Monday, October 20, 2008

• Bernanke on the Stimulus
• Some Voters Waiting Hours to Cast Early Ballots
• Candidates Stands on Criminal Justice Reform
• FDA Proposes To Add Genetically Modified Animals into the Food Supply
• Egyptians Turn to Traditional Food During Food Crisis

Click here for Headlines Package - Donate
Click here for 13 Meg Version - Donate
Click here for Dial-Up Version - Donate

Bernanke on the Stimulus

The Associated Press is reporting that Freddie Mac secretly paid a
Republican consulting firm two million dollars in 2005 and 2006 to
pressure lawmakers to vote against a bill that would regulate and
reform the mortgage giant and its sister enterprise, Fannie Mae. 26
Republican Senators who supported the bill predicted that without quick
regulatory reform, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac posed an enormous risk to
the housing market, the overall financial system and the economy as a
whole. Senator John McCain's campaign hired the same consulting firm -
DCI - to manage last month's Republican convention. Meanwhile, Fed
Chair Ben Bernanke testified before the House Budget Committee today,
about WHAT additional steps he thinks Congress should take to ease the
economic crisis. Tanya Snyder reports on the outlook for an economic
stimulus package.

Some Voters Waiting Hours to Cast Early Ballots

States that allow for early voting are witnessing large crowds at the
polls. In some cases, early voter turnout has broken previous records.
In Chicago and Cook County, Illinois, 20,000 people have already cast
their ballots in just 6 days of early voting, setting a new record.
FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell is in the battleground state of North
Carolina – she reports that people stood in line for three hours to
vote in one town.

Candidates Stands on Criminal Justice Reform

Half of the US's 2.3 million inmates in local, state and federal jails
and prisons are serving time for non-violent crimes – and almost
one-quarter of the country's total number of prisoners are in for drug
offenses. The economy and two ongoing wars have taken center stage in
the upcoming presidential elections, leaving criminal justice issues by
the wayside. FSRN's Melinda Tuhus looks into the candidates' stands on
criminal justice reform.

FDA Proposes To Add Genetically Modified Animals into the Food Supply

People in the United States have been consuming genetically modified
crops for more than a decade– and now, the Food and Drug Administration
has proposed allowing meat from genetically modified animals. This
comes less than a year after the FDA gave the green light to meat from
cloned animals. And if the idea of eating cloned and genetically
altered animals doesn't have you running to the nearest fast-food chain
to grab a hamburger, you're not alone. Joseph Mendelson us the Legal
Director for the Center for Food Safety; he says a recent increase in
food regulation and policy is the result of the end of the Bush
Administration.

Egyptians Turn to Traditional Food During Food Crisis

In Egypt, basic food prices have made it so that many residents are
mostly doing without meat and fresh vegetables. As Aya Batrawy reports
from Cairo, many have turned to a traditional alternative that they say
is Egypt's food for the people.