NPR 2008-07-24

The House of Representatives passed a bill today designed to deal with the housing crisis. It would authorize 1 the Treasury 2 Department to give unlimited 3 credit to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae for 18 months to keep the mortgage giants from collapsing 4. During the debate, Florida Democrat 5 Kathy Castor said the measure is needed in case the problems worsen. "This is something of an insurance policy against broader losses in the housing market that could bubble up." The bill would also provide 3.9 billion dollars for neighbourhoods hit hardest by foreclosures to buy and fix up foreclosed properties. That provision prompted President Bush to threaten a veto. Now, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino says the president will sign the bill. "When legislation finally comes to the president's desk, it often has a few things in there that he might not be able to support or that he wouldn´t have recommended. But when there is bipartisan support for a bill, he will sign it." The House vote was 272 to 152. The Senate is also expected to approve the measure.

Hurricane Dolly struck South Texas today with heavy winds and rain. It had strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane just before it made landfall, but then was downgraded to a Category 1 as it moved inland. Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies reports from San Antonio.

Dolly delivered sustained winds of 100 miles per hour as its eye approached South Padre Island, according to the National Hurricane Center. There are reports of wind damage---mostly large trees being knocked over, and also causing scattered 6 power outages. There were no evacuations ordered for the region. But emergency shelters were set up inland. They are reporting full capacity at many of the shelters. The real test for the border region is the deluge 7 of rain. Dolly is a slow-moving storm and could dump about a foot of rain in some areas. The levees that lie in the Rio Grande are in disrepair. Texas Governor Rick Perry activated 8 1,200 National Guard personnel and half a dozen Black Hawk 9 helicopters which can deliver emergency supplies. For NPR News, I'm David Martin Davies in San Antonio.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency argued in federal court in New Orleans today that it should be immune from lawsuits 10 over potentially dangerous trailers. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf 11 Coast in 2005, FEMA housed tens of thousands of people in trailers that contained elevated levels of formaldehyde, a preservative 12 used in construction materials that could cause health problems. Several lawsuits were filed against the government and the companies that made the trailers. FEMA argued today that it was responding to a disaster and should be protected from judicial 13 second-guessing.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up more than 29 points to 11,632. More than six and a half billion shares were traded. The NASDAQ was up 22 points to 2,325.

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Senator Barack Obama's overseas trip takes him to Berlin, Germany tomorrow. He will meet with German leaders and give an evening speech in front of what officials estimate could be as many as one million people. Kyle James reports from Berlin.

In the run-up to the Illinois senator's visit, Obamamania has gotten a solid grip on Germany. The country's leading news magazine put the candidate on its cover under the title "Germany is meeting the Superstar". Obama will give an outdoor speech on Thursday evening on trans-Atlantic relations. His camp had floated the idea of holding it in front of the Brandenburg Gate. But that proved controversial. So, it's been moved a mile down the road to the Victory Column. A recent poll found that 76% of Germans support Obama, compared to just 10% for McCain. His visit is being compared to the 1963 trip to the city by John F Kennedy at the height of the Cold War. And hopes are high that Obama, as president, could restore ties between Germany and the US that have frayed 14 somewhat during the Bush administration. For NPR News, I'm Kyle James in Berlin.

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain continued to portray 15 Obama as naive 16 on foreign affairs as he campaigned in Pennsylvania today, specifically on what to do about the war in Iraq. McCain says Obama's plans to withdraw troops over a 16-month period would mean the US would have to return to Iraq to finish the job. "When I'm President of the United States, we will come home; we will come home with victory and honor. But we'll never have to go back because we will have won this conflict." McCain also says he is deeply disappointed that Senator Obama will not recognize that this troop surge has succeeded, saying no rational person could think otherwise.