Newser Story Index from February, 2009
Welcome to the Newser Story Index. Here you find stories written by Newser writers and editors, assembled with supporting photos and videos from the files of the news story.
Chicago Trib to Burris: Out, Damned Senator!
Chicago Tribune
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Feb 18, 2009 10:07 AM CST
(Newser) -
Time to go, Roland. The Chicago Tribune editorializes today that Sen. Roland Burris should resign, having used up his last shred of credibility by the time he changed his story for the fourth time yesterday—with the story getting "worse with every telling." Whether and how much he actively cooperated with then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s...
Phelps Hides From Paps— at Strip Joints
New York Post
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Feb 18, 2009 9:50 AM CST
(Newser) -
It’s understandable that Michael Phelps is a little camera-shy after the fallout from his bong portrait. But he’s started “hiding out at strip clubs” to avoid having his picture taken, the New York Post reports. The Olympic champ has also tinted the windows of his Baltimore home in a bid for privacy from the paparazzi.
Lawyer Bolted From Stanford, Sparking $8B SEC Action
Bloomberg
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Feb 18, 2009 9:38 AM CST
(Newser) -
A Washington attorney who represented R. Allen Stanford’s Antigua-based bank quit his post and recanted testimony to investigators last week, sparking the SEC’s public accusations of “massive, ongoing fraud,” Bloomberg reports. Stanford is suspected of misrepresenting the safety of $8 billion invested with his various financial...
Shaq Gives Obama His Shoe
Associated Press
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Feb 18, 2009 9:23 AM CST
(AP) -
What's the ideal gift for a basketball-obsessed president? Try a size 23 sneaker personally autographed by Shaquille O'Neal. The Phoenix Suns center couldn't be around himself when President Obama arrived at Sky Harbor International Airport yesterday afternoon. So when the president stepped off of Air Force One, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon's son, Jake,...
Uninsured Young Adults Play Doctor
New York Times
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Feb 18, 2009 9:19 AM CST
(Newser) -
Twentysomethings in low-paying jobs with no health coverage are taking up the slack with self-diagnosis and treatment, a potentially dangerous practice that may seem unavoidable. Many say they face a choice between buying insurance and making rent—and they're opting for the latter. "They’re new to the work force, they’ve been...
Who Is Sir Allen Stanford (Other Than $8B Scammer)?
Wall Street Journal
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Feb 18, 2009 9:13 AM CST
(Newser) -
Alleged fraudster R. Allen Stanford may not have been a household name before the SEC accused him of skullduggery yesterday, but not because he’s been keeping a low profile. Calling himself “Sir” Allen Stanford ever since he was knighted in Antigua in 2006, the colorful financier is the world’s 605th richest man, with $2.2 billion...
Autoworkers, Bankers Have a Lot in Common
Washington Post
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Feb 18, 2009 9:11 AM CST
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They may not seem all that similar, but Detroit’s autoworkers and Wall Street’s bankers have the same story, writes Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post. From the 1950s up until, say, yesterday, "autoworkers were the aristocrats of the blue-collar world, (and) Wall Street traders and investment bankers were the aristocrats...
Rihanna 'Torn' By Anger, Love
New York Daily News
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Feb 18, 2009 9:04 AM CST
(Newser) -
Rihanna is “torn” over cooperating with police to build a case against Chris Brown—but she’s not the only one who’s conflicted. The story, an Us Weekly report in the New York Daily News , comes on the heels of a Chicago Sun-Times report that the singer was “royally pissed off” by Brown’s “cavalier...
'Naive' Hillary Underestimates North Korea
Los Angeles Times
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Feb 18, 2009 8:54 AM CST
(Newser) -
Hillary Clinton has embarked on an Asian tour armed with Bush-administration rhetoric and precious little understanding of the gravity of the North Korean situation, writes John R. Bolton in a Los Angeles Times op-ed. The secretary of state is attempting to gain further support for American efforts to block North Korea from acquiring nuclear...
Stocks Flat Despite Housing Plan
Wall Street Journal
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Feb 18, 2009 8:49 AM CST
(Newser) -
Stocks barely budged at the open today, as optimism over President Obama’s home foreclosure plan was canceled out by grisly housing numbers. The Dow inched up a handful of points, while the Nasdaq and S&P each gained about 0.5%. Housing starts fell 16.8% in January, much worse than the 5% analysts expected. Since last year, they’ve...
Aerosmith to GOP: Hands Off Our Song
Talking Points Memo
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Feb 18, 2009 8:48 AM CST
(Newser) -
Minority Whip Eric Cantor's effort to rally the House GOP with a video using Aerosmith's Back in the Saddle was swiftly bucked by the band, reports TPM. The company holding the song’s copyright requested that the video—which crowed about the House GOP's unified opposition to the stimulus package—be pulled, and said the move had...
LA Unearths Mammoth Fossil Stash
Los Angeles Times
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Feb 18, 2009 8:24 AM CST
(Newser) -
Workers digging up an underground Los Angeles parking garage have unearthed the biggest cache of fossils from the last Ice Age ever discovered, including a nearly intact mammoth skeleton, reports the Los Angeles Times . Researchers have lifted huge chunks of earth from the site adjacent to the La Brea tar pits, and believe the find will give the most...
Nationalize Some Banks: Greenspan
Financial Times (UK)
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Feb 18, 2009 8:06 AM CST
(Newser) -
Alan Greenspan, once famed for his light touch, now says the US may have to temporarily nationalize some banks. The former Fed chairman said in an interview with the Financial Times that some institutions need government ownership to restore liquidity and help shore up the larger financial system. "In some cases, the least bad solution...
Clinton the Campaigner Moves to State—for Good or Ill
New Republic
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Feb 18, 2009 7:47 AM CST
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As Hillary Clinton takes over the State Department, it's worth remembering that her train-wreck presidential campaign followed an "audacious 2000 run for Senate" and an excellent record as a legislator, Michael Crowley writes for the New Republic. "The question—not only for Hillary's legacy but for US foreign policy—is...
UK Minister Rips Starbucks Over Economy Jibe
Guardian (UK)
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Feb 18, 2009 7:24 AM CST
(Newser) -
One of Britain's leading politicians laid into an unlikely adversary yesterday: the head of Starbucks. Company chief Howard Schultz said on CNBC that "the UK is in a spiral" and was causing Starbucks considerable grief, prompting business secretary Peter Mandelson to fire back: "Why should I have this guy running down the country? Who...
Fake Holocaust Author on GMA
Gawker
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Feb 18, 2009 7:00 AM CST
(Newser) -
Holocaust memoir faker Herman Rosenblat appears on Good Morning America today in his first TV appearance since his downfall, Gawker reports. A leaked video of Rosenblat being interviewed made it onto YouTube last night, and shows the story he’s trying to spin: that he convinced himself he was the boy his wife tossed apples to in a concentration...
$50B Obama Plan Aims to Give Homeowners Options
Wall Street Journal
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Feb 18, 2009 6:47 AM CST
(Newser) -
Today the Obama administration unveils its plan to help struggling homeowners with cuts in monthly payments, more possibilities for refinancing, and changed bankruptcy rules. Its central plank is a $50 billion subsidy for mortgage companies to make home loans more affordable. As the Wall Street Journal reports, economists are largely agreed...
Mayor: Global Warming Could Swamp NYC
New York Daily News
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Feb 18, 2009 6:32 AM CST
(Newser) -
Climate change will make New York City a hotter, wetter, and stormier place in coming decades and sea levels that could rise at least 4 feet may swamp the city, a panel of scientists convened by Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned yesterday. Bloomberg said the city must start preparing evacuation plans and infrastructure improvements now or face catastrophe...
Facebook: Uh, Never Mind That Last Update
CNET
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Feb 18, 2009 6:04 AM CST
(Newser) -
Facebook has done an about-face and withdrawn its new terms of service following a public outcry, CNET reports. The fine-print update appeared to give the site perpetual rights to users' content, prompting threats of a federal complaint from a major privacy watchdog and mass desertion from tens of thousands of users.
Clinton in Jakarta, Eye on Muslim World
Associated Press
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Feb 18, 2009 5:47 AM CST
(AP) -
Hillary Clinton arrived today in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, where the secretary of state is continuing the Obama administration's efforts to rehabilitate America's image abroad. In Jakarta, Clinton intends to announce plans to step up US engagement with Southeast Asia, stressing the growing importance of a region that often felt...
Evidence Points to Pilot Error in Buffalo Crash
Wall Street Journal
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Feb 18, 2009 5:26 AM CST
(Newser) -
Early examination of the evidence has led investigators to believe that pilot error rather than a buildup of ice was to blame for the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407, sources tell the Wall Street Journal . Investigative insiders believe the captain incorrectly pulled back on the controls as the aircraft slowed to an unsafe speed, and sent...
'He's Ripping Her Apart,' Chimp Owner Screams on 911 Call
New York Daily News
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Feb 18, 2009 4:58 AM CST
(Newser) -
"He's killing my girlfriend! He's eating her!" the frantic owner of a chimpanzee screamed in a call to police as the animal viciously attacked her friend. "You have to shoot him!" the Connecticut woman tells the dispatcher in a chilling tape of the call as the crazed animal's screeches are heard in the background, reports the New...
NY Wife Beheading Blasted as 'Honor Killing'
Buffalo News
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Feb 18, 2009 4:36 AM CST
(Newser) -
The gruesome beheading of a wife in upstate New York by her Muslim husband has been blasted as a retaliatory "honor killing" against a spouse seeking divorce, reports the Buffalo News . “This was apparently a terroristic version of honor killing, a murder rooted in cultural notions about women’s subordination to men,” said...
Global Plunge Panics Economists
Washington Post
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Feb 18, 2009 4:13 AM CST
(Newser) -
The markets' global plunge yesterday was testament to a new, scary fact, writes the Washington Post : the world economic crisis is getting even worse. New figures show the economies of Japan, Britain and Germany contracting at their fastest in decades, while emerging markets like Russia and Brazil are tanking, and unemployment in the US and even...
Aussie Boy's Body Found in Croc
Associated Press
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Feb 18, 2009 3:40 AM CST
(Newser) -
The remains of a 5-year-old boy who vanished while playing near a flooded Australian river have been found inside a crocodile, reports AP. The stomach contents of a 14-foot croc captured in the Daintree River confirmed the giant reptile consumed the boy, who disappeared while playing with his dog and brother in a mangrove swamp. The killer animal will...
Bailed-Out Banks Cut Lending
Associated Press
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Feb 18, 2009 3:15 AM CST
(AP) -
The 20 largest banks that received billions in US government rescue funds slightly reduced their lending to consumers and businesses in the last quarter of 2008, the government said yesterday. Banks cut their mortgage and business loans by a median of 1% each, while credit card lending rose by a median of 2%.
Judge Rejects Polanski's Bid to Ax Sex Charge
E! Online
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Feb 18, 2009 2:43 AM CST
(Newser) -
A judge has cited Roman Polanski’s fugitive status as reason for rejecting the film director’s request to toss a 31-year-old child sex charge, E! Online reports. The judge conceded that a recent documentary on Polanski seems to demonstrate misconduct by prosecutors in the 1978 proceedings, but said the charge will stand unless Polanksi...
LA Moves to Ration Water
Reuters
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Feb 18, 2009 2:11 AM CST
(Newser) -
Los Angeles is taking steps toward rationing water for the first time since 1991, reports Reuters. The LA Department of Water and Power has approved a plan to charge a penalty rate for water use over a set monthly limit that will take effect in May unless it is vetoed by the City Council. Recent storms have done little to alleviate the statewide water...
Fugitive Financier Has $8B Headstart
Portfolio
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Feb 18, 2009 1:48 AM CST
(Newser) -
Financier Robert Allen Stanford is now a fugitive and SEC officials don't look any likelier to get their man than his investors do to get their money back, Felix Salmon writes in Portfolio . Regulators have been sniffing around his operations for long enough to ensure he's got a contingency plan already in action, probably involving that missing $8...
Canseco to Baseball: Where's My Apology?
Associated Press
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Feb 17, 2009 9:45 PM CST
(Newser) -
Now that some of baseball's biggest names are coming clean on steroids, Jose Canseco is wondering when the league will apologize for vilifying him, the AP reports. The former slugger wrote two books that dealt with juiced players, but he got only grief for his efforts. "It's time for somebody in baseball to say to Jose Canseco, 'We're sorry you...
GM, Chrysler: Bailout Is Bad, but Bankruptcy Is Worse
Wall Street Journal
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Feb 17, 2009 9:23 PM CST
(Newser) -
The restructuring plans unveiled by GM and Chrysler make one thing clear: the cost of bailing out the companies has jumped $14 billion to a total of $39 billion. But as the White House begins to pick through the plans, the companies say it would be far more expensive if they go bankrupt, the Wall Street Journal reports. GM says it would require $100...
Captive Woman Forced to Wear Diaper, Listen to Bible Verses
Associated Press
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Feb 17, 2009 8:43 PM CST
(Newser) -
A Michigan woman kidnapped last week was held against her will for three days as her captor read the Bible to her, police say. The alleged assailant picked up the woman in Detroit and drove her to his home in Toledo, the AP reports. When she fell asleep, he undressed her, restrained her with a gag and handcuffs, and made her wear an adult diaper.
Prime Time Is White, Reality TV Is Real
Los Angeles Times
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Feb 17, 2009 8:22 PM CST
(Newser) -
Another way reality TV is “realer” than its scripted cousin: Its diverse casts reflect the population, while scripted TV sticks to stories about young, well-off white people, writes Greg Braxton in the Los Angeles Times . “We're looking to create shows that everyday people can relate to," says an NBC exec, who in one instance...
Paintball Chase Goes Awry in Houston
Houston Chronicle
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Feb 17, 2009 8:00 PM CST
(Newser) -
Not your master criminals, these two. A pair of Houston-area men nearly drove their SUV straight through a house as they tried to elude an angry bar owner, the Houston Chronicle reports. What set this off? They had plastered the owner's truck with paintballs after getting bounced from his bar. The occupants of the home escaped serious injury,...
Senate Ethics Panel May Investigate Burris
Politico
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Feb 17, 2009 7:29 PM CST
(Newser) -
The Roland Burris mess is not going away. It now looks like the Senate Ethics Committee will open an investigation into whether he lied about his contacts with Rod Blagojevich, Politico reports. Back home in Illinois, meanwhile, Democrats are joining Republican calls for a perjury investigation. Burris, who backtracked yesterday and admitted that he...
$5K Reward for Sea Lion Killer
Associated Press
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Feb 17, 2009 7:15 PM CST
(Newser) -
An animal rescue group in California is offering a $5,000 reward to catch whoever is shooting sea lions along the Los Angeles coast. Four of the animals have been shot since the start of the year, the LA Times reports. Fisherman occasionally kill the creatures to keep them away from fish, but this kind of spate is unusual.
Robertson: Limbaugh Isn't 'Thinking Rationally'
US News & World Report
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Feb 17, 2009 6:55 PM CST
(Newser) -
Pat Robertson thinks Barack Obama has plenty of flaws—he accuses him of letting Nancy Pelosi write the stimulus bill, for starters—but he's got no patience for Rush Limbaugh's hope that the new president fails. "That was a terrible thing to say," Robertson tells US News and World Report . "I mean, he's the president...
Hollywood Is Fatal to Fabulous Books
Slate
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Feb 17, 2009 6:43 PM CST
(Newser) -
Willing Davidson knows his complaint isn't original. But he can't help asking in Slate, "Why does Hollywood take our favorite novels and turn them into crap?" In Richard Yates' Revolutionary Road , readers see their own hopes within those of his characters; in the movie, character replaces plot "and the result lands with a wet flop."...
DNA Tests Can Improve Health—and Ruin Privacy
Salon
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Feb 17, 2009 6:22 PM CST
(Newser) -
Genetic testing is quickly becoming cheaper and widely available, prompting questions of whether the privacy of this most personal data can be ensured, writes Peter Dizikes for Salon. Companies such as 23andMe and Navigenics can study your genes for $399 or so to determine if you're at risk for a host of diseases. But with little regulation in place,...
Universal Phone Charger Coming
Wired
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Feb 17, 2009 6:01 PM CST
(Newser) -
This should make it easier to charge your phone: Most of the big players in the industry said today they will work toward a universal charger by 2012, Wired reports. That means a standard USB cable will do the trick, no matter the brand. However, Wired notes one notable absence from the eco-friendly industry agreement: Apple.
GM Wants $16B More, Will Cut 47K Jobs
Detroit News
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Feb 17, 2009 5:42 PM CST
(Newser) -
GM says it will need an additional $16 billion in federal aid to stay afloat, the Detroit News reports. The automaker laid out its restructuring plan for the Obama administration today, requesting $2 billion next month and another $2.6 billion in April to avoid bankruptcy. GM also will shed 47,000 jobs worldwide this year, including 20,000 in...
Here Comes Kid Rock Beer
Detroit Free Press
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Feb 17, 2009 5:18 PM CST
(Newser) -
The auto industry may be tanking, but Michigan has a new small-scale savior: Kid Rock Beer. A Michigan brewery has landed a tax credit to produce a line of beer with the rocker's name and image, the Detroit Free Press reports. It's expected to create about 400 new jobs in the state, and the beer should be in stores by mid-spring.
Crash Highlights Regional Pilots' Inexperience
Buffalo News
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Feb 17, 2009 4:58 PM CST
(Newser) -
The captain and first officer on the Buffalo plane that crashed were typical of regional airline pilots, the Buffalo News reports: They had far less experience than their counterparts on major airlines. No one interviewed blames either pilot for the accident, but Capt. Marvin Renslow, 47, and Rebecca Lynne Shaw, 24, had 5,623 hours between them....
'Smash-Me Bernie' a Hit at Toy Fair
New York Times
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Feb 17, 2009 4:38 PM CST
(Newser) -
He may have crushed your savings—but for $99.95 more you can stomp on him , reports the New York Times . The hot ticket at this year's American International Toy Fair is "Smash-Me Bernie," a mini-Madoff dressed in a red devil suit that you can bludgeon with an included hammer. “A lot of people have been asking about it,”...
Chrysler Seeks $5B More in Federal Loans
CNN
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Feb 17, 2009 4:23 PM CST
(Newser) -
Chrysler says it will need a total of $9 billion in federal loans to avoid going bust, up $5 billion from the amount it received in December and $2 billion from its original request, CNN reports. The company also plans to cut 3,000 jobs this year, or 6% of its workforce. The automaker, which had to submit its restructuring plan to the White House today,...
Phoenix: Music Is My Legacy
Sun (UK)
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Feb 17, 2009 4:03 PM CST
(Newser) -
Joaquin Phoenix thinks he’ll be remembered for his music, rather than his Oscar-nominated acting, he tells the Mirror. Phoenix is a lot wordier than he was in his monosyllabic appearance on Letterman , telling the paper he’s serious about becoming a rapper. “I feel like everything in my life is leading up to this,” he said.
Sexting Is Naive—But Cops Calling It Child Porn Is Stupid
Slate
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Feb 17, 2009 3:47 PM CST
(Newser) -
The recent—or recently discovered—“sexting” epidemic has produced a reasoned response from educators, and a wild overreaction from police,” Dahlia Lithwick writes on Slate. “Schools are enacting what amounts to a don't-ask-don't-tell policy” on teenagers sending out naked pictures of themselves, and others,...
Obama Approves Afghan Troop Surge
Associated Press
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Feb 17, 2009 3:32 PM CST
(Newser) -
President Obama has approved an increase in troop levels in Afghanistan, which could put 17,000 more soldiers and Marines on the ground in the coming months, the AP reports. Insiders say they should be in place by the volatile summer period, when warmer weather and upcoming elections are expected to spur an increase in violence. About 36,000 troops...
Senate Centrists Hold House Dems Hostage
Politico
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Feb 17, 2009 3:24 PM CST
(Newser) -
The Senate requires 60 votes to avoid filibuster, so the 58-strong Democrats are at the mercy of centrist Republicans Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins. Politico reports that House Dems, who have no trouble passing bills on their own, are unhappy that their legislation has to run this gauntlet. Says one, “You have Specter, Snowe,...
Dow Plunges Nearly 300
MarketWatch
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Feb 17, 2009 3:14 PM CST
(Newser) -
Stocks plunged today as President Obama signed the economic stimulus package into law, MarketWatch reports. With a negative tone set by losses in the overseas stock markets, financials led declines, with Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, and American Express all down at least 9%. The Dow lost 297.81 points to close at 7,552.60, less than...
