0 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Tuesday, December 2, 2008 - 3

* The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday. December 2, 2008 - 3

NEWS BRIEFS
MUMBAI, India
India demands
strong action from
Pakistan
India demanded yesterday that
Pakistan take "strong action"
against those behind the deadly
Mumbai attacks, and Washington
pressured Islamabad to cooperate
with the investigation.
The only known surviving
attacker told police that his group
trained for months in camps oper-
ated by a banned Pakistani mili-
tant group, learning close-combat
techniques, explosives training
and other tactics for their three-
day siege.
Teams from the FBI and Brit-
ain's Scotland Yard met with top
Indian police as they prepared to
help collect evidence, a police offi-
cial said.
Soldiers removed the remain-
ing bodies from the shattered Taj
Mahal hotel, where the standoff
finally ended Saturday morning,
with at least 172 people dead and
239 wounded.
WASHINGTON
Bush loosening up
on his legacy
President George W. Bush says
history will judge him, but he is
getting his own crack first. Bush
is using his final 50 days in office
to tout his legacy, hoping to leave
a lasting impression of overshad-
owed progress.
* Yesterday, World AIDS Day,
Bush was heralded for his leader-
ship in fighting the disease, a point
that even his Democratic critics
readily concede.
The anti-AIDS program Bush
championed in 2003 has deliv-
ered lifesaving medicine to more
than 2 million people in five years,
up from 50,000 people before it
began. Many of those helped live in
impoverished sub-Saharan Africa,
where AIDS is the leading killer.
"I would hope that when it's all
said and done, people say,'This is a
guy who showed up to solve prob-
lems,"' Bush said at a global health
forum. "And when you have some-
body say there's a pandemic that
you can help, and you do nothing
about it, then you have frankly dis-
graced the office."
AUGUSTA, Ga.
Paln helps Georgia
Republican
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin urged
Georgia voters to back Sen. Saxby
Chambliss in today's runoff in an
election eve appeal that under-
scored her popularity within the
Republican Party and the GOP's
efforts to stave off erosion of its
shrinking Senate numbers.
"Losing an election doesn't
mean we have lost our way," the
former vice presidential candidate
told a cheering crowd of 2,500
on Monday in the central Geor-
gia town of Perry. "If we are to
lead again, we have lots of hard
work ahead of us. Let it begin here

tomorrow in Georgia."
Palin's campaign appearances
for Chambliss - four total - were
her first since she and Republican
presidential nominee John McCa-
in stumbled on Nov. 4. Georgia
Republicans clearly were looking
ahead, with supporters waiting
in the cold for more than an hour
to attend the rallies. Vendors in
Augusta sold bright pink "Palin
2012" T-shirts and "Palin for Presi-
dent: You Go Girl" buttons. Chants
of "Sa-rah!" greeted Palin.
NEW YORK
Burress posts
$100,00 bail
Taken to court in handcuffs,
Plaxico Burress posted $100,000
bail on weapons possession charg-
es yesterday as a frenzy grew
around the case of the Giants star
receiver who accidentally shot
himself in a nightclub.
Authorities said teammate
Antonio Pierce was being investi-
gated over his role in the shooting,
while the Super Bowl-champion
Giants weren't sure what action
they would take against Burress.
The NFL said it was monitoring
0 developments. Mayor Michael
Bloomberg also weighed in, saying
it would be an outrage "if we didn't
prosecute to the fullest extent of
the law."
Burress shot himself in the right
0 thigh in the VIP section of the Latin
Quarter nightclub in Manhattan
about 1 a.m. Saturday, police said.
He did not have a permit to carry a
handgun in New York.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports

Recession declared;
Wall Street tanks

President-elect Barack Obama stands with Secretary of State-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, (D-N.Y.). Obama
praised his former rival as an "American of tremendous structure" and of "extraordinary intelligence and toughness."
Obama taps Cinton, Gates
for 'new dawn'abroad

Bernanke to lower
interest rates
WASHINGTON (AP) - Most
Americans sorely knew it already,
but now it's official: The country is
in a recession, and it's getting worse.
Wall Street convulsed at the news -
and a fresh batch of bad economic
reports - tankingnearly 680 points.
With the economic pain likely
to stretch well into 2009, Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke
said yesterday he stands ready to
lower interest rates yet again and
to explore other rescue or revival
measures.
Rushing in reinforcements,
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson,
who along with Bernanke has been
leading the government's efforts to
stem the worst financial crisis since
the 1930s, pledged to take all the
steps he can in the waning days of
the Bush administration to provide
relief. Specifically, Paulson is eyeing
more ways to tap into a $700 billion
financial bailout pool.
On Capitol Hill, House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., vowed to
have a massive economic stimulus
package ready on Inauguration Day
for President-elect Barack Obama's
signature.
That measure - which could
total a whopping $500 billion -
would bankroll big public works
projects to generate jobs, provide
aid to states to help with Medicaid
costs and provide money toward
renewable energy development.
Crafting such a colossal recovery
package would mark a Herculean
feat: Congress convenes Jan. 6,
giving lawmakers just two weeks
to complete their work if it is to be
signed on Jan. 20.
President George W. Bush, in
an interview with ABC's "World
News," expressed remorse about
lost jobs, cracked nest eggs and
other damage wrought by the
financial crisis. "I'm sorry it's hap-
pening, of course," said Bush. The
president said he'd back more gov-
ernment intervention.
None of the pledges for more
action could comfort Wall Street
investors. The Dow Jones industri-

als plunged 679.95 points, or 7.70
percent, to close at 8,149.09.
It was another white-knuckle
day, punctuated by grim economic
reports. An index of manufactur-
ing activity sank to a reading of
36.2 in November, a 26-year low,
the Institute for Supply Man-
agement reported. Construction
spending fell by a larger than
expected 1.2 percent in October,
the Commerce Department said.
Addingto the gloom, the Nation-
al Bureau of Economic Research, a
group of academic economists, con-
cluded Monday thatthe countryhas
been suffering through a recession
since December 2007.
With NBER's decision, the Unit-
edStates has fallen into two reces-
sions during Bush's eight years
in office. The first one started in
March 2001 and ended in Novem-
ber of thatyear.
The economy jolted into reverse
in the final three months of lastyear.
After a short spring rebound, it con-
tracted again in the summer. Econo-
mists say it is still shrinking and will
continue to do sothrough atleast the
first quarterofnextyear.
Unlike past recessions, con-
sumers are bearing the brunt of
this one. Clobbered by job losses,
hard-to-get credit and hits to their
wealth from sinking home values
and plunging portfolio invest-
ments, consumers have cut back
sharply on their spending, throw-
ing the economy into chaos.
Watching customers' appetites
wane, employers have throttled
back on hiring. The unemploy-
ment rate in October zoomed to 6.5
percent, a 14-year high. So far this
year, 1.2 million positions have dis-
appeared. The jobless rate is likely
to climb to8 percent or higher next
year.
Against that backdrop, many
economists believe the current
recession will be the worst since
the 1981-82 downturn.
To help ease the pain, Bernanke
said additionalinterest-rate cuts are
"certainly feasible," but he warned
there are limits to how much such
action would revive the economy,
which is likely to stay mired in
weakness well into nextyear.

Obama enlists rivals
for Security Council
CHICAGO (AP) - Barack
Obama promised "a new dawn of
American leadership" in a trou-
bled world yesterday, announcing
a strong-willed national security
team headed by Hillary Rodham
Clinton, who fought him long and
bitterly for the presidency, and
Robert Gates, the man who has
been running two wars for George
W. Bush.
The president-elect said he
hadn't changed his mind about
bringing most U.S. combat troops
home from Iraq within 16 months
but added a cautionary note - he'll
consult with his military com-
manders first.
While his new team may be
a bit more centrist - some war
opponents might even say hawkish
- than many Obama supporters
might prefer, he said the with-
drawal timetable he emphasized
in the presidential campaign is
still "the right time frame."
Clinton, as secretary of state,
and Gates, remaining as defense
secretary, will be the most prom-
inent faces - besides Obama's
own - of the new administra-
tion's effort to revamp U.S. pol-
icy abroad.
At a Chicago news conference,
Obama also tapped top advisers
Eric Holder as attorney general
and Susan Rice as ambassador to
the United Nations. He named
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano to
be homeland security secretary
and retired Marine Gen. James
Jones as White House national
security adviser.
The choices had been tele-
graphed days earlier but were

remarkable all the same - still
another major turn in Clinton's
extraordinary career, a show of
faith in Gates and action to sup-
port Obama's frequent talk of
desiring robust debate among sea-
soned, opinionated people in his
inner circle.
DenouncingWhite House "group
think,"Obamasignaled abreak from
President Bush's tendency toward
an insular management style and
go-with-the-gut diplomacy.
"The time has come for a new
beginning," said Obama, flanked
by flags on a stage with Vice Pres-
ident-elect Joe Biden and his six
newest appointees. While Gates
will stay at the Pentagon, Obama
said the military's new mission
will be "responsibly ending the
war in Iraq through a successful
transition to Iraqi control."
He said a newly completed
agreement between Iraq and the
Bush administration covering
U.S. troops signals "a transition
period in which our mission is
changing." He added: "It indi-
cates we are now on a glide path
to reduce our forces in Iraq."
Obama has now selected half
his Cabinet, including the high-
profile jobs at State, Defense, Jus-
tice and Treasury. A week ago,
he named his economic team, led
by Timothy Geithner as treasury
secretary. And soon he plans to
announce New Mexico Gov. Bill
Richardson as commerce secre-
tary and former Senate Majority
Leader Tom Daschle as health and
human services secretary.
Obama's picks suggest he is
mindful of his own relative inex-
perience; most of the appointees
have decades more experience
in government than he does as
a former one-term Illinois sena-

tor. The selections also reflect his
long-voiced desire to invite diver-
gent viewpoints to chart the best
course for the country.
"I assembled this team because
I'm a strong believer in strong per-
sonalities and strong opinions," he
said. "I think that's how the best
decisions are made. ... So I'm going
to be welcoming a vigorous debate
inside the White House."
"But understand Iwill be setting
policy as president," he added. He
said he will be responsible for "the
vision that this team carries out,
and I expect them to implement that
vision once decisions are made."
"The time has come for a new
beginning, a new dawn of Ameri-
can leadership to overcome the
challenges of the 21st century,"
Obama said.
Without naming Bush or direct-
ly referringto what administration
critics see as America's tarnished
world image over the past eight
years, Obama called for a new strat-
egy for dealing with global issues.
"We're going to have to bring
the full force of our power, not
only military but also diplomatic,
economic, and political, to deal
with those threats not only to keep
America safe but also to ensure
that peace and prosperity will
exist around the world," he said.
Referring to his security
team, Obama said: "They share
my pragmatism about the use of
power and my sense of purpose
about America's role as a leader in
the world."
Asked by reporters about his
choice of Clinton, who traded
barbs with him and questioned
his readiness for the presidency
during the campaign, he praised
her and shrugged off any sugges-
tions of future problems.

SU,.-.KI


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