2A -The Michigan Daily -Thursday, February 16, 2006 NATION/WORLD NEW iIN E CiNEINEMA A'I'lmeWarn(Ar Company PRESENTS A SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING BATE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21,2006 8:00 PM LOCATIlON: NATURAL SCIENCE AUDITORIUM TICKETS AVAILA'LE A T: ROOM 4002 MICHIGAN UNION M1002 mu . ~iv E RY R 1' ME FRS R E o- .',.x . .bi' a A Q . ~.&5 ----------- j New Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivers his first economic report to Congress yesterday. New Fed chair: E m on tmack Bernanke says he is willing to boost interest rates in order to combat inflation WASHINGTON (AP) - New Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Ber- nanke said yesterday the economy is on track for good growth this year, sticking closely to predecessor Alan Greenspan's script with one big dif- ference: His comments were much easier to understand. In his debut congressional testimony as Fed chairman, Bernanke signaled that the central bank, which has raised inter- est rates 14 times since June 2004, stood ready to boost rates more if needed to combat inflation. Investors and private economists, who had been apprehensive that Ber- nanke might sound a tougher line on inflation than Greenspan, said they detected no switch in policy from the Greenspan Fed. "There were no big surprises. Ber- nanke kept very much to the promise he made at his confirmation hearing that he would maintain continuity with Greenspan," said David Jones, chief economist of DMJ Advisors, a private forecasting firm in Denver. Wall Street took Bernanke's tes- timony in stride with stocks ending the day up slightly. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 30.58 points to close at 11,058.97 after rising 136 points Tuesday. A respected economics professor at Princeton before entering govern- ment service as a Fed governor in 2002, Bernanke demonstrated dur- ing more than three hours of grilling from the House Financial Services Committee that he was up to the task of answering questions without upsetting financial markets. Several committee members in fact complimented Bernanke for his straightforward answers, a contrast to Greenspan, who mastered the art of using complex sentences to dodge questions he did not want to answer. "I can see you are a former teach- er," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, (D-N.Y.) "You are very clear in your responses." But while Bernanke was more direct, he skillfully avoided being led into areas where he did not want to state an opinion. Democrats tried sev- eral ways to get Bernanke, who served last year as Bush's chief economist, to criticize the president's drive to make the tax cuts permanent at a time of high budget deficits. At one point, when pressed for an opinion on raising the minimum wage, he apologized, saying, "I am going to be an economist and give you the one hand, the other hand" response. Dressed in a conservative gray suit, Bernanke sat alone at the witness table, often scribbling notes on the questions, as he was pushed to talk about a variety of issues from soaring budget and trade defi- cits to what should be done about growing gap between the wealthy and the poor. He acknowledged that widening income inequality was a problem, but he said it had been occurring for a quarter-century and as did Greenspan, he said the best way to deal with the problem was through education and job retraining. The only time Bernanke seemed uncomfortable was when he was asked for his reaction to speeches Greenspan has made, reportedly for large amounts of money, to an audience in Tokyo and a New York investment house. "According to government eth- ics rules ... it is permissible for a reie (Fd vmover.o. to na in CORRECTIONS 4 NEWS IN BRIEF WASHINGTON Cheney takes blame for shooting Vice President Dick Cheney took the blame yesterday for shooting a hunting companion, calling it "one of the worst days of my life," but he was defiantly unapologetic about not publicly disclosing the accident until the next day. "You can't blame anybody else," Cheney told Fox News Channel in his first public comments since the accident on a private Texas ranch Saturday. "I'm the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend:' Cheney said he had had a beer at lunch that day but nobody was drink- ing when they went back out to hunt several hours later. Law enforcement officials have ruled out alcohol as a factor. The vice president has been under intense political pressure to speak out about the accident, which has become a public relations embarrassment and potential political liability for the White House. Senior advisers to President Bush worried that Cheney's silence had suggested a possible cover-up. ALEXANDRIA, Virginia Moussaoui allowed back into trial Unexpectedly allowed back in court, confessed al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui kept quiet yesterday as two Muslims from South Asia and a Marine Corps lawyer whose boss's Pentagon office blew up on Sept. 11 cleared preliminary hurdles to sit on his sentencing jury. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema had barred Moussaoui from jury selection Tuesday because he wouldn't promise to stop giving insult-laden speeches. Brinkema did not explain her change of mind in court, but she had said the day before that she might reconsider if Moussaoui decided to alter his behavior. Even Moussaoui's court-appointed defense lawyers said they did not know why she changed her mind. WASHINGTON Chertoff admits Katrina response fumbled Acknowledging delayed aid and fumbled coordination, Homeland Security Sec- retary Michael Chertoff said yesterday the federal response to Hurricane Katrina fell far short of providing immediate help to the Gulf Coast that could have saved lives. Chertoff's Senate testimony came the same day a House panel released a scath- ing report concluding that deaths, damage and suffering could have been decreased if the White House and federal, state and local officials had responded more urgently to Katrina. "There are many lapses that occurred, and I've certainly spent a lot of time personally, probably since last fall, thinking about things that might have been done differently," Chertoff told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee about the Aug. 29 storm. PESHAWAR, Pakistan Three die in prophet cartoon protests Gunfire and rioting erupted yesterday as tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Pakistan's third straight day of violent protests over the Prophet Muhammad cartoons. Three people were killed, including an 8- year-old boy. The European Union condemned both the cartoons, first printed in a Danish newspaper in September, and what it called "systematic incitement to violence" against European diplomatic missions by some unidentified governments. An article on the front page of yesterday's Daily (MSA votes down $4 student fee to fund yearbook) incorrectly stated that the Michiganensian lost $50,000 last year. The loss was actually $36,035.43. The same story reported that the measure in the Michigan Student Assem- bly failed by a vote of 18 to 3. The measure in fact failed with 8 votes for, 14 against and 3 abstainations. Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com. - Compiled from Daily wire reports ate ffiibig a cail 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com DoNN M. 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