The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, September 23, 2008 - 3 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, September 23, 2008 - 3 NEWS BRIEFS WASHINGTON Bush, Congress agree to some bailout terms Scrambling for a swift deal on the $700 billion bailout for fail- ing financial firms, key Democrats and Bush administration officials agreed Monday to include mort- gage help for beleaguered hom- eowners but wrangled over other issues, including "golden para- chutes" for executives who benefit from the unprecedented rescue. Democrats demanded that the measure limit pay packages for executives of companies helped by the biggest financial rescue since the Great Depression. The admin- istration was balking at that, and also at a proposal by Democrats to let judges rewrite mortgages to lower bankrupt homeowners' monthlypayments. GALVESTON, Texas After Ike, Texas governor seeking $2.3 billion in aid As repair crews work to make this hurricane-ravaged island city inhabitable for the thousands of residents set to return this week, the mayor is seeking more than $2 billion in emergency fed- eral aid. Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas, along with officials from the Port of Galveston and the University of Texas Medical Branch will meet with a Senate ad hoc committee in Washington today. They, will seek $2.3 billion in emergency ap- propriations: nearly $1.2 billion for Galveston; about $600 million for the city's hospital; and about $500 millionforthe port. MOGADISHU, Somalia 50 killed in clashes in Somali capital Somalia'swarringsidespounded the capital with mortar rounds and gunfire yesterday, killing 30 people - including a family of seven - as Islamic insurgents who want to topple the government gain signifi- cant power. Monday's fighting pitted insur- gents against government forces and their Ethiopian allies, who come under regular attack in Mogadishu, one of the most vio- lent cities in the world. The vio- lence left bodies in city streets. When the blasts calmed, young men ventured out to transport the gravely wounded to hospitals in rickety wheelbarrows. BEIJING Head of China's product watchdog program resigns The head of China's food safety watchdog resigned yesterday for failing to stop the widespread contamination of baby formula as the number of children sickened in the scandal soared to nearly 53,000, including four infants who died. The shake-up came as investi- gators revealed that China's big- gest producer of powdered milk, Sanlu Group Co., had received complaints as early as December 2007 linking its infant formula to illnesses in babies. Months later, tests revealed the milk was taint- ed with the industrial chemical melamine, which causes kidney stones and can lead to kidney fail- ure. - Compiled from Daily wire reports -U.S. DEATHS 4,169 Number of American service members who have died in the war in Iraq, according to The Associated Press. The following service members were identified by the Department of Defense yesterday: Chief Warrant Officer Corry A. Edwards, 38, Kennedale, Texas, Sgt. Daniel M. Eshbaugh, 43, Norman, Okla., Staff Sgt. Anthony L. Mason, 37, Springtown, Texas, Sgt. Julio C. Ordonez, 54, San Antonio, Chief Warrant Officer Brady J. Rudolf, 37, Oklahoma City, Cpl. Michael E. Thompson, 23, Harrah, Okla. Capt. Robert Vallejo II, 28, Richland Hills, Texas Councilvotes to let food vendors stay on sidewalks THREE DOGS WALK UP TO A BAR Under new rules, carts cannot be driven or attached to generators By SARA LYNNE THELEN Daily StaffReporter Score one for the vendors of sidewalk curry, tamales to go or convenient between-class hot dogs. The Ann Arbor City Coun- cil approved an amendment to city code yesterday allowing sidewalk food vendors to keep their vending permits and stay in operation on the city's side- walks. The council passed the proposal 10-1, with Marcia Higgins (D-Ward 4) the only member to vote against it. The amendment had been in the works since March, when city officials threatened to revoke vending permits, cit- ing a 1947 city ordinance that banned vehicles from public sidewalks. The new code allows vend- ing carts on sidewalks as long as they aren't driven, attached to generators or left out for more than 24 hours at a time. "We don't need our sidewalks turned into a county fair food court," councilmember Stephen Kunselman (D-Ward 3) said. Kunselman, the council mem- ber who pushed to revive the 1947 ordinance, has since been working with city officials to redraft the ordinance language to accommodate vendors while avoiding problems like loud gen- erators, obstructed public signs, tire damage to curbs and vend- ing carts that don't get cleaned after every 24 hours of use. "This provides for clean and safe activity," he said. Anxiety over bailout sends stocks tumbling, drives up oil prices Dollar drops as worries spread over rescue package cost NEW YORK (AP) - Elation in the financial markets over the $700 billion bank bailout plan evaporated Monday and was replaced by all-too-familiar anxiety, pummeling stocks and sending oil prices to their big- gest one-day gain. Worries that the rescue pack- age would cost too much, drive up inflation, swell the already- bloated deficit and hurt the ailing economy also led global investors to flee the U.S. dollar. The Dow Jones industrials lost 372 points, wiping out the gains the index made Friday after administration officials and congressional leaders prom- ised swift action to get bad debt off the books of banks and end the financial crisis. "Investors had a weekend to look at the news that was streaming out, and they are now finding fault in it," said Joseph Battipaglia, market strategist in the private client group at the investment firm Stifel Nich- olaus. Oil prices briefly spiked more than $25 a barrel before fall- ing back to settle at $120.92, up $16.37, on the New York Mercan- tile Exchange. That shattered the previous record for a one- day jump in crude oil, $10.75. Monday was also the last day for investors to trade the Octo- ber oil futures contract, adding fuel to the rally. But the Novem- ber contract also saw a sharp gain, up $6.62 to $109.37. The government agency that regulates commodities mar- kets said it was working with Nymex to "ensure that no one is taking advantage of the cur- rent stresses facing our finan- cial marketplace for their own manipulative gain." The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in a statement it was "closely moni- toring today's large movement in the price of crude oil." Analysts said some of the gain could have come from large investors trying to cover short positions, or bets that prices would fall. Four days after word of a massive governmentrescue plan began to hit the market, inves- tors had little by way of details. Treasury Secretary Henry Paul- son introduced the plan Satur- day in a document that ran less than three full pages. By Monday, investors still knew little about how the Bush administration would pay for mopping up the bad debt, how the process would work, who would run it and what the Dem- ocratic-controlled Congress would ask for to approve the plan. The Bush administration is already forecasting that the federal deficit will hit a record $482 billion next year. Analysts say the bailout costs mean a $1 trillion annual deficit is not out of the question. "When you try to print $1 tril- lion, that will kill your currency, lifting oil prices, which then in turn will not help the stock mar- ket," said Gary Kaltbaum, who runs the money management firm Kaltbaum and Associates in Orlando, Fla. "It is a vicious cycle, and we are seeing that right now." Lacking specifics, many investors - especially foreign- ers - sold U.S. dollars on wor- ries that paying for the plan would increase the federal deficit and exacerbate inflation. Over the past year, overall infla- tion is at 5.4 percent. (JENNIFER KRON/DAILY) Jennifer Peck, of Toledo, sits outside of Ashley's on Monday with her dogs Gus and Buzz, and her friend Stephanie's dog, Shadow. Biden C zscritczes a mockingMcCain WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack month, part of an aggressive push Obama's running mate says a to slow McCain's rise in the polls campaign ad that mocked Repub- after he chose Alaska Gov. Sarah lican presidential candidate John Palin to be his running mate. It McCain as an out-of-touch, out- included unflattering footage of of-date computer illiterate was Sen. McCain at a hearing in the "terrible" and would not have early '80s, wearing giant glasses been done had he known about and an out-of-style suit, inter- it. spersed with shots of a disco ball, Obama, McCain's Democratic a clunky phone, an outdated con- rival, launched the ad earlier this puter and a Rubik's Cube. Shop. Donate. Volunteer. 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