USATODAY.com Nation - Top Stories

Detroit mayor resigns: 'I lied'
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:44:23 -0000
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said Thursday, "Sometimes standing strong means stepping down."
Remains of 3 sailors from Pearl Harbor identified
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:12:05 -0000
Two-thirds of a century ago, Kathleen Wyman drove her brother to California to join the Navy. From there, he shipped out to the ...
Coast Guard helicopter crashes off Hawaii
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:00:47 -0000
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter has crashed in waters five miles (8 kilometers) south of Honolulu, and officials say three crewmembers ...
Feds warn climate change could harm giant sequoias
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:38:31 -0000
U.S. researchers warn that warming temperatures could soon cause California's giant sequoia trees to die off more quickly unless ...
As Hanna worries East Coast, Ike weakens to a Category 3 storm
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:27:26 -0000
Residents are wary of the ferocious-looking Hurricane Ike and the approaching Tropical Storm Hanna.
FEMA to pay for some 'extended' hotel stays
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:43:15 -0000
Victims of Hurricane Gustav who can't return to their homes over the next month because of storm damage or power outages can ...

The Economist: United States

Ron Paul’s campaign: Another old Republican
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
A boisterous alternative convention targets NAFTA and the FedHIS movements were monitored by Republican organisers, and his supporters were muzzled at the Republican convention. Michael Moore, a rabble-rousing lefty film-maker? A surrogate for Barack Obama? No: Ron Paul, a Republican congressman. His campaign for restoring limited government did not win him the Republican nomination for president. But it did earn him a legion of adoring fans who gathered for a huge counter-convention in Minneapolis, across the river from the official Republican convention in St Paul, in a 15,000-seat basketball arena.In the arena, the fans booed mentions of John McCain and George Bush. But they boisterously cheered the names of Friedrich Hayek and Murray Rothbard, libertarian economists from decades past. Any favourable mention of guns or the constitution won cheers; but hard words for the Iraq war gained the biggest roars of approval, and speaker after speaker hit themes of personal responsibility and small government. ...
The economy: In need of more Band-Aids
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
A poor second half could boost the odds of more stimulusTHE American economy entered the summer on a strong note as GDP grew by an annualised 3.3% in the second quarter. That figure, released last week, was much better than the first estimate of 1.9%, and mostly reflected a strong trade performance. Another important factor was that, despite rising unemployment, soaring fuel prices and constricting credit, consumer spending managed to grow at a 1.7% annual rate. For that, thank a fiscal stimulus package that included $110 billion in tax rebates, of which $92 billion had been disbursed by early July. Without those cheques, Macroeconomic Advisers, a forecasting firm, figures that consumer spending would not have grown at all. The second half is already looking weaker. Real consumer spending tumbled at a 0.4% monthly rate in July (see chart) as car sales plunged and high oil prices bit. The drop may also have reflected a reversal of the temporary boost from rebates delivered in previous months. Economists at Bank of America think consumer spending will decline in the current quarter, for the first time in 17 years. The fourth quarter could be worse. Unemployment is probably heading higher. Housing may be bottoming, as stocks of unsold homes drop and price declines slow, but the credit crunch shows no sign of easing. ...
Examining Alaska (2): The challenger
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
Running against a senator who is about to stand trial is harder than it looksSINCE being elected mayor of Anchorage in 2003, Mark Begich has acquired a reputation for getting things done. On his watch a shiny new convention centre has gone up. Roads are being repaired and heating elements laid under pavements to melt snow during the long Alaskan winter. Miraculously, much of this has been paid for by bonds, not federal earmarks. On August 26th Mr Begich sailed through a primary election. Now all he has to do is defeat a man who will soon go on trial for failing to report gifts from oil companies and he will become Alaska’s first Democratic senator for 28 years. Four out of every ten Alaskans live in Anchorage, so Mr Begich has a strong base of support. He also has a good surname: his father, Nick Begich, was a popular congressman who disappeared in 1972 while flying in a small plane. Best of all, Mr Begich is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Woe betide any Alaskan politician who stands in the way of guns and oil. ...
The Republican convention: The maverick and the hockey mom
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
Republicans are more fired up than before, but less so than DemocratsBEFORE Barack Obama’s big open-air speech in Denver last week, some Christian conservatives prayed for rain. That was in poor taste. But this is a competitive election, and anything the right can do, the left can do better. When the news came that a hurricane might strike New Orleans during the Republican convention in St Paul, Minnesota this week, Michael Moore, a film-maker, said it was “proof that there is a God in heaven”. Another calamitous storm, you see, would remind people how ineptly George Bush dealt with Hurricane Katrina three years ago and spur them to vote Democratic. The first day of the convention, September 1st, was all but cancelled—though, in the end, the hurricane was less destructive than had been feared (see article). That left three days for Republicans to achieve three goals. They needed to distance John McCain from Mr Bush, to introduce Sarah Palin (Mr McCain’s surprise vice-presidential pick) to voters and to denigrate Mr Obama. Strangely, Hurricane Gustav may have helped. The storm gave Mr Bush a good reason to stay away on the first day. During a brief video link-up, he generously stressed the times Mr McCain has disagreed with him. ...
Swing states: Minnesota: A polka-dot place
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
A formerly reliable Democratic state is now much less soON A hot summer day at Shady Oak Lake, teenagers line up for the high-diving board. Parents with small children wade in the shallows near the sandy beach. This suburban idyll, surrounded by leafy trees and big houses, lies near Edina, a town just west of Minnesota’s Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul. Despite appearances, it is a political ground zero in a state the Republicans are fighting to snatch from the Democrats. Minnesota is famous as a liberal bastion. It is the only state not to have voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1972, and has its own (traditionally leftier) brand of Democrats in the Democratic-Farmer-Labour Party. It was the land of Hubert Humphrey, a former vice-president, the Democrats’ presidential candidate in 1968 and an early advocate for civil rights. Walter Mondale, another former vice-president, Democratic presidential candidate and liberal, also represented Minnesota in the Senate. But Americans probably remember the state better for some of the musicians it has produced: Bob Dylan, an enduring liberal icon, and Prince, once notorious for his raunchy lyrics. Odd, then, that the Republicans chose to stage their national convention in such seemingly hostile territory this year. ...
Lexington: The woman from nowhere
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
John McCain’s choice of running-mate raises serious questions about his judgmentTHE most audacious move of the race so far is also, potentially, the most self-destructive. John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running-mate has set the political atmosphere alight with both enthusiasm and dismay. Mr McCain has based his campaign on the idea that this is a dangerous world—and that Barack Obama is too inexperienced to deal with it. He has also acknowledged that his advanced age—he celebrated his 72nd birthday on August 29th—makes his choice of vice-president unusually important. Now he has chosen as his running mate, on the basis of the most cursory vetting, a first-term governor of Alaska. ...

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