthy clip. The 53 reading was the highest in more than a year. Economists¹² consider it a strong signal that the economy service sector’s picking up steam. Readings of more than 50 suggest businesses are growing, not shrinking. Retail¹⁴ trade is up. That means consumers are spending more. Tourism and business orders also rose. Chirs Low, chief economist¹³ with FTN Financial. “What’s encouraging is that with the orders index now beginning to approach the mid¹⁵ 50s. There are enough orders to build up a backlog¹⁶, and that’s what you need to see before companies begin to add workers.” The employment index rose four points, but Low says a 48 reading shows businesses are still squeamish about adding too many names to their payrolls¹⁷. For NPR News, I’m Danielle Karson.

Two powerful aftershocks have rocked central Chile today. The one magnitude was six and another 5.9. Frightened residents ran for higher ground.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up ten points at 10,395.

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A new report from the Federal Reserve says the US economy is growing, even though record-setting snowstorms last month hurt some parts of the country. The Fed’s so-called Beige Book report says consumer spending was up a bit; residential¹⁸ real estate showed a little improvement; the deals for commercial real estate were weak.

Workers have freed two managers held hostage at a French subsidiary of German company, Siemens. This after the executives agreed to discuss the planned closing of the plant. Eleanor Beardsley reports.

Two managers of German electrical and engineering group, Siemens AG, were released after being held in their offices overnight by employees demanding concessions¹⁹ over job cuts. Talks are now underway between workers and management in the town hall of the tiny burg of Saint-Chamond near Lyon. The Siemens subsidiary plans to cut its workforce²⁰ to 365 from 600 and close one of its two French factories because of the drop in demand for steel. The incident was the latest in a long series of so-called “bossnappings” in which managers in France have been detained by staff to exert pressure in negotiations²¹ over wages or layoffs²². A spokesman for Siemens said talks could not be held at the threatened plant because of hundreds of workers protesting outside. For NPR News, I’m Eleanor Beardsley in Paris.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was out of a job. Ukraine’s parliament passed a no-confidence vote in the government. She also recently lost the country’s presidential election to rival Viktor Yanukovich. His party will now have a chance to form a government. The defeated Tymoshenko was a leader of Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2004. Leaders had vowed²³ to fight corruption²⁴. Voters believed that Ukrainian leaders failed to live up to that promise.