National News

A slow-motion train wreck of $1.2 trillion in spending cuts spread out over 10 years would definitely be at odds with the growing urgency of the president's warnings as the March 1 deadline draws near.

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Rates for female applicants could be up to 40 percent higher under the new pricing policy from Genworth Financial, the country's largest long-term care insurer. The company says women account for two out of every three dollars spent on claims.

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Homeowners have reason to be a little optimistic these days. According to the latest Case-Shiller Index, property values are up 6.8 percent from December 2011. And some cities are seeing increases they haven't seen in decades. Detroit, for example, hasn't seen gains like this since 1991. But no one holds a candle to Phoenix. Prices there are up an astounding 23 percent. Not to spoil the good news, but here comes the question we have to ask: Are we headed for another bubble?

First of all, not every market in the U.S. is experiencing the boom. Each region has its own little ecosystem when it comes to housing. Prices in Texas and South Dakota, for example, are pretty flat compared to Phoenix and California, where prices are increasing at double digit rates.

"And that's largely driven by the fact the banks are no longer selling homes" says Glenn Kelman, the CEO of the real estate brokerage Redfin. Those homeowners don't want to list their houses at the banks' prices, so they don't put their houses on the market, either.

Bill O'Rafferty is a realtor in the Inland Empire in California, where normally there are 1,800 to 2,000 houses for sale at any given time. "This morning, there's 346," O'Rafferty says.

Yet another factor -- hedge funds are buying up single-family houses in bulk in the Inland Empire and other areas that were hardest hit by the downturn. Those cash investors make up about 40 percent of O'Rafferty's sales these days.

Throw in some super-low interest rates for an added boost to demand, and you have price increases O'Rafferty hasn't seen since '93.

Even though this is the very beginning of the housing recovery, DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage says, "It doesn't surprise me that I'm already hearing the 'bubble' word."

LePage says there are a couple of things to consider before we start dropping the b-word. One is that in many markets prices are still below peak levels of 2005 and 2006, and "in many cases, sales are still below average."

Secondly LePage suggests that if prices continue to increase, many of the people who are underwater will get pulled back onto dry land and they, along with others who have been waiting, will finally put that for sale sign in the front yard. Supply will increase, which would make the risk of a bubble low.

A two term Republican senator from Nebraska, Hagel will become the first Vietnam veteran to head the U.S. Department of Defense.

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In a business where effects-laden movies bring in hundreds of millions of dollars, many of the studios that create those effects are barely staying afloat.

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In a business where effects-laden movies bring in hundreds of millions of dollars, many of the studios that create those effects are barely staying afloat.

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A British immigration watchdog is warning of a major influx of migrants into the U.K. after the end of this year. MigrationWatch reckons that as many as a quarter of a million Romanians and Bulgarians will settle in Britain after they gain full access to one of the fundamental rights of  membership of the European Union -- the free movement of people.

In Britain, the prospect of a tidal wave of Romanian and Bulgarian settlers is causing profound alarm. “We’ve already got two and a half million Brits unemployed, and there’s high youth unemployment,” says Matthew Pollard, spokesman for MigrationWatch. “And there’s also an acute shortage of housing, especially in London and the southeast. There just isn’t enough housing to go around.”

The British government -- which is committed to reducing immigration --  is casting around for ways to dissuade the Romanians and Bulgarians from coming to Britain. One proposal is to run a negative advertising campaign about the U.K. in the Romanian and Bulgarian press. The ads might describe Britain’s appalling weather, high unemployment and lack of opportunity. 

But Faisal Siddiqui of the Figtree brand consultancy does not think that is a good idea. “Britain has spent millions promoting itself as a great place to visit and do business," he says. “The message has been: great creativity, great innovation, Great Britain. A negative ad campaign would detract from that national narrative."

The negative ads could backfire in another way, too. Forty years ago, when the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin expelled thousands of Asians, the people of Leicester in the English Midlands were terrified that some of the refugees would wind up in their city. So they took out an ad in Ugandan newspapers urging them not to come. Ten thousand -- more than a third of the total -- made a beeline for Leicester.

Members of the Romanian community in Britain have dismissed all the talk of a “tidal wave" of immigrants into the U.K. as ridiculous and insulting. Journalist Cristina Irimie says it is typical immigrant-bashing.

“Migrants are always blamed if there are no jobs and the economy’s poor,” Irimie says. "They’re using migrants as a demon.”

Meanwhile, back in Romania, as a riposte against what it sees as inhospitable Britain, a newspaper in Bucharest has launched a campaign entitled "Why Don't You Come Over?," offering job opportunities  and temporary accommodation to any Brits that would like to start a new life in Romania.

The Daytona 500 posted its strongest TV ratings since 2008, thanks to a buildup of attention drawn by Danica Patrick's history-making pole position and a horrendous crash during a race at the track Saturday. The biggest gains in viewership seem to have come in big cities.

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U.S. banks made $141.3 billion in net income last year. That's second only to the profit they made in 2006, before the financial crisis. Many of the banks that profited the most, have benefitted from a government bailout.

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Educators are bracing for deep budget cuts if the government sequestration occurs. Host Michel Martin speaks with Emily Richmond from the National Education Writers Association, and Kelly Field of The Chronicle of Higher Education, about the possible damage.

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A new study on bullying shows that people who were bullied have higher rates of psychiatric illness as adults. Host Michel Martin speaks with the study's lead author, William Coleman of Duke University, and bullying expert Rosalind Wiseman.

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The shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin one year ago became an international story, and raised difficult questions about race and justice. Host Michel Martin continues her conversation with Robert Zimmerman Jr., the brother of accused killer George Zimmerman, about how his family views the case and the public reaction.

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Civilization cannot live on anchovies alone. The ancient Norte Chico people of Peru were long thought to have built a complex society in South America while dining on a diet based on the tiny fish. But archaeologists now say they ate the food that fueled empires throughout the hemisphere — corn.

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Outgoing Benedict XVI will be referred to as "His Holiness" and carry the title of "pope emeritus," the Vatican says.

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The head of the conservative Project on Fair Representation has spent years pursuing legal channels to roll back a key section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. His efforts helped bring the issue before the U.S. Supreme Court, which hears arguments Wednesday.

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Billy Ray Harris held on to Sarah Darling's diamond ring after she accidentally put it in his change cup. When Darling retraced her steps, he returned it to her. His honesty has led to more than $150,000 — so far — in online pledges to help him.

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But the Federal Reserve chairman warns Congress that the "sharp, front-loaded spending cuts" that would come with the so-called sequester could hurt the economy. He recommends "policies that reduce the federal deficit more gradually in the near term but more substantially in the longer run."

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Many American doctors are nurses are helping to build medical schools abroad, as funding agencies push for this collaborative style of philanthropy. Even former President Clinton is getting involved. He's launched a $15 million initiative to revamp Rwanda's health care system.

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Many American doctors are nurses are helping to build medical schools abroad, as funding agencies push for this collaborative style of philanthropy. Even former President Clinton is getting involved. He's launched a $15 million initiative to revamp Rwanda's health care system.

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The Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, testified on Capitol Hill Tuesday morning in his semi-annual report to Congress on monetary policy. Bernanke reaffirmed the Fed's bond buying program, but said monetary policy alone can't prop up the economy.

Marketplace's David Gura in Washington joined Morning Report host Jeremy Hobson to break down the latest remarks from the Fed chief.