NPR News 2011-11-22 加文本

NPR News 2011-11-22

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh

Stalemate - that's what Democrats and Republicans of a deficit-cutting super committee apparently are at this point and the likelihood the panel will agree by midnight on how to trim at least $1.2 trillion is growing dim. Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform who drew most Republican lawmakers to sign a pledge not to raise taxes, tells CBS the Democrats need to accept less spending not tax hikes as the reality.

"We're trying to undo a spending mess. The only way to spend less is to spend less. The Democrats want to raise taxes to pay for Obama's larger government. The two parties don't agree."

One of the panel's Senate Democrats, John Kerry, says Norquist has been the 13th member of the committee without actually being there. He says the committee has to uphold its pledge to reach an agreement.

"We are not a tax-cutting committee. We're a deficit-reduction committee."

Kerry speaking today on NBC.

The gridlock on Capitol Hill having an effect on U.S. stocks, at last check the Dow was down 263 points, more than 2%, at 11,533.

Officials at the University of California Davis are putting their campus police chief on administrative leave after public uproar over the pepper spraying of student demonstrators last week. NPR's Richard Gonzales reports a video of the incident went viral and has prompted calls for the resignation of the university's chancellor.

The video shows two UC Davis police officers in riot gear dousing pepper spray over protesters who are sitting down with their arms linked. University Chancellor Linda Katehi told KQED's Forum program that the incident is disheartening.

"As an educator, as a human being, I felt I was filled with outrage and sadness. It was horrible what they saw."

But Katehi is resisting demands for her resignation. She has called for a university investigation of the incident and asked the local DEA for an external probe. The president of the UC system Mark Yudof is calling for a policy review for all 10 UC campuses. The two police officers are on administrative leave with pay. Richard Gonzales, NPR News.

In Egypt protests are actually turning more deadly with authorities saying at least 24 people have been killed in the last three days of unrest. Egypt's cabinet reportedly is asking to resign, though it's uncertain if the country's military council will accept. Local media report Prime Minister Essam Sharaf's government has been under public siege, facing the kind of growing unrest that forced President Hosni Mubarak from power earlier this year. Sharaf is accused of bowing to pressure from Egypt's ruling military and failing to implement enough political reform.

Dow down 270 points at last glance at 11,527.

You're listening to NPR News.

Louis Freeh, former head of the FBI, is spearheading Penn state's investigation into alleged sexual abuse of children and a school culture that allegedly allowed the assault to continue unreported. Today Freeh pledged the investigation would be independent.

"I'm committed to ensuring that our independent investigation be conducted in a thorough, fair and comprehensive manner, leaving no stones unturned and without any fear or favor."

Retired Air Force colonel and astronaut Colonel Guion Bluford, a 1964 Penn State grad, was also asked by the board of trustees to take part in the investigation.

Britain is trying to re-energize its stagnant housing market with a range of measures that Larry Miller reports were also designed to create jobs.

First-time buyers of new homes will be able to get a 95% mortgage underwritten by the taxpayer. The government will subsidize home builders unable to get bank financing to complete new developments. Public housing residents will be able to buy their homes at a big discount with more publicly owned land earmarked for building. Britain's Housing Secretary Grant Shapps says the moves will "unstuck" the housing market.

"The problem that we have is that lenders aren't lending, builders aren't building and people can't get their deposits together to buy so we've got a triple problem in the housing market."

The government hopes the initiative will result in half a million new affordable homes by 2015, creating thousands of new jobs. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

U.S. stocks losing ground with the Dow now down 280 points.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.