Business
2:00 am
Wed November 16, 2011

House Panel Votes To End Fannie, Freddie Bonuses

The House Financial Services Committee voted on Wednesday to suspend nearly $13 million in bonuses paid to executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The measure would also prohibit future bonuses. The Senate is expected to take up similar legislation.

Business
2:00 am
Wed November 16, 2011

Carmakers' Volume Goes Up, Post Office's Goes Down

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Today, Chrysler is expected to announce plans to add more than 1,000 jobs at an assembly plant in Ohio. Local officials there have reportedly signed off on tax incentives for the plant expansion in Toledo. It's where Chrysler makes the Jeep Liberty and Wrangler.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

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Business
2:00 am
Wed November 16, 2011

Olympus Scandal Could Hasten Disclosure Changes

Originally published on Wed November 16, 2011 6:20 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And here's a follow-up to the dramatic scandal at Olympus, which we've been following on this program. It's one of Japan's most respected corporations - or it was. Now executives Olympus are facing criminal charges and prison sentences. The company may be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and may also go bankrupt. All this after revelations of dubious acquisitions and allegations of massive accounting fraud. From Tokyo, Lucy Craft has more.

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Afghanistan
2:00 am
Wed November 16, 2011

Afghan Council To Consider Framework For U.S. Partnership

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

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Asia
2:00 am
Wed November 16, 2011

President Obama Travels To Australia

Australia is the latest stop on President Obama's tour of the Pacific Rim countries that the president thinks should be the new focus of U.S. foreign policy. It is already the focus of a competition for influence with China.

NPR Story
2:00 am
Wed November 16, 2011

Perry: Washington Needs To Be Rebuilt From The Ground Up

At an Iowa town hall meeting Tuesday, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry laid out a plan to, as he put it, uproot and overhaul the federal government. Among other things, Perry would end life-time tenure for federal judges including those on the Supreme Court, and make members of Congress take a 50 percent pay cut.

NPR Story
2:00 am
Wed November 16, 2011

Debt Reduction Committee's Deadline Is 1 Week Away

Originally published on Wed November 16, 2011 5:02 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep, good morning.

Let's remember a bit of very recent history. Back in August, Congress came close to defaulting on U.S. government debts. Republicans wanted big cuts in spending. They finally got some, but a deal with President Obama pushed more deficit reductions off to the future, to a bipartisan committee which has been meeting this fall, and now has one week left until its deadline to reach a deal.

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NPR Story
2:00 am
Wed November 16, 2011

The Last Word In Business

The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is attacking Nintendo's new video game Super Mario 3-D Land. In the game, Super Mario sometimes wears the skin of a tanooki, which is a raccoon dog. Since tanooki are, in real life, killed for their fur, the group says the game "sends the message that it's OK to wear fur."

Asia
1:48 am
Wed November 16, 2011

In Indonesia, Anger Against Mining Giant Grows

Originally published on Wed November 16, 2011 6:22 pm

A foreign mining company, protected by hundreds of soldiers, extracts precious resources from a remote tropical forest. The mining enrages indigenous tribes, who resist.

It may sound like a movie script, but it is in fact the story of the world's largest gold mine, located high in the mountains of Indonesia's Papua province and owned by Freeport-McMoRan, an American mining conglomerate.

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Energy
10:01 pm
Tue November 15, 2011

Solyndra Highlights Long History Of Energy Subsidies

When Energy Secretary Steven Chu appears on Capitol Hill on Thursday to defend the Obama administration's solar energy subsidy program, he will face questions about the solar panel firm Solyndra, which went belly up this summer.

The Energy Department has drawn stiff criticism over a government loan guarantee program that lent the company half a billion dollars, but the government has a long history of subsidizing many forms of energy.

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