CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2005-11-30

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hello, I'm Bob Schaefer and welcome to

[0:02] the CBS Evening News online edition.

[0:04] Just ahead, it was built as a major

[0:06] speech on Iraq, but is there anything

[0:09] new in President Bush's strategy? John

[0:11] Roberts has details and analysis and how

[0:14] much credit card debt do you have? Why

[0:17] many Americans are drowning in it in our

[0:19] special series, The Debt Trap? It's all

[0:23] starting now on the CBS Evening News

[0:25] online edition.

[0:27] For two weeks now, critics have leveled

[0:30] blistering attacks on the president's

[0:32] war policy in Iraq. And some leading

[0:34] Democrats have demanded he set a

[0:36] timetable for withdrawing American

[0:38] troops. Well, today the president began

[0:40] a campaign to answer back. In a speech

[0:42] at the Naval Academy, he said the role

[0:45] of the troops is changing, but it will

[0:47] take time and patience to win the war.

[0:50] We begin tonight with John Roberts at

[0:52] the White House.

[0:54] President Bush began to lay the

[0:56] groundwork for a possible draw down of

[0:58] US troops in Iraq today. But hitting

[1:00] back against his critics, he insisted

[1:02] there will be no timetable for

[1:04] withdrawal on his watch.

[1:06] >> These decisions about troop levels will

[1:09] be driven by the conditions on the

[1:11] ground in Iraq and the good judgment of

[1:15] our commanders, not by artificial

[1:18] timetables set by politicians in

[1:20] Washington. Against the backdrop planned

[1:23] for victory, the president went into

[1:24] much greater detail about the training

[1:26] and readiness of those Iraqi forces,

[1:28] claiming 40 Iraqi combat battalions are

[1:31] now taking the lead in joint operations

[1:33] with coalition troops, while 80 others

[1:36] are capable of support operations. Yet

[1:38] Pentagon officials recently said only

[1:40] one battalion, about 700 men, is fully

[1:43] capable of fighting alone.

[1:45] >> Iraqi units are growing more independent

[1:47] and more capable. They are defending

[1:50] their new democracy with courage and

[1:52] determination.

[1:53] >> For what was bu as a major speech,

[1:55] though, there was remarkably little new

[1:58] in either it or an accompanying 35page

[2:01] strategy for victory in Iraq. The White

[2:03] House made public. Democrats saw no

[2:06] strategy, just the same tired old set of

[2:09] goals. They said

[2:10] >> it's warmed over stew. There's nothing

[2:12] in the performance of the president's

[2:14] duties in relationship to this war that

[2:16] would say that his judgment is one that

[2:18] should be respected now.

[2:19] >> But today's speech, one of a series the

[2:22] president will give leading up to Iraq's

[2:24] December 15th elections, shows how much

[2:26] Congressman John Murtha's call to pull

[2:28] out US troops has changed the debate.

[2:31] It's no longer enough for President Bush

[2:33] just to urge patience. He now needs to

[2:35] articulate some hope of an exit. The

[2:38] Pentagon would like to reduce troop

[2:39] numbers to between 80 and 100,000 by the

[2:42] end of next year. When the remainder may

[2:44] come home is completely unknown.

[2:46] >> When our mission of defeating the

[2:48] terrorists in Iraq is complete,

[2:51] our troops will return home to a proud

[2:54] nation.

[2:56] >> But some military analysts wonder if the

[2:58] mission to defeat the terrorists in Iraq

[3:00] will ever be complete. The team from the

[3:02] Army War College warned this week the US

[3:04] troops may never be able to train an

[3:06] Iraqi force capable of securing the

[3:08] entire country, no matter how long they

[3:10] stay in Iraq. Bob, thank you very much,

[3:13] John. CBS News confirmed today that the

[3:16] US military is paying Iraqi newspapers

[3:19] now to print stories favoring American

[3:21] goals and actions. Correspondent David

[3:23] Martin calls it a covert propaganda

[3:26] operation. The articles are secretly

[3:28] written by US soldiers, translated into

[3:31] Arabic and placed in Iraqi papers by a

[3:34] gobetween. The US economy so far is

[3:37] weathering the hurricanes and soaring

[3:39] energy prices. The government today

[3:41] raised its estimate of third quarter

[3:43] economic growth from 3.8 to 4.3%.

[3:47] Wall Street is afraid that will lead to

[3:49] higher interest rates. The Dow lost 82

[3:51] points today. Holiday shopping on the

[3:54] internet is off to a good start. Cyber

[3:56] Monday sales were up 26% over last year.

[4:01] We do live in a credit card nation. The

[4:03] people at Visa tell us their cards alone

[4:06] are used this time of year more than

[4:08] 5,000 times a minute. According to one

[4:11] survey, the average American is carrying

[4:13] a credit card debt now of nearly $4,000.

[4:17] So tonight, we're beginning a series on

[4:20] debt. As you will see, credit card debt

[4:22] is not just banned for the individual.

[4:25] It can be bad for the whole US economy.

[4:28] Here's Trish Rian.

[4:30] >> Okay, let's see if I can do it.

[4:32] >> Allison Gage is the chief financial

[4:34] officer of a four kid household.

[4:37] >> Go down. Go down.

[4:38] >> On the spreadsheet, one income, husband

[4:40] Joe's to cover two cars, her student

[4:42] loans, and a fivebedroom house.

[4:45] >> This is about double the size of our

[4:46] other house. So, our mortgage mortgage.

[4:48] >> Yep. About double the size of mortgage.

[4:49] With a bigger mortgage, this CFO had

[4:52] some cash flow problems and did what a

[4:54] lot of people do. Started using credit

[4:56] cards for everyday purchases. How would

[5:00] you characterize your spending?

[5:03] >> Well, I mean,

[5:04] >> carefree.

[5:04] >> Yeah, I was going to say we could be

[5:06] more careful. Go to Target, you know,

[5:08] while we're there. Oh, get some throw

[5:10] pillows for the couch. I would rather

[5:11] live more in the future than not give my

[5:13] kids some of the things whether it's a

[5:15] vacation each year or or or if they want

[5:18] something, you know, with Christmas.

[5:19] >> And their credit cards outstanding

[5:21] balance was just getting bigger and

[5:23] bigger and bigger. And the gauges are

[5:25] certainly not alone. The nation's

[5:27] outstanding credit card debt was $273

[5:31] billion in 1992. It's more than 800

[5:35] billion today. Just call us the credit

[5:37] card nation. Our motto used to be save

[5:40] for a rainy day. Now it's borrow today,

[5:42] pay back whenever.

[5:44] >> I like to call it the just do it culture

[5:46] of people that have to have it now. They

[5:49] worry about the cost of paying for it

[5:51] later.

[5:52] >> Bob Manning, professor of finance at

[5:54] Rochester Institute of Technology has

[5:56] new research on how Americans live with

[5:58] debt. The most surprising thing, people

[6:01] really aren't that bothered by it. and

[6:02] that we plan financially about how much

[6:05] better things will be uh five or 10

[6:08] years later.

[6:08] >> Pure optimism.

[6:09] >> Pure optimism.

[6:12] >> But some analysts worry that optimism

[6:14] may be misplaced. Interest rates are

[6:16] rising, putting consumers in a credit

[6:19] crunch.

[6:20] >> Americans are going to find themselves

[6:21] unable to pay their bills in a year or

[6:23] two, even though they haven't taken on

[6:25] any new loans. It's simply the added

[6:27] cost of the higher interest rates on

[6:29] their borrowings. That's not just a

[6:31] problem for the credit card holder.

[6:32] Economists worry it could put a strain

[6:34] on spending nationwide.

[6:37] >> Americans are going to have to reduce

[6:38] their standard of living, which is

[6:40] really bad news for the economy.

[6:43] >> The average interest rate on credit

[6:45] cards right now is 14%, but some

[6:47] analysts believe we may soon see average

[6:50] rates in the 20s. So, Bob, that gives

[6:52] you some idea of where things are

[6:54] heading.

[6:54] >> That's amazing. Now, what are you gonna

[6:55] talk about tomorrow? Tomorrow, we're

[6:56] going to show you how easy it is to get

[6:58] into serious credit card trouble. We're

[7:01] also going to talk about a little known

[7:02] fact. Almost half of the profits from

[7:05] the credit card companies come from

[7:07] penalties and fees.

[7:08] >> All right. Well, thank you very much,

[7:09] Drake. More stories are just a click

[7:11] away, but don't forget to join me on

[7:13] television for the on air edition of the

[7:15] CBS Evening News. On Thursday's

[7:18] broadcast, you'll meet two servicemen

[7:20] who were badly injured in Iraq, but

[7:22] don't think they are letting their

[7:24] injuries stop them. will have their

[7:26] inspiring stories.