BUSINESS BRIEFS
House overrides Bush veto of $290B farm bill
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The House overwhelmingly rejected President Bush's veto yesterday of a $290 billion farm bill, but what should have been a stinging defeat for the president became an embarrassment for Democrats.
Only hours before the House's 316-108 vote, Bush had vetoed the five-year measure, saying it was too expensive and gave too much money to wealthy farmers when farm incomes are high. The Senate then was expected to follow suit quickly.
Action stalled, however, after the discovery that Congress had omitted a 34-page section of the bill when lawmakers sent the massive measure to the White House. That means Bush vetoed a different bill from the one Congress passed, leaving leaders scrambling to figure out whether it could become law.
Democrats hoped to pass the entire bill, again, today under expedited rules usually used for unopposed legislation.
OIL PRICES PASS $130 A BARREL
NEW YORK — Runaway oil prices blew past $130 a barrel for the first time yesterday and kept going, while gasoline prices persisted in their own relentless climb, rising above $3.80 a gallon. Supply worries, rising demand and a slumping dollar are conspiring to make filling up the car — and paying for just about everything else — a growing burden for Americans.
With demand for oil growing in the developing world, and little end in sight to supply problems in producing countries, few analysts are willing to call an end to crude's rally.
Yesterday's rally was fed in part by a report from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration, which said crude inventories fell by more than 5 million barrels last week. Light, sweet crude for July delivery rose $4.19 to settle at $133.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but prices rose as high as $135.04, up $6.06, in after-hours electronic trading.
GM WORKERS ACCEPT CONTRACT
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Union members at General Motors Corp.'s Fairfax assembly plant have approved a new contract, ending a nearly three-week-old strike.
The contract was approved by 88 percent of the skilled workers and 85 percent of the production workers who voted yesterday, union officials said, although they declined to say how many workers voted.
About 2,500 members of United Auto Workers Local 31 walked off the job May 5 after failing to agree with plant management on a local contract. The plant makes the Chevrolet Malibu as well as Saturn Aura.
"We told everyone from the get-go that we were out here to retain what we had and we did that," said Jeff Manning, union president. "I'm totally relieved. I'm looking forward to a holiday weekend and not being on strike."
A few skilled workers were expected to return to the plant last night to prepare it to return to production, but most of the workers will return today, union officials said.
STUDENT LOAN FIRMS GET HELP
WASHINGTON — Student loan companies, squeezed by the credit crisis, are getting some help from the federal government.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings told the lenders — in a letter obtained by The Associated Press — that the government will purchase some of the loans, freeing up capital. That way, the companies will have more money to issue new loans.
"Many lenders today do not have access to funds at a cost that justifies originating new loans," Spellings wrote. "Our plan is designed to provide viability in the marketplace for lenders who step up and make loans in this difficult environment."
Lenders had told the department they needed more federal help to continue serving college students under the federal student loan program because of the credit crunch and cuts Congress made to lenders' subsidies. The credit crunch has made money less available.
