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NPR's David Welna reports on the second installment of President Bush's tax plan, which passed the House Ways and Means Committee today on a party-line vote. This installment, which the full House is expected to take up next week, focuses on the so-called marriage tax and the child tax credit. But Democrats argue -- and some Republicans agree -- that none of this addresses the immediate problem of the faltering economy.

Some say the financial markets continue to decline because the Federal Reserve decided to cut interest rates by just half a percent earlier this week. Commentator Lyle Gramley, who is a former member of the Federal Reserve Board, says Wall Street's decline is more about the slowdown in the economy. A previous Fed commentary aired yesterday. In that piece, Bert Ely said the Fed's interest rate cut was too little, too late, and that the Fed has a history of either under or overreacting.

NPR's Barbara Bradley reports that President Bush has decided to end a five-decade tradition of the American Bar Association screening potential federal judicial candidates. White House Counsel Al Gonzales has written to the ABA, informing the group the White House will no longer provide names before they are made public. The ABA has a special committee that has screened candidates since the Eisenhower administration. The panel gave potential judges the ratings of "well qualified," "qualified" or "not qualified." Some conservatives opposed ABA screening, saying they believed the ABA had a liberal bias.

Illinois lawmakers gave final approval in the early hours of Friday morning to a new congressional redistricting plan that divides the state into 17 districts, one fewer than it currently has due to its loss of population since the 2010 U.S. Census.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary has added more than 400 new words and definitions — including fluffernutter, dad bod and vaccine passport.

Host Bob Edwards talks with NPR's Tom Gjelten about the U.S. Navy's accidental bombing of observers during training exercises in Kuwait.

NPR's Phillip Martin reports on that the 2000 census results reflect a change in America's perception of race. This was the first census that allowed people to check more than one category of race and ethnicity.

NPR's Renee Montagne talks with Richard Curtis of the charity group Comic Relief. He convinced Harry Potter author JK Rowling to write two Hogwarts textbooks for donation to the organization.

NPR's Martin Kaste reports on the success of Brazil's AIDS program. Alone among developing nations, Brazil has provided AIDS drugs to nearly all who need them. That's cut the death rate from AIDS in half. The success is due to the country's aggressive policies on allowing generic copies of expensive brand name drugs. The international pharmaceutical industry has tolerated the situation until recently. Now the country faces a major trade dispute over its policy on AIDS drugs.

Noah Adams talks with Chris Desimio, a financial consultant and stock broker in Cincinnati, Ohio, about the technology companies that are still doing well despite the downturn of the stock market. He also talks about the companies which should not have gone down in value, but did, because of the psychology of the market right now.