| Schwarzenegger's bad-news budget
Besides, rigid formulas are no substitute for the types of line-by-line judgment calls that the governor and legislators are elected to make. Schwarzenegger is right to serve up the fiscal news in unadorned fashion. There aren't any easy answers. A resolution to this mess will require a revival of bipartisan spirit that has helped this governor in the past - but may be very hard to find if interest groups and anti-tax ideologues dig in their heels. .
Product Recalls
More than a quarter-million shop lights are under a voluntary recall because of an electrical shock hazard. The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Cooper Lighting say there is a potential problem with the prongs on the electrical cord. To see this recall on CPSC's web site, including pictures of the recalled product, please go to: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08089.html VISUAL PRESENTER RECALL About 54,000 Visual Presenters (sold as Image Presentation Cameras by Epson) are being recalled due to a fire hazard. The product was sold at dealers, office supply stores, and other retailers nationwide from December 1993 to June 2006. Consumers should stop using the recalled visual presenters immediately and contact Elmo USA at (877) 275-3566 for all models except Epson.
Different Clinton, more painful bill
It was like turning the clocks back 16 years when Hillary Clinton put her campaign to become the first woman president of the United States back on track with victory in New Hampshire. It was, of course, the same small north-eastern state where Bill first won his spurs as the comeback kid. The similarity does not end there. Just as in 1992, the US economy is a mess. Unemployment is rising, the federal deficit is enormous, personal debt frighteningly high, the real estate market is in freefall. For the first time since George Bush Sr was booted out of the White House, the economy is going to be absolutely central to this year's struggle for the presidency. Whoever wins the race - be it a Republican or Democrat - will take comfort from the fact that if economic recovery could be achieved in the 1990s it can be achieved again.
the has-been
Could Bush be deliberately forcing us into the very type of national embarrassment in the Middle East that has prompted merger offers in the past? Like Ricky Bobby in Talledega Nights, who loses his NASCAR crown to a gay Formula One racecar driver from France, could Bush subconsciously be steering us into the wall on purpose as the only way to escape the haunting sense that "if you ain't first, you're last"? Like the cake and the Bible in Iran-Contra, the pieces start to fit together at last. Merger kingpin Henry Paulson's baffling decision to leave one of the largest deal-making firms on earth to come to Washington, where there are no deals in sight. The until-now-unexplained fit Bush threw when reporter David Gregory might have uncovered any merger talks had he been allowed to keep speaking French to Jacques Chirac.
Talk of the bay: Auto dealers' ads can take you for a ride
This just in: Some auto-dealership ads may be misleading. The less-than-surprising warning issued Thursday by the Florida Attorney General's Office says car buyers should steer clear of dealer offers to pay off their existing car loan or lease. The loan or lease obligation does not disappear in such cases; instead, the buyer ends up owing the dealer, and because of penalties the loan balance often increases. A dealer may try to hide the extra debt burden by lengthening the repayment period. In an unrelated settlement reached in November, Bill Heard Chevrolet of Plant City and Orlando agreed to pay the state $400,000 and not run misleading radio or print ads. Ruling nets Spain shipwreck details The Spanish government will receive detailed information about a shipwreck site where Tampa's Odyssey Marine Exploration found $500-million worth of coins and artifacts last year, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
Schwarzenegger's bad-news budget
Besides, rigid formulas are no substitute for the types of line-by-line judgment calls that the governor and legislators are elected to make. Schwarzenegger is right to serve up the fiscal news in unadorned fashion. There aren't any easy answers. A resolution to this mess will require a revival of bipartisan spirit that has helped this governor in the past - but may be very hard to find if interest groups and anti-tax ideologues dig in their heels. .
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