NPR 2011-04-09

The blame game is playing out in Washington and pushes the government ever closer to a partial shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Harry¹ Reid says just when it seemed Democrats² and Republicans would have some kind of deal before the midnight deadline, the tide turned.

"I don't know what happened last night, but as I indicated earlier the day at four o'clock in the morning, I got an email saying "We've tried, but they backed off the number they'd agreed to."

NPR's David Welna reports House Speaker John Boehner says budget cuts are at issue, while Democrats say the real issue is Republicans' insistence³ on cutting federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

After meeting with his caucus⁴, House Speaker John Boehner said there is no agreement yet with Democrats on spending levels for the six months left in the fiscal⁵ year.

"Most of the policy issues have been dealt with, and the big fight is over the spending."

But Washington Senator Patty Murray, who's on the Democratic leadership team, insists the last big sticking point is a GOP policy provision that would cut off funding for Planned Parenthood.

"The government shouldn't shut down. We have come to an agreement, very difficult for many of us to move to the numbers they've asked for, but we've agreed to do that."

But Murray says Democrats will not agree to eliminating federal subsidies⁶ for Planned Parenthood. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

A stunning⁷ turn of events in Wisconsin could give the state's hotly contested Supreme⁸ Court race to the conservative incumbent⁹. From member station WUWM in Milwaukee, Marti Mikkelson has details.

The election pitted Justice David Prosser against little-known Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg. It was viewed as a referendum on Governor Scott Walker's measure that takes away nearly all collective bargaining rights from most public workers. Union supported Kloppenburg in the hopes that if elected, she would help strike down the law, if it reaches the high court. Kloppenburg delivered an acceptance speech earlier this week after unofficial results put her ahead by some 200 votes. Then on Thursday, a county with one of the strongest conservative bases in the state revealed that it had incorrectly entered some vote totals on election night. The corrected totals now give Prosser a 7500-vote lead. Meanwhile, the Kloppenburg campaign has formed a committee to begin raising money for a recount. For NPR News, I'm Marti Mikkelson in Milwaukee.

A former Cold War CIA operative, who helped the US combat Cuba's Fidel Castro and other Communist governments in Latin America, is found not guilty. Luis Posada Carriles, now 83 years old, was accused of lying about how he entered the United States in 2005 and about his role in deadly bombings over a decade ago at tourist sites in Cuba.

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 79 points or more than 0.5% at 12,330, and the NASDAQ is down 24 at 2,772.

This is NPR.

The French embassy in Ivory Coast reports it's been hit. In a statement, the embassy says rocket and mortar¹⁰ fire came from positions held by forces loyal to the country's disputed leader Laurent Gbagbo. It's uncertain if there were casualties. Gbagbo and his family are holed up at the presidential residence next to the embassy. He is refusing to relinquish¹¹ his presidency¹². The international community recognizes challenger Alassane Ouattara as the democratically elected winner of the last presidential race.

The Justice Department is allowing Google to buy a flight search technology company despite concerns that it could hurt competition. NPR's Tamara Keith reports the approval comes with new requirements to make sure Google plays fair with competitors.

Kayak, Orbitz, Bing — some of the biggest names in the travel search business use ITA's software. So when Google announced last year it was planning to acquire ITA, it raised a big red antitrust flag. Now, the Justice Department is saying the sale can go ahead, but only because Google has agreed to ongoing¹³ monitoring by the Justice Department. Google will be required to continue selling the software to other travel search sites at reasonable prices. The company will also have to set up a firewall, so Google doesn't get competitively sensitive information from IAT's customers. Tamara Keith, NPR News, Washington.

Sometimes, a seemingly slight mechanical glitch¹⁴ is all it takes to rattle¹⁵ air travelers. Earlier this morning, Cleveland's main airport was hit with delays when a screen machine stopped working properly for a while. The airport evacuated¹⁶ travelers while it conducted a security sweep that lasted nearly an hour. They later declared all clear.

1 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

4 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

5 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

6 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

10 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

11 relinquish   

v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手

参考例句：

• He was forced to relinquish control of the company.他被迫放弃公司的掌控权。
• They will never voluntarily relinquish their independence.他们绝对不会自动放弃独立。

12 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

13 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

14 glitch   

n.干扰；误操作，小故障

参考例句：

• There is a glitch in the computer program somewhere.这个计算机程序中的某个部分有点小问题。
• It could just be a random glitch that can be solved by restarting the machine.可能只是一个小故障，重新启动主机就能解决了。

15 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

16 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。