There is the Pledge of Allegiance-and then there is the pledge on energy. The first is revered. The second is empty. None of the programs to relieve our dependence on foreign oil (or reduce global warming) have had much impact-witness the fact that, in the past 35 years, we have gone from relying on imported oil for 35 percent of our energy needs to today, when imports supply 60 percent of the fuel we consume.
So you've decided not to trade up after all. And you don't want to dump money into fixing up your house if its value-and your equity-are likely to be flat or falling.
AP - White House leaders warn that House Democrats' plan to pull troops from Iraq is unlikely to become law and sure to threaten national security if it did. Despite those bleak warnings, the House seems ready to approve its bill this week.
AP - Sunni insurgents, resilient despite the five-week security crackdown in the capital, killed at least six more U.S. troops over the weekend. A Sunni car bomber hit a largely Shiite district in the capital Sunday, killing at least eight people.
AP - The United States and North Korea have resolved a dispute over $25 million in frozen North Korean funds, clearing the way for progress in dismantling the North's nuclear programs, U.S. officials said Monday.
The United States and North Korea have resolved a dispute over $25 million frozen in a Macao bank, a U.S. official announced today. The announcement was made before six-party nuclear disarmament talks resumed in Beijing, and the bank dispute had threatened to impede those talks.
Amid growing calls for his resignation, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales apologized to the nation's U.S. attorneys for his handling of the firings of eight people who used to hold the position, according to a Justice Department spokesman.