USA TODAY · THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2009 · 5A

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif.

Ateam of submarinersthat spent the month ofMay exploring Lake Ta-hoe and examined,

among other things, evidence ofan earthquake fault that mayhave ruptured thousands ofyears ago, is hoping the operationis just the beginning of their un-derwater explorations.Scott Cassell, the sub’s captainand founder of thenon-profitUn-dersea Voyager Project, says histeam has plans for a five-yearmission to gather informationand develop ideas to help restoreendangered bodies of wateraround theworld.The goal, Cassell says, is to col-lect data and attract sufficient at-tention to prompt people andgovernments to halt pollutionand overfishing and take otheractions to protect threatenedbodies ofwater.A two-person submarinespent the past month cruisingLake Tahoe, examining earth-quake faults, ancient submergedtrees and beds of invading clamsthat threaten the lake.“I think it’s a very useful tool,”said John Kleppe, a University ofNevada-Reno scientist who foryears has researched submergedtrees, some more than 3,000years old, in Fallen Leaf Lake justwest of Lake Tahoe. The trees,which grew when the lake levelwas lowered by lengthy drought,provide a “very good record ofclimate change,” Kleppe said.Lake Tahoe, 1,645 feet deepand second to Oregon’s CraterLake as the nation’s deepest, hasproblems, including sedimentpollution and algae growth di-minishing the lake’s famed clarityand invasive species that couldforever alter its ecology, says Cas-sell, 47, a commercial diver, ex-plorer and filmmaker from Pasa-dena, Calif. He says he has beenfascinated with aquatic depthssince seeing the movie 20,000Leagues Under the Sea when hewas 6.Several other explorations areplanned in the comingmonths inpreparation for the five-yearmis-sion Cassell and colleagues hopeto commence in 2011.Cassell said he dreamed up theUndersea Voyager concept alongwith veteran submariner An-dreas Rechnitzer in 2003 as thepair worried about failing fisher-ies, the sea’s impact on climateand the fact that many of theEarth’s oceans are unexplored.He says he decided to make theeffort his “life’s mission” afterRechnitzer died in 2005.Richard Schweickert, a geol-ogy professor from University ofNevada-Reno used the sub tostudy an earthquake fault he saysruptured within the past fewthousand years.The resulting earthquake,Schweickert says, was likely be-tween magnitude 6.5 and 7 —strong enough to generate a tsu-nami on Lake Tahoe’s surface upto30 feethigh.Geologic evidenceshows such tsunamis have hap-

pened there in the distant pastand could again, he says.Other team members — there

were five at Lake Tahoe and plansfor a total of 15, Cassell says —gushed over the experience.“It’s just magical,” added Peri

Best, 48, of Napa, Calif. Best istraining to pilot the sub and sheplunged several times below thesurface during the Lake Tahoemission.The sub’s time at Lake Tahoe

was donated by manufacturerand owner SeaMagine Hydro-space of Claremont, Calif., Cassellsays. Much of the additional$25,000 in expenses came out ofCassell’s pocket, he says.Cassell,who gained some fame

in November 2006 as the head ofa team that was the first to suc-cessfully film a giant squid in itsnatural habitat in the Gulf of Cali-fornia, also known as the Sea ofCortez, says he next plans to ex-plore a massive island of plastictrash floating at a place where

ocean currents converge in thenorthern Pacific Ocean.He will be accompanied by

Charles Moore, who discoveredthe “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”in 1997 while returning from asailing race. Moore estimated thesize of the plastic mass at twicethe size of Texas, something Cas-sell says he hopes to verify whilefilming a documentary.After that, Cassell plans an un-

derwater circumnavigation ofSanta Catalina Island and theChannel Islands off the Californiacoast, examining fish populationsand pollutants. Accompanyinghim, he says, will be researchersfrom the Scripps Institution ofOceanography, the University ofSouthern California and the Uni-versity of California-Davis.The planned longer-term ef-

fort, which Cassell envisions be-ing funded by both private dona-tions and contributions frominterested governments, wouldinvolve dives in 33 countries. Hesays he is in negotiations forfunding fromMexico.The Undersea Voyager Project,

based in South Lake Tahoe, is try-ing to raise $3million topurchasea three-person sub, capable ofdiving 1,500 feet, for the globalexpedition. “Our focus is the wa-ter. What is at 1,000 feet?” Cas-sell said. “ It’s the most hostileplace on the planet that supportslife— the top of the abyss.”

DeLong reports for the Reno Ga-zette-Journal

By Jeff DeLong, RenoGazette-Journal

Diving for sea data:Will Kohnen, president and CEO of SeaMagine,maneuvers aminiature submarinebefore taking it for its first dive into Lake Tahoe in April.

Submarinemissionplunges for answersExperts seekways to protectbodies of waterworldwide frompollution andoverfishingBy Jeff DeLongUSA TODAY

By Ivo Kocherscheidt, via Undersea Voyager Project

“Our focus is thewater”: Scott Cassell, founder of the UnderseaVoyager Project, pilots his submarine past an ancient submerged treein Fallen Leaf Lake near Lake Tahoe in California.

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HONG KONG — Reports that North Korea’s nextdictator may be Kim Jong Il’s youngest son set off aguessing game over whether he will really be incharge or just a front for a fierce succession battle.After defying the world last week by detonatinganundergroundnuclear bomb,NorthKorea sent anannouncement to members of the ruling Workers’Party naming Kim Jong Un, 26, as heir apparent,South Korean newspapers and legislators reportedTuesday. The Dong-a Ilbo newspaper wrote thatNorth Koreans sing a song hailing the dictator’sthird son as “Commander Kim.”But Cai Jian, a North Korea expert at Shanghai’sFudan University, says,“No one outside NorthKorea really knows whowill be picked as succes-sor.”Kim Jong Un “is stilltoo young,” says Choi JinWook, a North Koreaanalyst at the Korea In-stitute for National Uni-fication in Seoul. “Hedoesn’t have any experi-ence.Choi and other ana-lysts suspect that, at best,Kim Jong Un wouldemerge as the frontmanfor someone wieldingbackstage power.“If he is indeed thechoice — a huge if — itmight reflect the desireof some people to have aconvenient but power-less figurehead,” saysNorth Korea specialistAndrei Lankov at Kook-minUniversity in Seoul.South Korean lawmak-er Song Young Sun andother North Koreawatchers say the Pyong-yang government’s latest provocations — testing anuclear bomb, firing missiles and threatening tolaunchmore — are designed to bolstermilitary andpublic support for Kim Il Sung as he prepares toname a successor. The dictator, 68, probably suf-fered a stroke in August.South Korean lawmaker Park Jie Won, who sitson the intelligence committee, told a radio showTuesday that South Korea’s spy agency briefed law-makers that the regime is “pledging its allegiance toKim JongUn.”If these succession reports are correct, Jong Un isbeating out his older brother, Jong Chol, 27, and hishalf brother, Jong Nam, 38, for the right to dynasticcontrol of the impoverished nation of 23million.Song, a member of South Korea’s parliament,

says the youngest son “most resembles his father inlooks, in personality, in charisma and in thirst forpower.” She says the plans for a father-son succes-sion suggest North Korea has no plans to reform itsclosed economy or to rethink the hostile face itshows theworld.Little is known about Kim Jong Un. The Swissnewsmagazine L’Hebdo reported this year that heattended the International School of Bern, Swit-zerland, in the 1990s. He enrolled under the pseud-onym Pak Chol, socialized with the children of U.S.diplomats andbecameof fanof basketball superstarMichael Jordan and movie action star Jean-ClaudeVanDamme, themagazine reported.The eldest son—Kim JongNam—had been con-sidered the front-runner until he embarrassed the

family eight years ago bytrying to sneak into Japanwith a fake visa to visitTokyoDisneyland.Kim Jong Il, who suc-ceeded his father, Kim IlSung, as dictator, thoughtmiddle son JongCholwastoo wimpy for the job,according to a 2003 in-sider account by KenjiFujimoto, a pseudonymfor the family’s formersushi chef. Kim Jong Cholis “very different fromKim Jong Un. He doesn’thave any charisma. Hedoesn’t look like a strongsoldier. He doesn’t looklike a revolutionary,”Song says.Cai says, “My guess isthat a collective, transi-tional leadership willemerge, possibly led bysomeone from the mil-itary. Most analysts inChina also expect NorthKorea will change slowly,and politically will be-come more like Chinawith a collective leader-

ship, not passing power from father to son.”The real power broker after Kim Jong Il diesmight be his brother-in-law, Jang Song Taek, 63,Choi and other analysts say. Jang,who ismarried toKim’s younger sister, was purged five years ago af-ter being seen as a threat to Kim’s authority. Jangwas later brought back into the fold andhas risen toa spot on the powerful National Defense Commis-sion.Working inKim JongUn’s shadows, Jang couldbide his time consolidating power and emerge asthe next dictator, Choi and other analysts say.“This is political power,” Choi says. “This is notsomething you share.”

Contributing: CalumMacLeod in Beijing and theAssociated Press

S. Koreans speculate aboutsuccessor to Kim Jong Il

ByHong JinHwan, AFP/Getty Images

Harsh feelings: South Koreans burn aNorth Ko-rean flag and pictures of Kim Jong Il in Seoul.

By PaulWisemanUSA TODAY

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Moneyline

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke saidlarge U.S. budget deficits threaten financial stabilityand the government can’t continue indefinitely toborrow at the current rate to finance the shortfall.

“Unless we demonstrate astrong commitment to fiscal

sustainability in the longer term, we will have nei-ther financial stability nor healthy economicgrowth,” Bernanke said in testimony to lawmakersWednesday. “Maintaining the confidence of the fi-nancialmarkets requires thatwe, as a nation, beginplanning now for the restoration of fiscal balance.”Bernanke’s comments signal that the central

bank sees risks of a relapse into financial turmoileven as credit markets show signs of stability. Hewarned the financial industry remains under stress

and the credit crunch continues to limitspending. The Fed chief said in his pre-pared remarks to the House BudgetCommittee that deficit concerns are al-ready influencing the prices of long-termTreasuries. Yields on10-year noteshave climbed about 1 percentage pointsince the Fed announced plans inMarchtobuy$300billionof long-termgovern-ment bonds. The notes yielded 3.57%early Wednesday in New York, downfrom3.61% Tuesday.“In recent weeks, yields on longer-

term Treasury securities and fixed-ratemortgages have risen,” Bernanke said. “These in-creases appear to reflect concerns about large fed-eral deficits but also other causes, including greateroptimismabout the economic outlook, a reversal offlight-to-quality flows and technical factors relatedto the hedging of mortgage holdings.” The budgetdeficit this year is projected to reach $1.85 trillion,equivalent to 13% of the nation’s economy, accord-ing to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

“Either cuts in spending or increasesin taxes will be necessary to stabilizethefiscal situation,” Bernanke said in re-sponse to a question. “The Federal Re-servewill notmonetize the debt.”Bernanke also addressed banks’ ef-forts tobolster commonequity in theaf-termath of regulators’ stress tests on the19 largest U.S. lenders. He said the 10firms that were found to have a totalcapital shortfall of $75 billion have nowsold or announced plans to boost com-mon equity by $48 billion.“We expect further announcements

shortly” as the banks submit plans due by June 8,Bernanke said. This year’s projected budget deficit,four times the size of last year’s shortfall, has beendriven up mostly by costs associated with the fi-nancial crisis. “Bernankeknows thatfiscal financingproblemsare already complicatingmonetarypolicyand are in danger of undermining Fed credibility,”said Alan Ruskin, chief international strategist atRBS Securities in Stamford, Conn.

Fed chairman sees possiblethreat to financial stabilityBy Craig Torres and Brian FalerBloombergNews

The economy

Bernanke concerned about deficits

AFP/Getty Images

Bernanke: Testifieson Capitol Hill.

6A · THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2009 · USA TODAY

www.usatoday.com

'

MoneyThursday, June 4, 2009

USATODAYSnapshots®

17%

15%

14%

14%

12%

By Jae Yang and Alejandro Gonzalez, USA TODAY

Most prevalent professionalbackground for femaledirectorsTop five:

Source: Russell Reynolds Associates’ Fortune250Why Diversity Matters in the Boardroom,2009 study on boards of Fortune 250 companies

Government

Academia

Financialservices

Consumer, includingretailing, advertising, etc.

Industrials, includingenergy, infra-structure, etc.

YouSendIt, a servicefor transmittinglarge attachments, isfacing some compe-tition,many basedoutside theU.S.tech.usatoday.com

Technology

Rivalsfile in

ByAsaMathat

YouSendIt: Founder and CTORanjith Kumaran.

Morgan Stanley raising funds for TARPMorgan Stanley said Tuesday itwill raise $2.2 bil-

lion through a stock offering as part of a plan to sat-isfy preconditions for repaying a government loan itreceived in fall amid the deepening credit crisis.Morgan Stanley priced the offering at $27.44 ashare, an8.2%discount fromMonday’s closingpriceof $29.89. Based on the price, Morgan Stanley willissue about 80.2million shares of common stock.

Raptor hedge fund to be shut downJames Pallotta, the investment manager who

split with longtime partner Paul Tudor Jones earlierthis year, will shut his Raptor Global Funds, sayinghe doubted the hedge fund industry could sustainits short-term focus. Pallotta,who lost 20% last year,will begin returningmoney to clients in July, he saidin a letter sent to investors. He said he’ll take timeoff to develop a new investment strategy.

Briefly . . .Delta Air Lines is postponing plans to launch

flights from the U.S. to Kenya and Liberia becausethe Transportation Security Administration needsmore time to approve the carrier’s request. . . .Dish Network was ordered by a federal judge tostop using a digital-video-recording service that in-fringes a TiVo patent. Dish was also told to pay$192.7million to TiVo indamages and interest as itssoftware still infringes TiVo’s patent.

By Eric Nordwall from the Associated Press,BloombergNews and staff reports

Sign up for USA TODAY’s FREEManagingYourMoney e-mail newsletter for expertpersonal finance tips. Go toemail.usatoday.com

Several major online travel agencies are perma-nently waiving the $7 to $12 fees they charge tobook an airline ticket in an effort to lure travelersamid lackluster demand and increasing competi-tion from the airlines themselves.Orbitz, CheapTickets and Travelocity said this

week that they have extended spring-time promo-tions that let customers book flights on their sites

for free until May 31. Expedia last weekpermanently removed the fees it charged.

Agencies “want to hang on to customers, andhope that by waiving fees for airline tickets, they’llcome back for something else,” says travel analystHenryHarteveldt of Forrester Research.Expedia says a no-fee promotion launched in

March had been a “positive catalyst” in boostingairline ticket sales. Sales were down 9% year-over-year in January and February but up by double dig-its in March and April. At the same time, the pro-motion had cost the company about $3 million amonth, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a first-quarter conference call in April.The fees have prompted many travelers to useagencies as “online Yellow Pages” to shop for faresbut then buy their tickets on airline websites thatdon’t charge booking fees, Harteveldt says. He esti-mates that the airlines’ websites will account forabout 70% of online airline vacation bookings and10% of corporate bookings this year.Tom Botts, partner at consulting firm HudsonCrossing, says this week’s announcements don’tmean that all agency fees have disappeared. Manystill impose “ankle-biter fees,” he says.For example, Travelocity, Orbitz and its sister site,CheapTickets, still charge a fee for tickets bookedontwo or more airlines. Such “interline” tickets ac-count for more than 20% of airline ticket sales atPriceline, spokesman Brian Ek says.Other agency charges are “evenmore confusing,”Botts says. Lastweek, Expedia announced itwas al-so eliminating change and cancellation fees for ho-tels, car rentals and cruises. Competitors Orbitz andTravelocity, meanwhile, still charge $25 for somehotel changes or cancellations.

Online travelagenciesdrop ticketbooking feesTravelers using services to checkfares, then buy from airlines

By Laura BlyUSA TODAY

Travel

WASHINGTON — On a warm Monday in lateApril, the president dined with some of thesharpest critics of his handling of the financialcrisis. Just that morning, one ofhis guests, Nobel prize winnerPaul Krugman had complained inhis New York Times column thatthe administration “will probablylet the bankers off with nothingmore than a few stern speeches.”For roughly 90 minutes, over

plates of savory roast beef andthe first lettuce from the newWhite House vegetable garden,President Obama and some ofthe nation’s leading economists debated the finepoints of bank restructuring and financial bail-outs. The half-dozen attendees included anotherNobel prize winner, Joseph Stiglitz; former Fed-eral Reserve Board governor Alan Blinder; Har-vard University’s Kenneth Rogoff; and Jeffrey

Sachs of Columbia University.The dinner represented an unusualmoment in

official Washington: a president, breaking breadwith impassioned, well-credentialed opponentsof his signature policy initiative. To some, the epi-sode also underscored a key question about arumpled figure at the table, who was uncharac-teristically quietmuch of the evening. As directorof the National Economic Council, Larry Sum-mers, 54, is chargedwith ensuring that the presi-dent hears all sides of the complex financial andeconomic issues confronting him. It’s an unlikely

role for the opinionated Sum-mers, a brilliant, bulldozing for-mer Treasury secretary with areputation for chewing throughdissenting voices with the samefervor he brings to an unde-fended buffet table.“Larry’s a debater, and he

wants towin,” said Stiglitz.In a 40-minute interview in his

West Wing office, Summers saysplacidly, “I’m trying to make sure

the president has access to the best thinking hecan have.”How much Summers has changed since his

1990s Washington stint — both stylistically and

By Charles Dharapak, AP

Changed role: Larry Summers, director of theNational Economic Council, listens as President Oba-ma speaks in the background. Summerswas Treasury secretary during the Clinton administration.

Former Treasury secretarySummers adapts his styleSome skeptics wonder ifopinionated economist canbe Obama’s honest broker

ByDavid J. LynchUSA TODAY

Cover story

Please see COVER STORY next pageu

“With hindsight, all ofuswith involvementin financial policywishwe had donemore to forestallproblems.”

— Larry Summers

What online travel agencies chargeAirline Airline change/booking fee cancel fee

CheapTickets.com $71 $50Expedia.com None None2

Orbitz.com $71 $30Priceline.com None3 NoneTravelocity.com $6.991 $301— formultiple-airlinebooking; 2—except for somepackages3— fees still apply forname-your-own-priceflightsSource:USATODAY research

Track themajormarket indexes updatedcontinuously throughout the day atmoney.usatoday.com

How’s themarket doing today?

Coverage and offer not available in all U.S. markets. GPS reliability varies by environment. Restrictions apply.

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Foreign currency per dollarCountry(currency) Wed TueAustralia (dollar) 1.2335 1.2166Brazil (real) 1.9440 1.9267Britain (pound) .6101 .6034Canada (dollar) 1.0975 1.0811China (yuan) 6.8315 6.8336CzechRep (koruna) 19.01 18.73Europe (euro) .7057 .6984Hong Kong (dollar) 7.7512 7.7511India (rupee) 47.023 46.810Indnsia (rupiah) 10110.00 10255.00Israel (shekel) 3.9639 3.9039Japan (yen) 95.78 95.66Kuwait (dinar) .2869 .2867Lebanon (pound) 1507.50 1501.50Malaysia (ringgit) 3.4845 3.4890Mexico (peso) 13.3255 13.1684Pakistan (rupee) 80.51 81.05Poland (zloty) 3.20 3.12Russia (ruble) 30.8015 30.5232Saudi Arab (riyal) 3.7502 3.7502Singapore (dollar) 1.4428 1.4369So. Africa (rand) 8.0866 7.9613So. Korea (won) 1232.40 1233.40Sweden (krona) 7.6805 7.4794Switzerlnd (franc) 1.0697 1.0608Taiwan (dollar) 32.41 32.42Thailand (baht) 34.03 34.13U.A.E. (dirham) 3.6725 3.6721

Source:AssociatedPress

The DollarRates for trades of $1millionminimum

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USA TODAY · THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2009 · 7A

substantively — will have enor-mous influence onwhat theOba-ma administration ultimatelydoes to reshape the American fi-

nancial systemand economy. Theirony is that Sum-mers, long one ofthe DemocraticParty’s most fer-

vent market champions, hashelped craft an unprecedentedexpansion of the government’seconomic role even as some nowsay the danger is that the admini-stration will end up doing too lit-tle to change the U.S. financiallandscape, not toomuch.“There is a sense within theTreasury Department and withinthe White House that thechanges to U.S. markets are actu-ally going to be less than peopleexpect. Not only are we notheaded to European-style social-ism, we’re not even headed thatfar from where we were,” saysDavid Rothkopf, a Washington,D.C., consultant who workedwith Summers in the Clinton ad-ministration.

Aborn economist

Summerswas almost literally aborn economist. Both of his par-ents were economists; two un-cles won Nobel Memorial Prizesin Economic Sciences. He enteredthe Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology at age 16, did gradu-ate work at Harvard Universityandeventually becameoneof theyoungest tenured professors inHarvard’s roughly 350-year his-tory.A brilliant academic career ledto top policy jobs at the WorldBank and then in the Clinton ad-ministration, where he eventu-ally succeeded Robert Rubin asTreasury secretary.Summers was deeply involvedin the U.S. handling of financialcrises in Mexico, Asia and Russiaduring the 1990s and was aforceful advocate of open mar-kets and deregulation.After leaving government,Summers returned to Harvard in2001 as president of the univer-sity. It was a rocky interlude, ulti-mately undone by comments hemade in 2005 casting doubt onwomen’s innate aptitude for sci-ence and math. The remarks ig-nited a fierce gender controversy,and Summers resigned the fol-lowing year. Whatever personalangst the incident caused, his ex-ile turned out to be a profitableone. He took a part-time positionadvising hedge fund managers atD.E. Shaw & Co. in New York thatpaidmore than $5million.Along the way, Summersearned a “yes, but” reputation.Universally regarded as an almostuniquely brilliant economist, hewas equally widely seen as arro-gant and brusque. A favorite tac-tic was to finish the stories or ar-guments of others, which saved

time but left legions of irritatedassociates in his wake. “He’s justvery direct and to the point. . . .He’d bemuch less exciting to talkto if he weren’t so clear-headedand direct,” says Rogoff, a Har-vard colleague.Summers realized by the late

1990s that his pile-driving ap-proach was counterproductive,and he learned to throttle back.But doubts resurfaced whenObama opted to put him in a jobat the NEC requiring the skills ofan “honest broker” rather thanreturn him to Treasury. Friendssay Summers was determined toprove the skeptics wrong by run-ning an even-handed policyprocess.“It’s been a remarkable transi-tion stylistically from where hewas 20 years ago, even 10 yearsago. Stylistically, it’s like night andday,” says David Smick, CEO of fi-nancial advisory firm JohnsonSmick International, who’s

knownhim since the late 1980s.Still, Summers can sometimes

appear to be aman feigning calmrather than possessing it. And heremains a controversial figurewithin the Democratic Party,where some see his enthusiasmin the 1990s for market solutionsand deregulation as having sownthe seeds that sprouted into to-day’s crisis. Along with then-Treasury secretary Robert Rubin,Summers opposed regulating de-rivatives, including credit defaultswaps, and supported repealingtheGlass-Steagall Act,whichpro-hibited banks from simulta-neously engaging in investmentand commercial activities.“I think he shares the blame,”

says economist Dean Baker of theCenter for Economic and PolicyResearch, a left-of-center Wash-ington, D.C., think tank.Summers acknowledges some

regrets, though with caveats. Ifhe had known that unregulated

derivatives would mushroomand that regulators would re-main spectators, he would haveacted. “With hindsight, all of uswith involvement in financialpolicywishwehad donemore toforestall problems,” he says.His allies say Summers has be-come the indispensable man ofObama administration policy-making, a sort of economic con-sigliere for the president. If Oba-ma decides to replace FedChairman Ben Bernanke whenhis term expires at the end ofJanuary, Summers is a likely suc-cessor.“He can provide one-stopshopping for analytical rigor on abreadth of economic and finan-cialmatters likenooneelse in theworld,” says Gene Sperling, acounselor to Treasury SecretaryTimothyGeithner.

No champagne yet

Summers’ modest West Wingoffice provides few hints of hisprominence. There’s a small cor-ner refrigerator stockedwithDietCokes. A wall-mounted photo ofObama and his economic SWATteamatwork. Another signed “AlGore.” But as head of the NEC, aClinton administration creation,Summers enjoys ample amountsof that keyWashington currency:presidential face time. Everymorning, he makes the shortjourney down one level to theOval Office, where he leads a dai-ly economic briefing for Obama,an innovation the new presidentput in place to keep tabs on themetastasizing financial crisis.“There were periods when ev-ery day — one way or another —was about the financial crisis,”Summers said in an interview.

“But as there’s been a little bit ofa return to normality, there’sbeen a little bit more of a move-ment toward a broader range oftopics.”In the daily briefings, also at-tended by other top policymak-ers, including Geithner, Summersisn’t shy about making his ownpreferences known. But the goalis to make sure the presidenthears all the arguments — beforea decision is made, not afterwardwhen the talking heads on cableTV begin picking it apart.In the administration’s earlydays, one question surroundedthe interaction between Geith-ner and Summers. Therewas talkthat rival Treasury and WhiteHouse power centers would jos-tle for policy supremacy. So far, ifthe process hasn’t been perfect,there’s no indicationof the sort ofinstitutional paralysis that hasbedeviled other administrations.“They battle intellectually some-times, but in a very friendly andcollegial way. . . . Each is the onethe other would most want toreach consensus with,” Sperlingsays.On this day in mid-May, Sum-mers’ briefing includes develop-ments in the Treasury bondmar-ket, an update on GeneralMotors’ march toward bankrupt-cy court and the financial unrav-eling of the state of California.Later, for someone with his fin-gers in just about every aspect ofthe worst financial crisis sincethe Depression, Summers ap-pears relaxed. Obama is tied upwith his nomination of Sonia So-tomayor to the Supreme Court,so for the moment, the intensepresidential spotlight has liftedfrom the economic team.The economic data lately,though mixed, have been betterthan during the white-knucklemonths in late 2008 and early2009, when the prospect of aglobal cataclysm akin to theGreat Depression seemed veryreal. Both the U.S. and globaleconomies are still shrinking, butat a less rapid rate.Summers welcomes the rela-tive improvement but is keepingthe champagne corked. “I don’tthink there’s anything that givesany grounds for serenity or com-placency,” he says.In the interview, he sketches acomprehensive strategy linkingthe administration’s ambitioushealth care and energy agendasto economic recovery. The presi-dent has been criticized for try-ing todo toomuchat once: repairthe nation’s banks, auto compa-nies and insurers while simulta-neously reforming the healthcare system and promotinggreen technologies and energyindependence.But Summers makes clear thathealth care and energy reformsare meant to have essential eco-nomic consequences.“The last two economic expan-sions have been more bubble-driven than fundamentals-

driven. So addressing this mostserious of recessions in a maxi-mally effective and credible wayrequires setting the stage for adifferent kind of expansion,”Summer says.By lowering costs, health care

reform “will act as a spur to busi-ness investment.” Likewise, re-solving uncertainty over futureenergy costs will unlock pent-upcorporate investment in “green-er” systems. The idea is that surg-ing investment can fill the hole inthe economy left by the collapseof consumer spending — as soonas this year.It’s a coherent vision. But thereare doubts about whether thosereforms will actually occur thisyear, whether even if they do,businesses will be quite so opti-mistic about potential cost sav-ings, and about how much newinvestment will result at a timewhen so much excess capacityalready exists in the economy.“They’re hoping that invest-ment will save the day, especiallyin ‘green’ technology, that in-creased government investmentwill produce attractive opportu-nities, and the investment com-munitywill step forwardand thatwill compensate for a real pull-back in consumption. . . . I won-der if he’s going to have a timingproblem,” Smick says.

Strategic concerns

These doubts are among thefactors increasing the likelihoodof a second Obama administra-tion stimulus package. Rogoff, aRepublican, calls it “inconceiv-able” that there won’t be a sec-ond stimulus about as big as the$787 billion legislation passedearlier this year.Worries about the economicstrategy arematched by brewingdoubts about whether the ad-ministration is prepared to doenough to prevent a return tobusiness-as-usual on Wall Street.In this view, the nation’s largestfinancial institutions became toobig and too politically powerful.Stiglitz, a longtime Summerscritic, says the administration hasmade the too-big-to-fail problemworse by shovelingmoney at thebiggest banks while encouragingweaker institutions tomerge intolarger entities. “The regulatorystructure we’re going to end upwith is going to be less effectivein dealing with the problem thanwe’d like,” he says.Administration allies, such asRep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.,chairman of the House FinancialServices Committee, bluntly dis-miss such concerns and say polit-ical support remains strong forfar-reaching changes in financialindustry oversight.Summers is certainly aware ofthe challenges ahead. “We’velearned from the last two cycles,”he says, “thatmemories are shortand that when the good timesstart rolling, people get compla-cent and do imprudent things.”

Summers links energy, health reform to recoveryContinued from 6A

Coverstory

ByWinMcNamee, Getty Images

TheA team: InMarch at theWhite House, President Obamawalkswith Christine Romer, left, chairwom-an of the Council of Economic Advisers; TimothyGeithner, Treasury secretary; and Larry Summers, di-rector of theWhite House’s National Economic Council.

Title: Director, NationalEconomic Council.Age: 54.Marital status: Married to

Elisa New, a professor of Eng-lish at HarvardUniversity.Children: Five daughters,

one son.Education: Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, bache-lor’s degree in economics;Harvard University, Ph.D. ineconomics.Little-known fact: An ac-complished tennis player.Often quotes: Legendary

British economist John May-nard Keynes.

By Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

About Larry Summers

Some of the world’s most pop-ular networking services havegone dark in China, apparent vic-tims of government censors inthe days leading to a notoriousanniversary.Online users in China said Twit-ter, Yahoo’s Flickr photo site, Mi-crosoft’s new Bing search engineand Hotmail, and other serviceswere inaccessible on Tuesday.This week marks the 20th an-niversary of the bloody militarycrackdown on pro-democracyprotesters at Tiananmen Square.Socialmedia experts such as Lau-ra Fitton suspect Chinese authori-tiesmaybeblocking sites to tampdowndiscussions of the protest.If so, it would be the first timeTwitter has been censored by theChinese government. The micro-blogging service had not been

subject to restrictions eventhough it’s used byChinese activ-ists, who often use aliases.The Chinese government has

not issued an explanation.“We understand the Chinese

government is blocking access toFlickr and other internationalsites,” Flickr spokesman JasonKhoury said in a statement.Added Microsoft spokesman

Kevin Kutz: “We are reaching outto the government to understandthis decision.” Twitter officialssaid they’re looking into the situ-ation.Chinese authorities have tight-

ened surveillance of dissidentsahead of the anniversary. Nowthey’re extending restrictions tosocial-networking services in asociety where information istightly controlled. Those siteshave been effective in spreadingtheword on student protests.Government officials have shut

down message boards on morethan 6,000 websites affiliatedwith colleges and universities,says the Information Center for

HumanRights andDemocracy.Video-sharing site YouTube has

been blocked within China sinceMarch, according to Google,which owns the service.“Authorities make a point of

locking down public discussionthis time of year — especiallytools like Twitter and Flickr thatcould be used to organize pro-tests,” says Danny O’Brien, inter-national outreach coordinator atElectronic Frontier Foundation, anon-profit.But in attempting to stifle the

exchange of ideas, the Chinesegovernment is drawing more at-tention to a dark chapter in itshistory, says Fitton, author ofTwitter for Dummies. “If that istheir intent, they inadvertentlycreated evenmore dialogue.”Some Twitter applications,

such as Seesmic Desktop andTweetie, allow users to bypassthe Chinese blockade, says LoicLeMeur, CEO of Seesmic.

Contributing: The AssociatedPress

Some networking sites go dark in ChinaBlocksmay be linked toTiananmen anniversary

By Jon SwartzUSA TODAY

DETROIT — A Chinese manu-facturing company is poised totake over General Motors’ Hum-mer brand, the two companiessaid Tuesday, marking the first

foray by a Chinesecompany into the U.S.

automarket.Chinese automakers have in-dicated for several years thatthey’d like to find some way tosell cars here, but until now,haven’t managed to make it

work. Sichuan Tengzhong HeavyIndustrial Machinery, which

makes road, construction anden-ergy industry equipment, will ac-quire the Hummer brand, dealernetwork and management team.The company could also lease anassembly plant and keymaterialsand components from GM, pre-serving 3,000 jobs at Hummer’sShreveport, La., plant.“We will be investing in the

Hummer brand and its researchand development capabilities,whichwill allowHummer to bet-ter meet demand for new prod-

new owner will need to developa clean diesel engine forHummertrucks and focus on developingsmaller Hummers.“Hummer is sized wrong formarkets outside of the MiddleEast,” Hall says. “And they’ll needto find a partner for clean diesels,because GM won’t be able tohelp themwith that.”Separately, Chrysler said Tues-day it plans to restart many of itsplants by the end of June. It shutdownoperationswhen it enteredbankruptcy-court protection inApril.

heavy equipment before enteringthe passenger carmarket.TheHummer brand has been alightning rod for U.S. environ-mental activists who say thebrand shows that GM is out oftouchwith consumers,whowantgreener technologies. The brandsold around 5,000 vehicles thisyear, down 64% from a year ago.Still, the sturdy and off-road-capable Hummer has the poten-tial to make sense in developingcountries that lack good roads,says Jim Hall, managing directorof 2953 Analytics. He says the

ucts such as more fuel-efficientvehicles in the U.S.,” said Yang Yi,CEO of Tengzhong.The deal is expected to close inthe third quarter of this year; thepurchase price was not releasedTuesday. GM on Monday filed forbankruptcy-court protection, sothe deal will need approval fromthe bankruptcy court.While many industry watchersexpected a car company to buyHummer, Asian makers of heavyequipment have a history ofbreaking into the car business.Mitsubishi and Fuji both made

General Motors’ Hummermay be purchased by Chinese companyHeavy equipmentmakerwants brand

By Sharon Silke CartyUSA TODAY

BloombergNews

Hummer: Chinese company Si-chuan Tengzhongmay buy brand.

uGM’s good, and not-so-good products;Q&A on pensions; newad campaign, 8A

Autos

A WAVE OF HOPE FOR OUR STUDENTS

There is hope after tragedy, but only with your help. Hurricane Katrina

devastated historically black colleges along the Gulf Coast. Students were

displaced, schools were ravaged, and dreams were washed away. Former

Presidents Bush and Clinton have partnered with the United Negro College

Fund to rebuild campuses and replenish scholarships.

TO HELP, VISIT WWW.UNCF.ORG/WAVEOFHOPE OR CALL 1-800-313-0151.

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Three others1959 Cadillac: Its big fins, the heightof the trend, now are iconic, even cool.But Kendall thinks itwas a “horrid” de-sign, “a lot ofwasted chrome.”1960 Corvair: Chevrolet’s answer to

Volkswagen’s success.With a rear en-gine and swing axle, driverswere los-ing control of the Euro-style car andcrashing. “Unless you paid close atten-tion to the tire pressure, you could flipthe car over just going around a cor-ner,” Kendall says. It helpedmake astar, however, out of RalphNader, whomade it a chapter in his landmark con-sumer bookUnsafe At Any Speed.1978Oldsmobile diesel V-8:Duringthe oil embargo era, Olds converts agasoline engine to diesel for better fueleconomy. But itmade the switchwith-out beefing up some key components,resulting inmass failures.

GeneralMotors

1971 Chevrolet VegaSeeing small cars scorewith college-age Baby Boomers, Chevy respondswiththe Vega. Its aluminumengine, designedto saveweightwithout iron cylinder lin-ers, was so prone towear it “self de-structed at 60,000miles,” Kendall says.

1982 Cadillac CimarronHoping to tap growing sales of upscale smallercars, Caddy introduces a thinly disguised,dressed-up and rebadged Chevrolet Cavalier. Itdevalued the premiumbrand in away that hastaken decades to try to repair. “Everything thatwaswrong, venal, lazy andmendacious aboutGM in the 1980swas crystallized in this flagrantinsult to the good name and fine customers ofCadillac,”wrote Timemagazine in its list of the50worst cars of all time. Kendall is slightly gen-tler: “It was not a bad car in and of itself.”

GeneralMotors

Chevrolet Copper-CooledProduction ended in 1923 for the air-cooled car thatwas so prone to over-heating that, Kendall says, it brought an-other industry innovation— the recall.

GeneralMotors

2001 Pontiac AztekIt looked so odd thatwhen itwas privately shown tothe brand’s dealers, they gasped. Howwould they sellthis boxymess? The plastic cladding around the bottomonlymade itworse.

GeneralMotors

. . . and best-forgotten

8A · THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2009 · USA TODAY

GeneralMotors bankruptcy

LOS ANGELES —Over its 101-year histo-ry, General Motors has brought us the best,andworst, innovations and cars in the autoworld.In the early years, GM’smarketers added style and colorto cars, putting Henry Ford and his industry-leadingModelT’s on the defensive. The company also came upwith such

innovations as the self-starter, practical air con-ditioning and the automatic transmission. In re-cent years, though, GM’s output was too often

marred bymiscues, cut corners and plain bad ideas.We asked Leslie Kendall, curator of the Petersen Auto-motiveMuseum in Los Angeles, to click off seven of thebest and of theworst in GM cars:

More onlineSeemore photos of thebest andworst GM cars atcars.usatoday.com.

GM’s hits andmisses

uGMhas buyer for Hum-mer, 1B; auto sales, 2B

1935 ChevroletMaster Coach byGeneralMotorsBy ChrisWoodyardUSA TODAY

GM’s best . . .

GeneralMotors

1955 ChevroletIntroduces the GM small-block

V-8, bringing to everyday cars thehigh-revving performance once re-served for exotic luxurymachines.

1957 CorvetteThe ’Vettewas introduced in

1953, but thiswas the first onewith a four-speed transmissionand fuel injection,making it themodern American sports car.

GeneralMotors

AP

1927 Cadillac LaSalleLegendary designerHarley Earl’s first design for

GMand thefirst production car designed from theground up by a professional designer. “It was sexyfor 1927,” Kendall says.That’s Earl at the wheel of his creation in the

photo, with Cadillac chief Larry Fisher. Earl, con-sidered the father of automotive design, was GM’shead of design from1927 through 1958.

1940 OldsmobileHad the first fully automatic transmission,theHydra-Matic. Cadillacs got it the next year.“Delicate ladieswere not interested in shift-ing,” Kendall says, an experience coarsenedby then-primitive synchronization that led togear grinding. The automatic got the nick-name “slush box” because its connection tothe enginewas fluid rather thanmetal gears.

GeneralMotorsThree others1912 Cadillac: Introduced the self-starter, end-

ing the dayswhen owners had to crank the car toget it started.1935 Chevrolet: The all-steel roof, dubbed the

“turret top,” is introduced on Chevrolets. It was abreakthroughmade possible by new, big sheetmetal stampingmachines. Previously, car roofswere criss-crosses ofwooden slats.1964 Pontiac GTO: Big engine,midsize cars. It

wasn’t the first truemuscle car, but GMexecutiveJohnDeLorean’s baby set a standard for powerfulAmerican cars. “This broughtmuscle performanceto the smaller car,” Kendall says.

General Motors, now in bankruptcyreorganization, seeks to reassure carbuyers and dealers it intends to emergeas “leaner, greener, faster, smarter” in TV

ads that begin airingtoday.Even as it owes ad

agencies more than $160 million, ac-cording to its filing, GM tapped DeutschL.A. to create an ad that first appearedonline Monday on a new GM website,gmreinvention.com, and on Facebook.Also posted: news about thebankruptcyfiling and other developments.“We were in limbo for the past three

to four months and knew people wouldneed assurance,” says Jay Spenchian, ex-ecutive director of marketing strategy.“The most important thing was to reas-sure and acknowledge the situation. . . .This is a newbeginning for GM.”The ad, using 80% existing footage to

cut costs, says: “We’re not witnessingthe end of the American car. We’re wit-nessing the rebirth of the American car.”GM ad spending fell from $2.8 billion

in 1999 to $2.2 billion last year, accord-ing to TNS Media Intelligence. And GMradically cut back this year, includingdropping out of big events such as theOscars, but would not disclose spendingfor 2009 or the “reinvention” program.The campaign will use already-pur-chased ad time. GM also plans to followthrough on launch marketing in theworks for new vehicles, such as the Che-vy Camaro.The U.S. Treasury cut Chrysler’s planfor post-bankruptcy ads but so far is onboard with GM. “We shared with theTreasury a version of this assurance adand the kind ofmoneywewere going tospend, and they were very supportive,”Spenchian says.TV ads will run during news andprime-time shows and the NBA Finals.

An open letter from GM CEO Fritz Hen-dersonwill run in national newspapers.The social-networking element willcourt younger buyers. It includes fivebloggers and has had an uptick in peopletalking, good or bad, about GMvehicles.“This is where the audience is andwherewe need to be to convince peoplethatwe are a newGM,” says ChristopherBarger, GM’s global social-media direc-tor. “If the perception of twentysometh-ings is thatwe are a dinosaur, theywon’texpect us to be on Twitter.”Web consultant B.L. Ochman of what-snextonline.com says the effort is toolate. “They should have been looking atthis stuff years ago.”But eMarketer senior analyst Paul Ver-na disagrees. “For a companywhose fail-ure is perceived as being out of touch,this sendsout the rightmessage to reachout directly to consumers. It can onlyhelp in this kind of situation.”

GM adspitch newbeginningAutomaker puts lean,green spin on futureBy TheresaHowardUSA TODAY

Deutsch

Message:GMhasmoved quickly to introduce the “NewGM”with “leaner, greener,faster, smarter” ads thatwill air during prime time, the news and theNBA Finals.

Advertising

See the GM “Chapter One” ad atmedia.usatoday.com

General Motors’ bankruptcy filingMonday was expected, but the news isstill unsettling for the automaker’s thou-sands of employees, especially those close

to retirement.Here are some

answers to questions about what the fil-ingmeans for retirement benefits.

Q:Whatwill happen toGM’s retire-ment plans?A: In the short term, nothing. In astatement, GM said it plans to maintainits employee benefit plans, such as pen-sions and health care. GM also pointedout that the assets in its pension plan areprotected by federal law from claims bycreditors. Thatmeans the company can’tuse funds from its pension plan to meetits obligations or pay its debts.Likewise, contributions to GM’s401(k) plan are held in a trust estab-lishedonbehalf of planparticipants. Em-ployees’ savings, along with matchingcontributions, don’t belong to GM andare off-limits to creditors, the companysaid.

Q: Will the government take overGM’s pension plan?A: Not in the near future, but it’s stillpossible. Currently, GM’s pension plan isunderfunded by $20 billion, says Doug-las Elliott, an economics fellow at the

Brookings Institution. The restructuredcompanywill need touse someof its op-erating profits to close the gap, he says. Ifthose profits fail tomaterialize, the com-pany could end up filing for a secondbankruptcy and transferring its pensionobligations to the Pension Benefit Guar-anty Corp., Elliott says. The PBGC is afederal agency that insures defined pen-sion plans.

Q: If the PBGC takes over my pen-sion,will I still get allmy benefits?A: Not necessarily. The PBGC insurespensions up to limits established by law.For plans terminated in 2009, the maxi-mum guaranteed amount for workerswho retire at age 65 is $54,000 annually.The limits are lower forworkerswho re-tire before they’re 65. “The earlier theretirement, the lower the guaranteedamount from the PBGC,” Elliott says.

Q: What about other retiree bene-fits for salaried employees?A: In a statement, GM said it is work-ingwith the Treasury to reduce some re-tiree benefit obligations by roughly two-thirds. Those reductions will affect lifeinsurance and health care coverage forsalaried retirees, among other things,the company said.

Q:Howcan I find outmore?A:GMemployees and retirees can call800-489-4646. The PBGC also has infor-mation on itswebsite, www.pbgc.gov.

Law protects pensionfunds, money in 401(k)sBy Sandra BlockUSA TODAY

Personal finance

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USA TODAY · THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2009 · 9A

In the United States of America, medicalprofessionals should not have to carry guns,wear bulletproof vests, hire bodyguards orlive in fear of assassins. But doctors who pro-vide abortions, particularly late-term proce-dures, often do some or all those things.The lifeline that these physicians provide

for women in difficult, sometimes desperate,circumstances grew eventhinner on Sunday, whenDr. George Tiller wasgunned down in the foyerof his Wichita church. Vil-ified by anti-abortiongroups, Tiller was a hero tothousands of women.Some came to him as a lastresort after learning theirbaby had a fatal conditionor that their own healthwas at grievous risk.Tiller’s insistence on

helping those women wasremarkably courageous. Hehad already been shot, andhis clinic had been bombed and vandalized.How many people would carry on doingwhat they thought was right if they had tolive in constant fear that they’d be shot orblown up? How many medical studentswant to choose a life like that?Regrettably, threats by anti-abortion activ-

ists have worked all too well. The number ofabortion providers is down almost 40% sincethe peak in 1982, according to the Gutt-macher Institute, a research organizationthat supports abortion rights. Already, 87% ofcounties have no provider, andwomen oftenhave to travel long distances to find a willingdoctor. Tiller’s clinic was one of only three inthe nation offering the late-termprocedure.Anti-abortion groupswere generally quick

to condemnhis slaying, and the author of theopposing view below correctly calls the slay-ing a “cowardly act.” Mainstream pro-life

groups should not be blamed for the actionsof a suspected killer who appears to havelurked in the violent and twisted fringe of themovement, where murdering a doctor is ex-cused as justifiable retribution.That said, the braying of cable TV hostssuch as Fox’s Bill O’Reilly andactivists such asOperation Rescue founder Randall Terry con-tributes to a climate of intolerance that canencourage deranged individuals. O’Reilly re-peatedly referred to the doctor as “Tiller thebaby killer,” and Terry,who is no longer asso-ciated with Operation Rescue, called Tiller a

“mass murderer” whose“hands were covered withblood.”Onan issue as heat-ed as the abortion battle,not everything that’s legalto say iswise to say.The fact that some activ-ists see Tiller’s killing as themurder of a murderer sim-ply is not relevant. Thedoc-tor acted within the law. Inthe 36 years since Roe v.Wade , abortion foeshaven’t been able to out-law the procedure or con-vince most Americans thatit should be illegal. A recent

Gallup Poll showed that 76% of Americansstill believe that abortion should be legal inall or certain circumstances, virtually un-changed in three decades.Thwarted in legislatures and courts, someanti-abortion activists are achieving with in-timidation and harassment what they can’tthrough the political process. They harshlyand aggressively confront women on theirway into clinics, picket doctors at theirhomes or churches, andharass doctors, clinicworkers, contractors and landlords.Regardless of personal beliefs about abor-tion, authorities have an obligation to protectthose providing and receiving abortion ser-vices, and to prosecute those who harass orthreaten them. The tragedy of Tiller’s deathwill only be compounded if it frightens awaymore doctors and makes a legal procedureeven harder to come by.

Source: Guttmacher Institute

1985

1995

2005

Less choice

2,680

2,089

1,787

By Keith Simmons, USA TODAY

The number of abortion pro-viders in the U.S. dropped byone-third from 1985 to 2005.

Today’s debate: Death inWichita

Activists mountmilitantassault on abortion rights

Our view:Unable towinpolitically, they turnto intimidation andharassment.

The fundamental tenet of the pro-lifemovement is that human life has intrinsicvalue and is deserving of protection from themoment the seed andeggunite, until naturaldeath. To take a life without due process de-values all life.We at Operation Rescue were shocked to

hear of the killing of late-term abortionistGeorge Tiller and were among the firstgroups to denounce the cowardly act thattook Tiller’s life. It was not justice, but vigi-lantism, which must be abhorred by a soci-ety that embraces the rule of law over anar-chy.Social justice begins in the womb or it

doesnot exist at all. The sparkof life is sopre-cious that the matter of abortion demandsweexpose it forwhat it is: the brutal and im-moral destruction of a unique human being.Operation Rescue uses legal tools at our

disposal, including the justice system, lawenforcement, the legislative system, regula-tory boards, health departments — even ourironclad First Amendment rights to display

pictures of aborted babies brutally killedthrough the euphemism of “choice” — to ex-pose the violence of abortion and provide asmuch protection as possible for women andtheir pre-born babies.Outspoken opposition to abortion has hadpositive results. For the first time in decades,polling data show that the majority of theAmerican people, 51%, identify themselvesas “pro-life,” while the numbers of thosewho say they are “pro-choice” have slippedeight points to a low of 42%. Abortion ratesare dropping nationwide.Our “pro-choice” opposition fears whatwill happen if the truth about abortion be-comes known. We fear what will happen ifthe truth is not told.America must not be afraid of whereshowing the truthwill bring us, whether it isto the brutal death of a baby in the womb,the state-sanctioned starvation death of TerriSchiavo, or dehumanizing war crimes com-mitted at AbuGhraib.Tiller’s homicide must be denounced, butso should the killing of over 45 million in-nocent babies through abortion, becausewhen even one life is wrongfully taken, it de-values us all.

Troy Newman is president of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue.

We abhor vigilantismOpposing view:OperationRescueuses all legaltools to expose abortion’s brutality.

By TroyNewman

President Obama’s speech in Egypt today— one intended to reboot soured U.S. rela-tionswith the Islamicworld—mightwell behis trickiest yet.Obamawill have to appeal to awaryMus-

lim world that thinks the United States rou-tinely betrays its ideals, chiefly by supportingdictatorships that people despise. He’ll haveto promote democracy without giving ex-tremists an opening to capture control. He’llhave to condemnhuman rights abuseswith-out grievously offending his host, repressiveEgyptian leader HosniMubarak, or the Saudiroyal family, which Obama needs to supplyboth oil and support for Middle East peace.And he’ll have to signal support for a Pales-tinian state without undermining Israel’s se-curity.Just how tall an order this represents is un-

derscored by the Bush administration’s ill-fated effort to promote freedom in the re-gion. In 2005, then-Secretary of State Condo-leezza Rice also delivered a major speech inEgypt, one inwhich she called for democracyand civil rights.Egypt soon began opening up under the

pressure— in part because it receives billionsof dollars in U.S. aid. The result? The extrem-ist Muslim Brotherhood grew stronger. Theprospect these radicals might win elections— as Hamas did in Gaza — forced a retreat.

Egyptianhuman rights advocates remainbit-ter that the Bush administration stirredhope, then dropped its freedomagenda.ForObama, aneasier venue for outreach totheMuslimworldwould have been Turkey, acountry that showcases the reform and mo-dernity Islam is capable of attaining, or In-donesia, where he spent part of his child-hood. But Egypt is central to the Arab worldand culture, as well as a spawning ground ofreligious extremism. Cairo-born doctor Ay-man al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden’s No. 2and “the brains” behind al-Qaeda, was quot-ed on an Islamic website Tuesday urgingEgyptians to reject the “criminal” Obama.Obama, with his Muslim roots, might beharder for al-Qaeda to demonize than hispredecessor. But more than anything Obamasays today, the real way forward is for mod-erate Muslims to reject the death-cult ex-tremists and their vision of a revival ofmedi-eval laws and cruelties. Themost Obama cando is help remove the excuses formaking theUnited States a target of hatred.For all his formidable rhetorical skills, Oba-mamightwell find that addressing the histo-ry of U.S. race relations, and his relationshipwith the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, last springwas simple compared with satisfying themultiple audiences that will be hanging onthe president’s everyword in Egypt.

Obama’s Egyptian conundrum

By Jeff Stahler (jstahler@dispatch.com), The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, for USA TODAY

Letters

An economic researcher called thelatest moves by banks a “doublewhammy” for taxpayers becausethey have put up $700 billion for thebank bailouts and now are getting hitwith increasing fees on checking ac-counts (“Banks find new ways to in-crease fees,” Cover story, News).I feel sorry for those of us affectedby these fees. Even so, no one is vic-timized because we can choose toavoid them by using cash. It is harderfor us to avoid being victimized bymembers of Congress.Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., suggestscredit reform does not go far enough.Then he hypocritically states: “Weneed serious andmajor regulatory re-form over these institutions, or theywill continue to rip off people in everyway imaginable,with outrageous feessnuck in every single place.”

If one substitutes some key words,that sentencebecomes: “Weneed se-rious and major regulatory reformover Congress, or it will continue torip off people in every way imagina-ble, with outrageous earmarks snuckin every single bill.”Congress is ourproblem,notbanks.We can choose to avoid banks, buthow canwe avoid Congress?

JohnW.WehmeierMuskego,Wis.

Bank fees pile on

As a former small-business owner, Iknow that banks make a nice profiteach time a credit card is scanned.That profit comes at no charge to thecustomer, but a portion is taken fromthemerchant’s bottom line. Then thebanks double-dip by charging fees to

credit card holders.And now they are proposing tocharge more fees on checking ac-counts? The dark side of capitalism isthemotivator. Although it’s legal, howcan we allow banks to squeeze moremoney out of unsuspecting people?Those fees contribute to themilliondollar bonuses paid to banking exec-utives. The more customers that thelarge banks and credit card compa-nies can sign up, themore the nickel-and-diming pays off for them.I’mbetter off, and so ismy commu-nity, if I keepmymoney in local banksand credit unions.When I get one of those credit cardsolicitations, Iwrite “no thanks” in bigblack letters across the applicationand send it back.

Benjamin SchultzBloomington, Ind.

Congress needs reform asmuch as credit card practices do

Thank you somuch for the story onthewoman inher 30swhoplacedherbaby for adoption. I, too, placed mydaughter for adoption in 2000 at theage of 34, though I had no other kidsand still don’t (“Struggling familiestake second look at adoption,” Coverstory, News).I received a number of viciouscomments from other women whocalled themselves my friends as wellas co-workers. Many people still holda backwoods mentality when itcomes to adoption.Often, people are unaware of whatthe birth mom goes through or whyshe makes the decision. It’s a heart-wrenching choice, by the way, that isnot easily wrapped up like a gift as itwas in Juno, the movie about teenpregnancy, with only a few tearsshed.Thanks for bringing this issue tolight in a helpfulway, not one that ex-ploits the birthmom.

Terri RimmerFortWorth

Awareness grows

I would like to congratulate USATODAY on the article on adoption andthe audio slideshow “One woman’sdecision to giveupherbaby” (USATO-DAY.com). They were thoughtful, ac-curate pieces on adoption in theUSA.As the article pointed out, 90% ofdomestic infant adoptions are open,where adoptive families remain incontactwith birth families.I would like to clarify one detail.The headline on the second page ofthe story says, “Agencies say more

women considering giving up babiesfor adoption.” But amore accurate re-flection of the reality would be to usethe phrase “placing babies for adop-tion.” Adoption is not about giving upyour child; it is about placing the childwith an adoptive family because thatis the best option for the birth familyand the child.Just as important is making a com-mitment to stay in contact so that thechild knows the decision was madeout of love, as it clearlywas in the caseof the family profiled.The Independent Adoption Center

has been providing open adoptionplacements and counseling to birthandadoptive families since 1982 in aneffort to ensure that every childgrows up feeling loved and support-ed. Our work results in hundreds ofopen adoption placements each year.IAC is committed to ensuring bestpractices in adoption, and to that endIAC has never had any exclusionarypolicies for adoptive parents, includ-ing age, sexual orientation, maritalstatus, religion, ethnic background,color or race.In his recent speech to the graduat-ing class at the University of NotreDame, President Obama urged thatwemake adoptionmore readily avail-able. That is exactly what IAC is tire-lesslyworking toward every day.Stories such as the one USA TODAYreported help tell the positive side ofadoption that was often taboo notlong ago.

AnnWrixonExecutive Director

Independent Adoption CenterPleasant Hill, Calif.

By Brett T. Roseman for USA TODAY

Birthmother:Renee Siegfort, 36, ofMarengo, Ill., put Joie up for adoption aweek after giving birth in December. Siegfort already has three teenagers.

Placing child for adoptionno longer considered taboo

More should servein armed forcesI don’t always agreewith columnistDeWayne Wickham. But the piece“The heavy burden of war, shoul-dered by the few”was right on target(The Forum).I disagreed with the decision toeliminate the draft several decadesago because I expected this situation.Where do we go from here? Every-one has to share the load. Every day Isee evidence of a widening gap be-tween the military and the citizenry.My sons and I served proudly, and Iexpect others should also.Thanks again to Wickham for stat-ing the obvious imbalance in our pub-lic service.Alongwith that thought, we have along way to go in preparing for theseconflicts.

Edward EvansLa Crescent,Minn.

Beyondmilitary draft

Commentary writer DeWayneWickham makes some great pointsabout the lack of commitment of to-day’s citizens in support of ourtroops,military service andour coun-try in general.A draft doesn’t go far enough.Man-datory military service of two yearsafter high school graduation or atsome later date should be considered.The skills, discipline and the learnedappreciation for one’s country wouldbe of great benefit to our free nation.Having served for more than 20years in the U.S. Coast Guard, I havefirsthand knowledge of how militaryservice benefits the individual andthe country. In these tough economictimes, I advise high school and col-lege graduates to give the military agood look. It might be a win-win foreveryone.

Richard PerryAllston,Mass.

To report corrections orclarifications, contact Stan-dards Editor Brent Jones at1-800-872-7073 or e-mailaccuracy@usatoday.com. Please indicatewhether you’re responding to content online orin the newspaper.

Commitment toaccuracyWe welcome your original responses to USA TODAY content.

There are two platformswhere youmay share views:uFor print publication consideration, e-mail letters@usatoday-

.com, fax to 703-854-2053 or mail to 7950 Jones Branch Drive,McLean, VA 22108. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity andlength, and comments of 250 words or fewer have the bestchance of being published. Only comments that include a name,address and day and evening phone numbers, and that are verifi-able byUSA TODAY, can be considered for print.uYou may also choose to join conversations taking place on-

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To comment . . .

"USA TODAYhopes to serve as a forum for better understanding and unityto helpmake theUSA truly one nation."-AllenH. Neuharth, Founder, Sept. 15, 1982President and Publisher: David L. Hunke

Editor: JohnHillkirkEditor, Editorial Page: BrianGallagher

Managing Editors:News, Carol Stevens;Money, JimHenderson;Sports,Monte Lorell; Life, SusanWeiss;

Design, Jeff Dionise;Network, Chet Czarniak '

Senior Vice Presidents:Advertising, BrettWilson;Circulation, Larry Lindquist;Electronic, JeffWebber;Marketing, Susan Lavington

Vice Presidents:Finance,MyronMaslowsky;

HumanResources, Janet Richardson;Information Technology, John Palmisano;

Production, Ken Kirkhart

The Fourthof July iswhenAmeri-cans celebrate the values that uniteus. But these are politically divisiveand economically difficult times, notto mention a time of war. What doyou think the nation needs to re-member about itself this Independ-ence Day? What are the messagesyou would like to share with otherAmericans?We’d like to publish those com-ments on this page and online. Sendyour responses of 250 words to let-ters@usatoday.com. You may alsofax to 703-854-2053. Please includea name, address and contact num-ber for verification purposes.

Independence Day

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