Archive - Mar 24, 2009

• Congress gears up for budget debate
• Supreme Court considers if “Hilary: The Movie” was illegally censored
• Lawmakers question Geithner and Bernanke
• Housing Advocates Take to the Streets
• Trial for Peru’s former dictator coming to an end

• Coalition deal reached in Israel between dovish Labor and hawkish Likud
• Residents of largely Arab Israeli town clash with far right Jewish demonstrators
• Binyam Mohammed offered freedom from GITMO in exchange for silence
• EPA suspends approval of mountaintop mining permits
• March 24th, 1999 – NATO begins airstrikes over Kosovo
• US backs Danish PM for NATO chief
• March 24th, 1976 – Coup d’etat in Argentina

Congress and the White House are both gearing up for what promises to be a fiery debate on President Obama‘s first budget. The President has already released his budget – following his lead, Congress has begun working on theirs. As FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports, Republicans say the democrat’s budget costs too much and Democrats say it invests in programs long overdue.

The Supreme Court heard arguments today on a First Amendment case. A group that produced an anti-Hilary Clinton documentary to air during the primary election season went after the Federal Elections Commission – the agency which blocked them from airing it on pay-per-view. A federal court sided with the elections commission that the documentary was a form of electioneering, and now it’s up to the Supreme Court to decide if barring the documentary from airing was unconstitutional.  As Peter Granitz reports from Washington, the high court’s ruling could affect campaign finance regulations.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill grilled Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke today about federal oversight of the AIG bailout and 165 million dollars paid out in executive compensation. Geithner said AIG is an example of the failures in the US financial system and he wants new regulatory authority to oversee non-bank institutions.

The economic recession has made many of the nation's poor even more vulnerable to homelessness. In New York City, housing advocates there are urging city officials to secure more affordable housing for families that are struggling to get by. Ravi Ragbir with the Community News Production Institute has more.

The year and a half long trial of Peru's former dictator Alberto Fujimori is coming to an end. While Fujimori's party still has influence in national politics, many of his critics hope a guilty verdict on charges of human rights violations will help end Peru’s culture of impunity and promote a process of reconciliation. Alfredo Cuatros and Pam Cueva have more from Lima.