Archive - Oct 30, 2008

It's not just a new President that will be picked by voters next Tuesday, many around the country will be voting on ballot initiatives as well. Currently, there are 153 measures on ballots across the US, 61 of these are citizen petitions and they cover a wide range of topics - ending affirmative action, banning abortion, constitutional bans on same sex marriage to name a few. Election Unspun producer Karen Miller spoke with Kristina Wilfore, the Executive Director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center.

FEATURE

• The Race to the House
• What Early Voting Could Mean in This Election
• What's Happening with The Bailout?
• LA Prosecutors Drop Charges Man Who Served 10 Years in Prison
• The Gulf Coast's Dead Zone

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

• Another Teen Abandoned Under Nebraska's Controversial Safe-Haven Law
• Thirteen Consecutive Bombs Shake India's State of Assam
• Hamas Agrees to Release Fatah Political Prisoners Ahead of Unity Talks
• US Threatens to Boot Bolivia from Trade Deal; Bolivia and Venezuela Sign Their Own
• US GDP Contracts; Recession Distinct Possibility

All 435 members of Congress are up for re-election. In 2006, the Democrats picked up 31 seats, giving them the majority – not only making it easier to pass Democratic legislation, but allowing them to control the agenda, chair committees, and have more members on those committees. Democrats hope Tuesday's election gives them an even bigger majority in the House. Washington Editor Leigh Ann Caldwell has the story.

According to the United States Election Project, more than 17.5 million people have voted early or absentee so far. Being able to vote absentee started in the Civil War when soldiers were able to mail in their ballots to their families for them to submit; but early voting is a relatively new phenomena. FSRN's Karen Miller looks at how early voting has impacted the election so far, and what it could mean for the final outcome.

So far, the massive economic bailout has taken the form of the Treasury buying preferred stock in a number of financial institutions. Initially the Treasury put $250 billion in a number of banks, with another disbursement this week. And while more and more people around the nation feel the pinch from increasing foreclosures and the credit crunch, the Commerce Department confirmed that the national GDP is down 0.3 percent for the third quarter – that's the biggest dip in seven years. FSRN spoke with Josh Bivens from the Economic Policy Institute about the bailout.