Newser Story Index from May, 2009
Welcome to the Newser Story Index. Here you find stories written by Newser writers and editors, assembled with supporting photos and videos from the files of the news story.
Ryanair Hits Low-Tech Flyers With $60 Fee
BlackBook
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May 18, 2009 4:45 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Perhaps inspired by airlines banking hundreds of millions of dollars in bag fees last year, discount European carrier Ryanair is introducing new baggage check fees, BlackBook reports. Ryanair customers will have to pony up a $7.50 fee to check in online, and pay a further $60—termed a “boarding card re-issue fee”—if they forget...
Astronauts Wrap Up Hubble 'Scope Repairs
Associated Press
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May 18, 2009 4:30 PM CDT
(AP) -
After 5 amazing days, spacewalking astronauts finished repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope today and shut the doors to the treasured observatory, which will never be touched by human hands again. NASA said the revived telescope will be better than ever thanks to the astronauts' efforts and should provide even more dazzling views of the universe...
Steelers Star Passes on Obama Visit
WTAE TV4 (Pittsburgh)
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May 18, 2009 4:06 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Linebacker James Harrison, the NFL defensive player of the year and a key cog in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl victory this year, won’t accompany his team to the White House this week, WTAE-TV reports. Harrison also turned down the honor when Pittsburgh won in 2006. “If you want to see the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Harrison...
Roberts Is Bush's 'Enduring' Court Legacy
New Yorker
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May 18, 2009 3:55 PM CDT
(Newser) -
George W. Bush’s historical reputation seems to be sinking by the day, but John Roberts, his slick, smiling appointee as the Supreme Court’s chief justice, remains as an “enduring and faithful reflection of the Bush presidency,” writes Jeffrey Toobin in the New Yorker . Though Roberts promised a charmed Congress he’d...
Glee Charms Critics Despite Clichés
BlackBook
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May 18, 2009 3:41 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Fox’s new attempt to capitalize on the TV mania surrounding amateur singing with its musical comedy series Glee will get test run tomorrow night before continuing in the fall, but has already swayed several critics with its fresh take on high-school stereotypes. Rohin Guha, writing for BlackBook, applauds the show’s “bursts...
Bill Clinton Will be Named UN Special Envoy to Haiti
Foreign Policy
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May 18, 2009 3:32 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Bill Clinton will be named the United Nation’s special envoy to Haiti this week, Foreign Policy reports. Clinton’s popularity in the deeply impoverished nation remains high from his presidential tenure, when he intervened to restore Jean-Bertrand Aristide to the presidency after his 1994 ouster. The announcement, expected tomorrow, follows...
Cheaper 'Fast Fashion' Booms in Japan
Time
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May 18, 2009 3:22 PM CDT
(Newser) -
In Tokyo’s Harajuku district, designer brands are making way for cheaper “fast fashion” stores, where $100 buys an outfit, bag, shoes, and accessories. The most recent chain to debut, Forever 21, drew massive crowds—in a scene reminiscent of November, when 2,500 did the same thing next door at H&M’s opening. Fast fashion...
Dow Up 235 on Housing Hopes
Wall Street Journal
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May 18, 2009 3:11 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Markets rose significantly today on indications of a turnaround in the housing sector, the Wall Street Journal reports, with an industry confidence metric at its highest since September 2008. Financials—Bank of America was up 9.8%—led the S&P to a symbolic close above 900. The Dow was up 235.44 to 8,504.08. The S&P rose 26.83...
Canadian Plays World-Record Piano Solo
AFP
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May 18, 2009 3:11 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Canadian musician and producer Gonzales set the world record for longest solo piano performance today, AFP reports, clocking in at 27 hours, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds. The harrowing performance incorporated 300 musical pieces, from Britney Spears to Beethoven. Gonzales was allowed a 15-minute break between three-hour sets, and 30 seconds to rest between...
Susan Boyle Gets Dolled Up
Telegraph (UK)
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May 18, 2009 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser) -
It’s not quite the Barbie treatment, but a die-hard fan of YouTube phenom Susan Boyle is selling handmade dolls of her favorite crooner online, the Telegraph reports. Each $22 doll, measuring 4 inches tall, is crafted from household materials and painted by hand. “When I first saw Susan on television I just fell in love with her and when...
Biden: Secret Bunker? What Secret Bunker?
Politico
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May 18, 2009 2:49 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Joe Biden did not—repeat, not—disclose the existence of a bunker at the Naval Observatory used by former VP Dick Cheney, Politico reports. “What the vice president described in his comments was not—as some press reports have suggested—an underground facility,” a Biden aide said today. Rather, it is an “upstairs...
Belongings Trickle Back to Flight 1549 Passengers
New York Times
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May 18, 2009 2:43 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Over the past few weeks, items both practical and sentimental have been returned to the lucky passengers of Flight 1549, the New York Times reports. Even ruined belongings are packed carefully in tissue paper and dryer sheets. “It made a very emotional experience as positive as it could have been,” said one passenger aboard the flight...
Republicans Slam Party-Purist Outfit
Wall Street Journal
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May 18, 2009 2:35 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Some in the GOP have had it with the Club for Growth, an organization that identifies Republicans it deems weak on low-tax, small-government values, the Wall Street Journal reports. Party members argue that the Club backs Republicans too far right to win elections. “If their goal is to increase the Democrats’ numbers in Congress, they’re...
Korea Roadway Recharges Cars
Reuters
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May 18, 2009 2:31 PM CDT
(Newser) -
South Korean scientists are working on road technology that allows electric vehicles to continually recharge while driving, Reuters reports. Inductive charging, used with watertight electric toothbrushes, requires no contact between power source and appliance. For vehicles, electric strips would be embedded in the road at intervals, and a magnetic...
Danger Mouse's Latest Album a Blank CD
XXL
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May 18, 2009 2:22 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Legal wrangling reportedly led to the shelving of Danger Mouse’s latest album; now, instead of dropping Dark Night Of The Soul , the producer behind acclaimed Beatles/Jay-Z mash-up the Grey Album is releasing a book of photographs by director David Lynch—with a blank CD enclosed, XXL reports. “For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains...
Palestinians Must Accept Israel: Netanyahu
Associated Press
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May 18, 2009 2:09 PM CDT
(AP) -
In a White House meeting today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is ready to resume peace talks with the Palestinians immediately, but any agreement is contingent on their acceptance of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. Netanyahu and President Obama met for more than two hours and focused on Mideast peace talks, Iran's nuclear...
Chinese Press Cautiously Approves of Huntsman
New Yorker
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May 18, 2009 2:01 PM CDT
(Newser) -
After President Obama nominated Utah’s Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr as his ambassador to China, New Yorker correspondent Evan Osnos takes the pulse of the Chinese press. He found three matters of note: The press approved Obama’s personal announcement of Huntsman’s new post: It shows Obama takes the job “seriously,”...
America's 10 Most Noxious Eats
Minyanville
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May 18, 2009 1:50 PM CDT
(Newser) -
From fries drenched in salad dressing to cheeseburgers mashed between glazed donuts, Americans are not known for always possessing the most refined palettes. Minyanville takes a look at some of the worst offenders. The KFC Famous Bowl, described as tasting like “your nephew’s half-eaten dinner plate”, mixes fried chicken,...
Obama Will Streamline Emissions, Fuel Rules for Autos
Politico
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May 18, 2009 1:38 PM CDT
(Newser) -
President Obama will announce plans for new national automobile fuel-economy and emissions standards tomorrow, overhauling and streamlining the current patchwork, sources tell Politico. The move will harmonize the CAFE standard and the EPA’s greenhouse-gas standard, so that struggling automakers needn’t fear the regulations moving independently....
Foxx as Sinatra? Get Real, Says Gawker
Telegraph (UK)
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May 18, 2009 1:34 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Jamie Foxx as Frank Sinatra? It’s all the buzz around Hollywood, the Daily Telegraph reports, after a source told the Daily Express , “Cool is colorblind. Jamie would seem to be born to the role.” Popcrunch wonders, “Are we being punk’d?” while Gawker’s Richard Lawson—who jokingly put out Foxx’s...
Mass. Man Held in Rape of 2-Year-Old
Worcester Telegram & Gazette News
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May 18, 2009 1:28 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Massachusetts police have charged a 22-year-old man with raping his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter, setting fire to her blanket, violently resisting arrest, marijuana possession, and a litany of other charges, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports. Christopher C. Mundell was supposed to be babysitting the toddler, and was highly intoxicated...
Jon & Kate Surface, Play Nice
Us Weekly
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May 18, 2009 1:10 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Beleaguered reality couple Jon and Kate Gosselin celebrated their sextuplets’ fifth birthday yesterday, their first public appearance together in 2 weeks, Us Weekly reports. Their bodyguard—Kate’s alleged lover—joined in the festivities, held a week late because Kate reportedly spent their actual birthday, on Mother's Day,...
Small State Governors Are More Popular
FiveThirtyEight
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May 18, 2009 1:00 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Governors hailing from less-populous states tend to have higher approval ratings, according to Andrew Gelman of FiveThirtyEight.com. Though the trend doesn’t manifest itself every year, data show that in general, and especially in recent years, it’s easier for smaller state governors to nab the kind of outsized numbers that give them a...
Craigslist to SC AG: Apologize, and Back Off
Craigslist
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May 18, 2009 12:49 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Craigslist is due an apology from South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, the site’s CEO writes on his company blog, after threatening “unwarranted and unconstitutional charges against us that are clearly barred by federal law.” What’s more, Jim Buckmaster charges, Craigslist isn’t the only outlet running the “adult...
Groups Move to Disbar Bush Lawyers Over Torture
Blog of Legal Times
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May 18, 2009 12:42 PM CDT
(Newser) -
A coalition of mostly left-leaning organizations is attempting to get a gaggle of Bush officials disbarred for sanctioning torture, the Legal Times reports. In complaints filed with five state bar associations today, the groups accuse ex-attorneys general Michael Mukasey, Alberto Gonzalez, and John Ashcroft—along with nine others—of violating...
Soul 2 Sole Scans 30 Years of Sneaker Culture
Hype Beast
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May 18, 2009 12:35 PM CDT
(Newser) -
David Park, a student at Parsons School of Design, packs 30 years of sneakers and sneaker culture into a stop-action video created for his thesis project, Hype Beast reports. New York in the 1970s is the opener, as Run DMC’s “My Adidas” plays over images of breakdancing kids. The video hits basketball, hip-hop, and headlines like...
McChrystal Call Shows Obama's Long Game: Sullivan
The Atlantic
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May 18, 2009 12:33 PM CDT
(Newser) -
With liberals and anti-war activists growing increasingly restive over recent Obama decisions, Andrew Sullivan takes a hard look at the choice of Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal—a man with links to prisoner abuse, Camp Nama, and the Tillman debacle—to lead the war in Afghanistan. It looks like the latest betrayal of Obama’s principles...
Met's New Look Lets the Light In
New York Post
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May 18, 2009 12:20 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The Metropolitan Museum of Art reopens its American Wing tomorrow after a refurbishment that was “all about transparency,” its chairman says. Where benches and shrubs once constricted movement, now visitors can sit on a fountain’s edge, look out on Central Park, and ride a glass elevator “through rooms you probably never knew...
Gun Safety Demo Ends in Accidental Suicide
Arizona Daily Star
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May 18, 2009 12:13 PM CDT
(Newser) -
A Phoenix gun-safety advocate accidentally shot himself in the head yesterday while demonstrating gun safety, the Arizona Daily Star reports. The man was explaining to two others the necessity of keeping guns unloaded in the house. To demonstrate, he placed his own gun—which he thought was unloaded—to his head and pulled the trigger....
The White House May Be Trying to Purge Pelosi
Washington Post
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May 18, 2009 12:13 PM CDT
(Newser) -
After Nancy Pelosi suggested the CIA had misled Congress, the agency’s director fired back with a letter denying the claim. But the idea that Leon Panetta would send a letter “humiliating a House speaker of his own party” entirely of his own accord seems “almost inconceivable,” writes William Kristol in the Washington...
Bale Begins Terminator Apology Tour
ABC News
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May 18, 2009 11:53 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Christian Bale began his inevitable “I’m sorry for my rant” publicity tour today on Good Morning America . The actor was ostensibly there to discuss Terminator Salvation , but the question about his videotaped diatribe against a crewmember reared its inevitable head. When asked if he has an anger problem, Bale passed it off on his...
Sen. Byrd Hospitalized With 'Minor Infection'
Politico
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May 18, 2009 11:46 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Sen. Robert Byrd, at 91 the Senate's oldest and longest-serving member, has been hospitalized with a temperature spike reportedly caused by a “minor infection,” his office said today. “He is being treated with antibiotics, responding well, and is expected to be released from the hospital in a few days." Byrd headed to the hospital...
Supreme Court Shoots Down Jefferson's Appeal
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
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May 18, 2009 11:44 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Supreme Court today refused to hear William Jefferson’s appeal, meaning the former New Orleans congressman’s corruption case is headed for trial, the Times-Picayune reports. The court will, however, consider overturning the fraud conviction against former media mogul Conrad Black and two of his compatriots.
Grab a Latte, It Could Be Good for You
Los Angeles Times
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May 18, 2009 11:39 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Get this: Coffee's not bad for you, and it could have health benefits. New studies do a better job of separating the effects of coffee from those of its formerly frequent partner, cigarettes, the Los Angeles Times reports. And when you look beyond caffeine, "coffee is a complex beverage with hundreds, if not thousands, of bioactive ingredients,"...
Kornheiser Out, Gruden In at Monday Night Football
USA Today
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May 18, 2009 11:34 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden will replace Tony Kornheiser in the Monday Night Football booth, USA Today reports. Kornheiser, after 3 seasons, says the upcoming schedule would force him to give up the bus as his preferred travel method, and “my fear of planes is legendary.”
Latino Disconnect Worries GOP
Politico
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May 18, 2009 11:31 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Republican Party is facing falling Latino support, but little is being done to reverse the trend, Politico reports. Some Latinos have been disillusioned by Republican rhetoric on illegal immigration, attacks some heard as swipes at Hispanics themselves. “If we don’t figure out a way to open our party up to more Hispanic voters, nothing...
Dissolve Parliament Over Expense Flap: UK Opposition
Telegraph (UK)
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May 18, 2009 11:26 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The improper-expenses scandal roiling the British government is so crippling that the entire parliament ought to be dissolved, and an emergency general election held, opposition leader David Cameron said today. The “political system is paralyzed,” said Cameron, who could push for a June vote, the Telegraph reports. “The country...
Can It: Wine Industry Goes Aluminum
Times (UK)
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May 18, 2009 11:16 AM CDT
(Newser) -
It may lack a certain old-fashioned class, but that’s not stopping the wine industry from embracing aluminum cans, the Times of London reports. A top can-maker said he’d sold 35 million cans to the industry last year, up from 6 million in 2006—and he foresees wine fans chugging, er, sipping, more than a billion cans a year in the...
Allen, American Apparel Settle Suit for $5M
Associated Press
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May 18, 2009 11:14 AM CDT
(AP) -
American Apparel has agreed to settle Woody Allen’s lawsuit for $5 million, a spokeswoman for the filmmaker said. Allen appeared today at a Manhattan courthouse, where he had sued the Los Angeles-based clothing manufacturer over its advertising last year for $10 million. He claimed the company did not have permission to use a doctored frame of...
Peterson Pleads Not Guilty
Associated Press
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May 18, 2009 11:06 AM CDT
(AP) -
A defense attorney entered a not-guilty plea today for former Illinois police officer Drew Peterson in the 2004 death of his third wife. Peterson stood silently in court, wearing a blue jail jumpsuit and shackles. He's been in custody since May 7, when he was arrested near his Bolingbrook home on first-degree murder charges in the death of Kathleen...
Jamming to the iPod Is Making Us Deaf
Boston Globe
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May 18, 2009 10:57 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The popularity of iPods and similar devices may leave a generation of adults with impaired hearing decades ahead of their time, the Boston Globe reports. Sensory cells in the ear can only take so much bombardment, and frequent, pulsing music causes irreparable damage. New research also shows that boys often listen louder and that peer pressure influences...
World Series Games Get Earlier Start Time
USA Today
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May 18, 2009 10:36 AM CDT
(Newser) -
For the first time in 34 years, World Series games will start before 8pm in the East, USA Today reports. First pitches will be thrown at 7:57 (except on Sundays, due to broadcaster Fox’s NFL coverage); in recent years, the average was around 8:30, and games often ended after midnight. “I’ve wanted this (for) a long time,”...
Supreme Court Dumps Suit Vs. Mueller, Ashcroft
Associated Press
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May 18, 2009 10:29 AM CDT
(AP) -
The Supreme Court says a lawsuit against FBI Director Robert Mueller and former Attorney General John Ashcroft by a former Sept. 11 detainee cannot go forward. The court today overturned a lower court decision that let Javaid Iqbal's lawsuit against the high-ranking officials proceed. Iqbal is a Pakistani Muslim who spent nearly 6 months in solitary...
Obama Courts GOP Moderates, but Quietly
Politico
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May 18, 2009 10:29 AM CDT
(Newser) -
President Obama would love to have a few Republicans in his corner on health care, but he’s keeping courting efforts low-key, Politico reports. Last week, chief of staff Rahm Emanuel invited a dozen moderate House Republicans to a casual White House meeting, and the president stopped by to chat. “They’re making an honest and overt...
Ayers, Rev. Wright Team Up for Middle East Peace
Chicago Tribune
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May 18, 2009 10:25 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Two of the toughest thorns in Barack Obama's side during the presidential campaign joined together in Chicago yesterday for the first time, the Tribune reports. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers shared a stage at a kickoff rally for a march for Mideast peace. It was their work on the issue, not their lightning-rod status, that got them invited...
Abuse of Child 'Witches' Burgeoning
CNN
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May 18, 2009 10:17 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Children dubbed “witches” are facing increasing abuse in Nigeria and elsewhere, advocates say. “They would take my clothes off, tie me up and beat me,” said a 14-year-old, whose grandfather concluded he was a “witch” 2 years ago when he cried at the threat of being beaten with a broom. “Nigerian witches are...
Scientists Find Gene That Triggers Menstruation
BBC
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May 18, 2009 9:59 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Genetics appear to play a key role in the timing of a girl’s first period, the BBC reports. Researchers have discovered two genes that influence the onset of puberty in both sexes, adjacent to genes controlling height and weight. The findings are important because early menstruation can contribute to a number of health problems for women, including...
From Ashes of Recession, a Reshaped Fed Will Rise
Wall Street Journal
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May 18, 2009 9:55 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Among the myriad things that will be reshaped by the current economic crisis is the Federal Reserve, the Wall Street Journal reports. The steps the Fed has taken to stave off further economic turmoil have made it more vulnerable than it has been in years: If a lasting recovery takes hold, the 21st-century Fed may gain some important new powers—including...
Baucus Makes Dems Queasy on Health Care
Politico
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May 18, 2009 9:42 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Democrats’ plan to reform health care rests largely in the hands of Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, and that’s making some Democrats more than a little queasy, Politico reports. Baucus’ zeal for bipartisanship has frustrated his party more than once. He’s been enthusiastic about health care—“obsessed”...
Dealer Cuts Mean Deals on Chrysler, GM Cars
Associated Press
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May 18, 2009 9:32 AM CDT
(AP) -
At 789 Chrysler lots across America sit 44,000 potential bargains, cars and trucks that are stuck between shellshocked dealers and a troubled company that no longer wants their services. The dealers have just a few weeks to sell the Chryslers, Dodges, and Jeeps or risk losing thousands of dollars on each—giving people who want a car on the cheap...
