No second stimulus soon, Pelosi says
WASHINGTON, March 13 (UPI) -- A second infusion of cash into the struggling U.S. economy won't happen anytime soon, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
The California Democrat's pronouncement Thursday that a second stimulus package isn't 'in the cards' came days after she suggested Congress should 'keep the door open' to the possibility, The Washington Post reported Friday.
Several prominent economists have suggested that a second stimulus measure might be needed to shake the economy out of its slump. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, said this week that 'policymakers need to do more. I don't think we're done.'
Pelosi said during her weekly news conference that she 'really would like to see this stimulus package play out' before considering another one.
'I don't think you ever close the door to being prepared for whatever eventuality may come,' she said, stressing, however, that a second plan is 'just not right now something that's in the cards.'
Other congressional Democrats indicated they have little appetite to consider a second multibillion stimulus plan soon after enactment of the $787 billion American Reinvestment and Recovery Act and a $410 billion appropriations that keeps government functioning until the end of the 2009 fiscal year, Politico said.
'If there's appetite, there's not in my office,' said U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del.
'It is too soon,' House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., told the Washington publication.
Dems seek cramdown support from financials
WASHINGTON, March 13 (UPI) -- Democratic leaders say they're seeking support from the U.S. financial services industry for legislation that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages.
The measure passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week but hasn't been scheduled for a vote in the Senate, where aides say consideration could be delayed until after Easter, The Washington Post reported Friday.
Many Republicans oppose the measure that would allow bankruptcy judges to reduce the principal on a homeowner's mortgage, cut the interest rate and extend terms, often called cramdowns. The measure also is opposed by the financial services industry, which has argued it would drive up losses and bankruptcy filings of homeowners looking to bankruptcy courts for relief.
Citigroup, the troubled New York bank, backs the measure but no other financial institution has. Two Democratic lawmakers who back the legislation, Sens. Richard Durbin of Illinois and Charles Schumer of New York, said they are meeting with representatives of financial industry, including credit unions, to build support.
Dan Mica, National Credit Union Association president, told the Post he's been meeting with lawmakers and other supporters of bankruptcy modifications for at least a year.
'We would like to see the focus narrowed so it doesn't impact credit unions. Credit unions didn't create this problem, they didn't do subprime loans,' the one-time congressman said. 'Nothing would please me more than to see an agreement with Durbin and Schumer.'
Israeli-Hamas prisoner deal may be reached
CAIRO, March 13 (UPI) -- Israeli officials have agreed to free 450 Hamas prisoners in exchange for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Palestinian sources in Cairo said Friday.
A sticking point revolves around Israel's demand that some of the prisoners be deported or relocated instead of being returned to the West Bank, the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported.
Palestinian sources told the Israeli publication Haaretz that Israel 'is insisting that several dozen of the released prisoners be exiled abroad and that others be released to Gaza rather than the West Bank.' Hamas leaders indicated they agreed to the deportation of 'only a handful of prisoners' and only with the prisoners' consent.
Ofer Dekel, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's special envoy in the negotiations, returned from Egypt to Israel Thursday night for consultations, Ynetnews reported. Dekel was expected to return to Cairo soon to resume the talks brokered by Egyptian officials.
The list of Hamas prisoners includes the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ahmad Sadat, who reportedly orchestrated the assassination of Rehavam Zeevi, an Israeli minister and military leader, Ynetnews said.
Shalit was captured by Hamas during an Israel-Gaza cross-border raid in June 2006 and has been held hostage since.
Police break up protest in Pakistan
KARACHI, Pakistan, March 13 (UPI) -- Police broke up an anti-government protest in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, arresting opposition leaders, officials said Friday.
Hundreds of lawyers and activists also were blocked Thursday as they sought to head for another demonstration in Islamabad, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Meanwhile, a missile believed to have been fired by a U.S. drone aircraft hit a house in northwestern Pakistan that officials said was occupied by militants. Unconfirmed reports put the death toll at seven to 10 people.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari favored a ban on public gatherings in Karachi which he considers a focal point for terrorists.
Authorities also banned gatherings in two key provinces and blocked major roads into Islamabad, the capital, with barriers and paramilitary vehicles.
The government's crackdown is aimed at quelling demonstrations in major cities being held as part of a several-day 'long march' to Islamabad for a planned sit-in on Monday.
Destroyer diverted to South China Sea
WASHINGTON, March 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy has sent a guided missile destroyer to protect a U.S. surveillance ship operating in the South China Sea, a Pentagon official says.
The USS Chung-Hoon was diverted to an escort mission after five Chinese vessels came within 25 feet of the unarmed USNS Impeccable, The Washington Post reported Friday.
'Chung-Hoon is there, in the area, keeping an eye on Impeccable, which continues lawful operations,' the official told the Post. He spoke on condition of anonymity.
On Sunday the five Chinese ships surrounded the Impeccable and blocked its path with pieces of wood.
Chinese experts say the Impeccable was there to monitor submarine activity south of Hainan Island.
The arrival of the destroyer to protect Impeccable underscores the Pentagon's determination to continue with the surveillance mission despite China's claim that it represents illegal military activity, the newspaper says.
GOP chief stumbles over abortion topic
WASHINGTON, March 13 (UPI) -- Michael Steele, the beleaguered national Republican Party chairman, seems to have strayed from the party line on abortion rights, GOP observers say.
Steele, who has found himself having to explain what he meant to say on earlier occasions much to the reported anguish of some Republican leaders, had his latest problem in a GQ interview on Thursday, The New York Times said.
He seemed to suggest during the interview that women should have the right to decide whether to have an abortion. He called it 'an individual's choice.'
He quickly came back with a clarification: 'The states should make that choice. That's what the choice is. The individual choice rests in the states. Let them decide.'
Earlier, Steele, who has been in the job for only two months, caused party anxiety with such things as tangling with Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio host, and furnishing fodder for TV parodies by Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and 'Saturday Night Live.'
The Times says the latest incident likely won't spur any movement to recall Steele but could diminish his ability to present his case for his party and raise money.