Consumer Reports Morning Update[SIZE=-1]Good Monday morning, here are the top stories our editors are keeping an eye on today. Check back with ConsumerReports.org throughout the day for updates and analysis on these topics and many more.
As the White House prepares to release President Barack Obama's first budget and tries to turn the conversation toward extending affordable health care to all Americans, the administration is being forced to defend the economic stimulus plan, including bailouts for the banking, housing and auto industries.
Economic Stimulus Plan:
The nation's governors--in Washington for a meeting of the National Governors Association--will meet with President Obama and will plead for flexibility as they lay out plans to spend the federal money to jolt their teetering state economies. (Washington Post)
Republican governors were split on Sunday over whether to accept all of the money their states stand to receive from a $787 billion economic stimulus package. Three governors of southern states have come out against taking part of the money designated to extend unemployment benefits and perhaps for other programs. A handful of others are considering follow suit. (Reuters)
Don't look for massive monuments to spending: Quick spending to repair America's infrastructure is the priority for most of the bill's $787 billion. Instead of grand public works, officials seek to fix roads, schools, sewer lines and the like. (Los Angeles Times)
Later Today:
The president convenes a fiscal responsibility summit to talk about reducing the deficit and reforming entitlement spending programs, including Social Security and Medicare.*
The president is expected to name a watchdog for funds being doled out in the economic stimulus package. Earl DeVaney, the inspector general for the Department of the Interior, will head a panel to watch over spending.
Fixing The Housing Market:
Critics are saying the Obama administration's latest housing rescue rewards people who bought homes they couldn't afford. (MSNBC/AP)
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan said that controls were in place so that speculators and others won't be able to unfairly take advantage of it. (CBS News)
Bank Bailout:
Citigroup Inc. is in talks with federal officials that could result in the U.S. government substantially expanding its ownership of the struggling bank. The U.S. government may end up holding as much as 40 percent of Citigroup?s common stock, while bank executives prefer the stake to be closer to 25 percent. (Wall Street Journal)
Early Monday, U.S. stock futures rose, indicating the stock market will rebound from two straight weeks of losses, as investors speculated the U.S. government may boost control over Citigroup. (Bloomberg)
On Wall Street and in Washington, fierce debate has raged about bank nationalization - whether it represents a cure for the financial markets' collapse, or could trigger further economic catastrophe. Markets had crumbled on Friday because of the prospect of the U.S. government nationalizing troubled banks. (Politico)
Health Care Reform:
Even if the national credit card is maxed out and partisanship remains the rule for Washington's political tribes, President Barack Obama and Congress are plunging ahead with a health care overhaul. This week, Obama will start the dialogue on how to increase coverage, restrain costs and improve quality. (AP)
Trimming The Deficit:
The administration pegs the current deficit at $1.3 trillion, or 9.2% of the overall economy, and projects that in four years the deficit will be down to $533 billion, or 3% of the economy as measured by the gross domestic product. (USA Today)
How? Roll back spending for the war in Iraq and ending the Bush administration's tax cuts for wealthy Americans.
GOP governors and congressional leaders panned Obama's plan this weekend as its details emerged. (The Hill)
Neither Rain, Nor Sleet...
Congress will hold a hearing next month into why Postmaster General John E. Potter has gotten a nearly 40 percent pay raise since 2006 and was awarded a six-figure incentive bonus last year, even as the U.S. Postal Service faces a multibillion-dollar shortfall that threatens a day of mail delivery. (Washington Times)
Protecting Your Money:
New and nasty banking trojans are on the rise on the Internet and attacking online bank accounts. The new trojan programs ? which wait on your hard drive for an opportunity to crack your online banking account ? are different from traditional "phishing" e-mail scams that try to trick you into typing your login information at fake bank websites. (USA Today)
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