That’s the debate going on these days from executive offices to the local malls. Business owners, workers and, yes, even economists are trying to decide whether the U.S. economy has hit a speed bump or is heading for a collision.
We all know growth is tepid, unemployment is a bear and housing, well, stinks. That’s why major Wall Street firms, the International Monetary Fund and, on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve all slashed their estimates for U.S. GDP growth this year.
Bachmann’s turn for overdrive: More than two weeks ago, we said it was important to take a Michele Bachmann campaign seriously, and the new Des Moines Register poll of likely Iowa GOP caucus-goers backs that up. According to the survey, Mitt Romney (at 23%) is running neck-and-neck with Bachmann (22%), followed by Herman Cain (10%), Newt Gingrich (7%), Ron Paul (7%), Tim Pawlenty (6%), and Rick Santorum (4%). Bachmann couldn’t have wished for better news to set up her official announcement, which she makes today from Waterloo, IA at 10:00 am ET. And surprisingly, the poll overshadowed Sarah Palin’s stop in Iowa on Tuesday, which had the potential of overshadowing Bachmann’s day today. Bachmann has one good problem: She’s peaking early. Can she keep it up? And keep this in mind: Bachmann is doing this without the so-called MSM; in fact, she’s even doing it without FOX News (whose Chris Wallace asked her yesterday if she was a “flake”).
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. -- A fast-moving wildfire forced officials at the Los Alamos National Laboratory to close the site Monday as residents nearby evacuated their homes.
The fire has grown to between 6 and 9 square miles of mixed conifer and ponderosa pine and firefighters have no containment. The blaze started at around 1 p.m. Sunday on private land about 12 miles southwest of the town of Los Alamos.
