The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
WASHINGTON
Report cites 'hidden'
costs in wars
The economic costs of the wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan are esti-
mated to total $1.6 trillion - rough-
ly double the amount the White
House has requested thus far, ac-
cording to a new report by Demo-
crats on Congress' Joint Economic
Committee.
The report, released yesterday,
attempted to put a price tag on the
two conflicts, including "hidden"
costs such as interest payments on
the money borrowed to pay for the
wars, lost investment, the expense
of long-term health care for injured
veterans and the cost of oil market
disruptions.
The $1.6 trillion figure, for the
period from 2002 to 2008, trans-
lates into a cost of $20,900 for a
family of four, the report said. The
Bush administration has requested
$804 billion for the Iraq and Af-
ghanistan wars combined, the re-
port stated.
For the Iraq war only, total eco-
nomic costs were estimated at $1.3
trillion for the period from 2002 to
2008. That would cost a family of
four $16,500, the report said.
VIENNA, Austria
In hope of
avoiding sanctions,
Iran provides plans
Iran has met a key demand of
the U.N. nuclear agency by deliv-
ering blueprints that show how to
mold uranium metal into the shape
of warheads, diplomats said yes-
terday, in an apparent concession
meant to stave off the threat of new
U.N. sanctions.
But the diplomats said Tehran
has failed to meet other requests
made by the International Atomic
Energy Agency in its attempts to
end nearly two decades of nuclear
secrecy on the part of the Islamic
Republic.
The diplomats spoke to The
Associated Press as IAEA chief
Mohamed ElBaradei put the fin-
ishing touches on his latest report
to the agency's 35-nation board of
governors, for consideration during
a meeting that begins on Nov. 22,
Thanksgiving Day.
WASHINGTON
Justice Dept. to
re-examine
wiretapping laws
The Justice Department has
reopened a long-dormant inquiry
into the government's warrant-
less wiretapping program, a major
policy shift only days into the ten-
ure of Attorney General Michael
Mukasey.
The investigation by the depart-
ment's Office of Professional
Responsibility was shut down last
year, after the investigators were
denied security clearances. Gon-
zales told Congress that President
Bush, not he, denied the clearances.
"We recently received the nec-
essary security clearances and
are now able to proceed with our
investigation," H. Marshall Jarrett,
counsel for the OPR, wrote to Rep.
Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) A copy
of the letter, dated yesterday, was
obtained by The Associated Press.
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.
Plan would hurt
rivers, critics say
A plan before the state Senate
would let farms, factories and oth-
ers pull enough water from some riv-
ers and streams to reduce their flow
rates significantly, environmentalists
said yesterday.
The legislation's chief sponsor said
its critics were exaggerating.
The plan is contained in a package
of bills that would give Michigan's
approval to a regional compact to
prevent Great Lakes water from being
sent to water-poor regions. All eight
states adjoining the lakes must ratify
the compact for it to take effect.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
U..D ATH
3,861
Number of American service mem-
bers who have died in the war in
Iraq, according to The Associated
Press.
Sgt. Joseph M. Vanek, 22, of Elm-
hurst, Ill.
Spc. Jermaine D. Franklin, 22, of
Arlington, Texas
Quicken to
move to Detroit
MAKING MEGAPHONES
Mortgage company's
leap from Livonia
hailed by business,
political leaders
DETROIT (AP) - Dan Gilbert
says it makes good business sense
to move the corporate offices of
the online mortgage company
he founded from the suburbs to
Detroit, along with 4,000 jobs.
Yet the chairman of Quicken
Loans Inc. wasn't discounting the
social significance to a downtown
that has slowly been rebuilding
after decades of decline.
"This isn't just about us say-
ing, 'Let's just go to Detroit
because it's the right thing to
do.' Gilbert said yesterday, min-
utes after entering a packed
room of politicians, business
leaders and reporters to the
strains of Stevie Wonder's "Liv-
ing for the City" to officially
announce the plan.
"We do think it is the right
thing to do, but we also think it's
the smart thing to do."
Quicken has one year to con-
sider two possible headquarters
sites and 18 months to two years
more to develop a construction
plan for one of them.
But Gilbert said he also is con-
sidering developing a technol-
ogy and incubator center on the
second site with the idea that it
could help draw startup ventures
and existing companies to a hub
that embodies what he calls the
"brain economy."
Quicken will receive a package
of state and local incentives that
could be worth up $200 million
during the next 20 years.
Yesterday's announcement
was hailed by elected officials
and others as another step in the
right direction for the economi-
cally distressed city that has been
grappling with chronically high
unemployment.
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Gran-
holm called the deal a "fantastic"
one for Detroit.
"Having it go to Detroit will
have a phenomenal ripple effect,"
she said. "It's not just symbolic.
It's a real boost to the city and
certainlyto the state."
Quicken's move to the east
from suburban Livonia comes on
the heels of other recent high-
profile Detroit developments over
the past decade, including the
opening of three casinos, base-
ball's Comerica Park, football's
Ford Field, and the world head-
quarters of software company
Compuware Corp.
However, Comerica Inc.
announced earlier this year plans
to relocate its corporate head-
quarters to Dallas, where the
bankingcompany said itwill have
improved accessibility to its mar-
kets. It affects about 200 workers
in Michigan.
Mark Rosentraub, a profes-
sor of urban affairs at Cleve-
land State University, doesn't
see a regional effect from
Quicken's move but said it's
"staggering in its implications
for the city."
"Remember that urban eco-
nomics is the study of where
things occur, and where they
occur can and does have as much
social significance as does the
economic significance if some-
thing occurs," he said in an e-
mail.
"Downtowns across the Mid-
west have been struggling to
attract and retain large firms,
and the presence of 4,000 work-
ers adds to the building of a suf-
ficient mass of consumers to
support retail and entertainment
venues."
Quicken Loans is paper-
less - every transaction is
processed electronically in an
office where a vast computer
network handles 175,000 phone
calls and 2.4 million internal e-
mails each day.
ArtsBreak program advisers Teri Rosenberg and Nick Smith decorate megaphones in the basement of the Michigan Union yes
terday. ArtsBreak sponsored the event to help students get ready for Saturday's game against Ohio State.
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