UPI VIDEO NEWS 01.15.08

Bush pushes for more oil production.

President Bush is calling on oil producing countries to put more oil on the world market. Earlier today, the President met with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, whose country holds the world's largest oil supply. He warned that soaring oil prices could cause an economic slowdown in the U.S., and increased production would be helpful to American consumers. OPEC, which is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, will meet next month to consider increasing output.

Meanwhile, a special commission is urging the government to raise federal gasoline taxes by as much as 40 cents per gallon over five years. The commission, which conducted a two-year study, says increasing those taxes would ease traffic congestion and repair the nation's decaying bridges and roads. This comes after the devastating bridge collapse in Minneapolis last August. Under the recommendation, the current tax of 18.4 cents per gallon for unleaded gas would be increased annually, anywhere from 5 to 8 cents each year.

And federal investigators have concluded that steel plates on that interstate bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis last year are to blame for the disaster. The plates were reportedly not sufficient to hold the structure together. The collapse claimed the lives of 13 people. About 100 others were injured. The National Transportation Safety Board is planning to call on states today to do safety checks on gusset plates in bridges any time they add weight to a structure. Thirty years ago, additional pavement was added to the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis that increased its weight.

Michigan voters are heading to the polls today for the state's GOP primary. Polls show former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has a narrow lead over Senator John McCain. Mike Huckabee is currently in third place. All of the Republican presidential frontrunners are pledging to turn around Michigan's struggling economy. The state has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country at 7.4 percent. That's compared to 5 percent nationally.