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Rundown 5/25

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Oil is seen inside a marsh impacted from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Pass a Loutre. (AP)
Oil is seen inside a marsh impacted from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Pass a Loutre. (AP)

Congress Considers Quadrupling Tax On Oil

As pressure increases on the White House to ramp up the response to the Gulf oil disaster, Congress is considering what actions to take, including quadrupling the tax on oil used to help finance cleanups. Analysts say consumers will barely notice because it will add less than a penny to the cost of a gallon of gas. We speak with Glenn Thrush of Politico.

Facebook Users Threaten To De-Friend Facebook

 Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, delivers the keynote address during the annual Facebook f8 developer conference in San Francisco in 2008. (AP)
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, delivers the keynote address during the annual Facebook f8 developer conference in San Francisco in 2008. (AP)

President Proposes Changes In Coin Composition

It costs almost 2 cents to make one penny and nine cents to make a nickel, and President Obama wants to lower those costs by changing the composition of some of our coins. The Treasury Department says such measures could save more than $100 million dollars a year. We speak with Rod Gillis, an educator with the American Numismatic Association, who expects aluminum pennies and nickels may be part of the proposal. But he says the public won't necessarily like that. "If you were to have a coin that's made out of aluminum just the feel of it in your hands is entirely different, and there's just the feeling of cheapness to it that I think the people who use money in our economy would be very much against."

Medical Identity Theft Presents Growing Problem

The average cost incurred when someone's identity is stolen is about $4,800.  But the average cost of a lesser known crime- medical identity theft- is more than double that, a little over $12,000.   Medical identity theft is also more costly to resolve.   The crime occurs when a person uses someone else's medical insurance number to bill procedures, appointments and hospitalizations--sometimes totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. In addition the crime results in erroneous information entered into the victim's medical records, which can have devastating consequences. We talk to Margaret Collins of Bloomberg Businessweek, who has been covering the issue.

David Foster Wallace In His Own Words

(Photo DavidFosterWallace.com)
(Photo DavidFosterWallace.com)

Music From The Show

  • Herbie Hancock, "Watermelon Man"
  • Volcano Choir, "Sleepy Mouth"
  • The Lickets, "Meat City"
  • Christian McBride, "Brother Mister"
  • R.E.M., "King of Birds"

This program aired on May 25, 2010.

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