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View Article  Fred Harteis News Articles- Retail Prices Fell at Record Rate in November

Fred Harteis News Articles - Consumer prices fell at the fastest rate on record in November while home construction plunged nearly 20 percent in a single month, skidding to its lowest levels in 50 years, according to new government data that shows further weakness in the ailing economy.

 

The reports on Tuesday morning heightened investors’ expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut its target overnight interest rate to 0.5 percent, from 1 percent, later in the day. Financial markets in New York opened higher as investors awaited a 2:15 ...   more »

View Article  Fred Harteis News Articles- Caroline Kennedy to Seek Clinton's Senate Seat

Fred Harteis News Articles – Caroline Kennedy the daughter of an American political dynasty, has decided to pursue the United States Senate seat being vacated by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, a person told of her decision said on Monday.

 

The decision came after a series of deeply personal and political conversations, in which Ms. Kennedy, whom friends describe as unflashy but determined, wrestled with whether to give up what has been a lifetime of avoiding the spotlight.

 

Ms. Kennedy will ask Gov. David A. Paterson ...   more »

View Article  Fred Harteis News Articles - White House Open to Using Bailout Money to Aid Detroit

Fred Harteis News Articles - President Bush and the Treasury Department signaled on Friday that they would consider dipping into the $700 billion bailout program for financial institutions to aid the Big Three car companies, after Republican senators refused to support a compromise proposal to rescue the automakers.

 

“Under normal economic conditions we would prefer that markets determine the ultimate fate of private firms,” Dana Perino, Mr. Bush’s spokeswoman, said in a carefully nuanced statement released minutes before the financial markets opened in New York. “However, given the current ...   more »

View Article  Fred Harteis News Articles - Auto Suppliers Share Anxiety Over a

Fred Harteis News Articles - With Congress struggling to agree on a bailout for Detroit, the odds that General Motors and Chrysler will be insolvent by year’s end are growing rapidly.

 

The companies have been warning that they would run out of money for some time, but crushing bills from their suppliers are coming due. It appeared unlikely that they could hold on until President-elect Barack Obama takes office next month, when he and a new Congress might be able to provide a lifeline, as a Congressional rescue ...   more »

View Article  Fred Harteis News Articles - Obama's Effort on Ethics Bill Had Role in Governor's Fall

Fred Harteis News Articles - In a sequence of events that neatly captures the contradictions of Barack Obama’s rise through Illinois politics, a phone call he made three months ago to urge passage of a state ethics bill indirectly contributed to the downfall of a fellow Democrat he twice supported, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich.

Mr. Obama placed the call to his political mentor, Emil Jones Jr., president of the Illinois Senate. Mr. Jones was a critic of the legislation, which sought to curb the influence of money in politics, as ...   more »

View Article  Fred Harteis News Articles- Illinois Governor in Corruption Scandal

Fred Harteis News articles - Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois was arrested by federal authorities on Tuesday morning on corruption charges, including an allegation that he conspired to effectively sell President-elect Barack Obama’s seat in the United States Senate to the highest bidder.

 

Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat, called his sole authority to name Mr. Obama’s successor “golden,” and he sought to parlay it into a job as an ambassador or secretary of Health and Human Services, or a high-paying position at a nonprofit or an organization connected to ...   more »

View Article  Fred Harteis News Articles - U.S. Loses 533,000 Jobs in November

Fred Harteis News Articles - The government’s report of vast job losses in November, the largest monthly decline in a generation, puts more pressure on Congress and the administration to move quickly on a fiscal stimulus package, mortgage relief and perhaps financial aid for Detroit’s big automakers.

 

The nation’s employers shed 533,000 jobs in November, the 11th consecutive monthly decline, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Not since December 1974, toward the end of a severe recession, have so many jobs disappeared in a single month, and the ...   more »

View Article  Fred Harteis News Articles - Most Retailers Report a Dismal November

Fred Harteis News Articles - Most of the nation’s stores kicked off the critical holiday shopping season with double-digit sales declines, portending more price cuts in December and raising questions about the long-term prospects for many retailers.

November sales figures released Thursday underscored that such declines had become the norm across the retail spectrum. Sales at stores open at least a year at Abercrombie & Fitch, long a darling of Wall Street, fell 28 percent compared with a 2 percent increase for the period a year ago.

 

Even discount ...   more »

View Article  Fred Harteis News Articles - Obama Unveils His National Security Team

Fred Harteis News Articles - President-elect Barack Obama called for “a new dawn of American leadership” on Monday as he formally introduced his national security team, led by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as his nominee for secretary of state.

 

“We will strengthen our capacity to defeat our enemies and support our friends,” Mr. Obama said in Chicago. “We will renew old alliances and forge new and enduring partnerships.”

 

The new president said he was sticking to his goal of removing American combat troops from Iraq within 16 months, ...   more »

View Article  Fred Harteis News Articles - Obama Picks Volcker to Head New Economic Panel

Fred Harteis News Articles -  Paul Volcker, who helped tame runaway inflation in the 1980s during two terms as chairman of the Federal Reserve, has agreed to lead a new White House economic advisory committee, President-elect Barack Obama said on Wednesday. He praised Mr. Volcker as “one of the world’s foremost economic policy experts.”

 

“Paul has served under both Republicans and Democrats and is held in the highest esteem for his sound and independent judgment,” Mr. Obama said, as the 6-foot 7-inch Mr. Volcker towered nearby. “He has ...   more »

View Article  Fred Harteis News Articles- Obama Unveils Team to Tackle 'Historic' Crisis in Economy

Fred Harteis News Articles - With the financial crisis looming as a priority of his term, President-elect Barack Obama sought to put his imprint on efforts to stem the turmoil as he introduced his economic team on Monday, nominating Timothy F. Geithner as Treasury secretary and Lawrence H. Summers to head the White House Economic Council.

 

By naming a team deeply experienced in dealing with financial crises — Mr. Geithner was heavily involved over the weekend in the efforts to stabilize Citigroup — Mr. Obama underscored his determination to ...   more »

View Article  Fred Harteis News Articles- Clinton Decides to Accept Post at State Dept.

Fred Harteis News Articles -  Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, making her the public face around the world for the administration of the man who beat her for the Democratic presidential nomination, two confidants said Friday.

 

The apparent accord between perhaps the two leading figures in the Democratic Party climaxed a week-long drama that riveted the nation’s capital.

 

Mrs. Clinton came to her decision after additional discussion with President-elect Barack Obama about the ...   more »

View Article  Fred Harteis News Articles- Chief Fights for G.M.'s Future and His Reputation

Fred Harteis News Articles-   Rick Wagoner cannot afford to leave Washington this week without at least $10 billion in federal aid to keep General Motors in business.

 

But a major question for Mr. Wagoner, G.M.’s chief executive for the last eight years, is whether he will return to Detroit with his job as well.

 

While the heads of the Ford Motor Company, Chrysler and the United Automobile Workers are scheduled to also testify before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, it is Mr. Wagoner and his company ...   more »

View Article  Fred Harteis News Articles -Citi Plans Asset Sales and Job Cuts

Fred Harteis News Articles-  Becoming the latest Wall Street firm to reduce its work force amid the financial turmoil, the banking giant, Citigroup, announced Monday morning that it would cut another 24,000 jobs, bringing the total reductions in the coming months to 52,000.

 

Roughly half of the 52,000 had been previously announced, including 18,000 jobs with the sale of its Indian outsourcing operations and more than 5,000 at its German banking franchise.

 

On Monday, Citigroup said it expected to layoff another 17,000 employees and shed as many ...   more »

View Article  Fred Harteis News Articles - At Governors Meeting, Palin Looks Ahead

Fred Harteis News Articles-  Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska did something here on Thursday that she did not do in her entire campaign as the Republican Party’s vice presidential nominee: she stood behind a lectern and held a news conference. She was asked what had changed.

 

“The campaign is over,” she said.

 

Granted, the question and answer session lasted only four minutes, and for only four questions. As she stood on a stage in a hotel overlooking Biscayne Bay, surrounded by 12 fellow governors, Ms. Palin was ...   more »