おはようございます。
オバマ次期政権にとって適切な金融規制の導入は重要課題の１つです。規制を導入するには、金融業界からできるだけ独立した環境が必要です。
しかし１月20日大統領就任式への献金の内訳を見ると、１位は金融業界です。政府に手厚く支援されている金融機関が、一方で自分に不利にならないように政府に圧力を加えようとする。オバマ氏にとって大統領の職務は命がけです。
米大統領就任式、金融業界から多額の献金 オバマ氏は特定企業からの献金を受け付けず、個人献金の上限は５万ドル
Wall Street Is Big Donor to Inauguration (WSJ.com)
WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama has banned corporations and big donors from funding his Jan. 20 inauguration. But 90% of donations received so far have been raised by well-heeled fund-raisers, including Wall Street executives whose companies have received billions of dollars in federal bailout money.
Traditionally, taxpayers have footed a small portion of the bill for the ceremonies and parties that accompany presidential inaugurations, with private donations covering the rest. For Mr. Obama's inauguration, which is estimated to cost $50 million, Congress has approved about $10 million in taxpayer money to bankroll events.
There are few rules on who is allowed to donate or how much they can donate, though Mr. Obama has voluntarily limited individual donations to $50,000. But the preponderance of large donors and the fact that so many come from an industry receiving government handouts comes as the president-elect has sought to keep his inauguration free of special interests.
inauguration: 就任式
well-heeled fund-raiser: 裕福な資金調達者
preponderance: 優位性
12月の米雇用統計、失業率7．2％に悪化 16年ぶりの高水準、非農業部門就業者数は52．4万人の大幅減少 年間で260万人減
Jobless Rate Surges to 7.2%; Nonfarm Payrolls Drop 524,000 (WSJ.com)
WASHINGTON -- The final employment report for 2008 closed the books on a miserable year for U.S. workers with payrolls plunging last month by more than half a million, pushing the unemployment rate to a 16-year high.
The economy lost 2.6 million jobs in 2008, government figures showed, the most since World War II ended in 1945. Nearly two million of those losses were in the last four months alone, a sign that the recession accelerated as the financial crisis intensified, and should drag on well into the new year.
The pullback was broad-based among manufacturing, construction and most service industries. Companies across a variety of sectors including AT&T Inc., DuPont Co. and Bank of America Corp. all announced job cuts last month. That trend continued into this year with Alcoa Inc., EMC Corp., Walgreen Co. and others already announcing cuts this month.
employment report: 雇用統計
to drag on: 長引く
broad-based: 広範囲にわたる
米エクソン、CEOが炭素税の導入を議会に求める 他の手段より温暖化ガス削減に有効
Exxon CEO Advocates Emissions Tax (WSJ.com)
The chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp. for the first time called on Congress to enact a tax on greenhouse-gas emissions in order to fight global warming.
In a speech in Washington, Rex Tillerson said that a tax was a "more direct, a more transparent and a more effective approach" to curtailing greenhouse gases than other plans popular in Congress and with the incoming Obama administration.
The policy he is advocating is often called a carbon tax because it would be imposed on emissions of carbon dioxide, the most common man-made greenhouse gas. By backing it, Mr. Tillerson has become an unlikely member of a club that includes former Vice President Al Gore, consumer advocate Ralph Nader and President-elect Barack Obama's designated head of the National Economic Council, Larry Summers.
to enact: ～を制定する
to curtail greenhouse gases: 温暖化ガスを削減する
carbon tax: 炭素税
11月のドイツ鉱工業生産、前月比3.1％減 内外で需要減少
German output suffers biggest annual drop since '93 (Forbes.com)
BERLIN, Jan 9 (Reuters) - German industrial output fell in November by 10 percent compared with the previous year, dragged down by a sharp downturn in manufacturing that is threatening to cause a record contraction in economic growth.
Compared with the previous month, output fell by 3.1 percent in seasonally adjusted terms, preliminary Economy Ministry figures showed on Friday. This was bigger than the decline of 2.0 percent that had been forecast in a Reuters poll.
The ministry noted that output at German firms had been scaled back due to weak demand both at home and abroad.
industrial output: 鉱工業生産
to drag down: ～を引き下げる
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良い一日を(o^-')b