ShareThisWASHINGTON -- Soaring gasoline prices. Stagflation. An unpopular war and a reviled commander in chief. A defiant and dangerous Iran. Famine in poor countries. And apocalyptic environmentalism.Welcome back to the '70s. Every day, it seems, more parallels are popping up between our current troubled times and that dismal long-ago era of Vietnam, darkened Christmas lights, gas lines, disco and other manifestations of national malaise.For instance, Ford announced May 30 it is bringing back the Fiesta, its much-panned answer to the gas crisis of 30-plus years ago. GM is shutting down auto plants. Disco diva Donna Summer, who will turn 60 in December, recently released her first studio album in 17 years. Consumer groups this week echoed their howls of the mid-1970s about the danger of colored artificial additives, when the red-food dye scare banished maraschino cherries from our sundaes for years.And, while Richard Nixon may be forever gone, Jimmy Carter is back in the limelight.X...X...XBurned by a string of after-the-fact recalls and re-labeling of new drugs, coupled with a shortage of qualified scientists for reviews, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved just 16 applications for drugs that were new chemical entities in 2007, less than half the 36 approved in 2004.Drug-industry watchers say the pipeline of new drugs is likely to remain at a trickle for at least several more years.X...X...XThough some expected Congress would finally be moved to close a regulatory loophole after a particularly horrific amusement-park accident, don't put your money on Rep. Ed Markey's measure to bring the attractions under federal safety oversight.The Massachusetts Democrat tried to persuade fellow lawmakers last summer to put amusement parks under the watch of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which already oversees safety on movable rides of the sort making the circuit of county fairs. But such "fixed-site" parks as Disney World and the various Six Flags parks are exempt from safety monitoring by the agency.That bill died in committee last year. Markey re-introduced the legislation this year. Joining him at the press conference was Kaitlyn Lasitter, whose feet were severed last June when a cable malfunctioned on a ride at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. Markey said closer scrutiny would have prevented the mishap or lessened its impact.So far, there's no discernible line of lawmakers waiting to sign on to the measure, which is opposed as unnecessary by the amusement-park industry.X...X...XNew FBI statistics show that 105,229 people nationwide were officially considered to be missing at the end of 2007, with juveniles under 18 making up about 52 percent of the total. Of those, most were believed to be runaways.Children allegedly abducted by a parent without legal custody numbered 2,919.X...X...XThough it may seem the worst idea for a country where the retirement-savings rate is abysmal, some financial institutions are now offering 401(k) debit cards. With them you can withdraw up to $50,000 or 50 percent of your vested balance, with the approval of your employer.Not only does this make it easy to swipe away your retirement nest egg, it also is costly today. Every month, you have to make a minimum payment on your loan, plus interest and fees, which go in the card vendor's pocket.The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is warning consumers to view these cards not as a convenient temptation, but as an absolute last resort.(E-mail Lisa Hoffman at HoffmanL(at)shns.com. SHNS correspondent Lee Bowman contributed to this column.)
Welcome back to the '70s ... Missing Americans ... More
Submitted by SHNS on Fri, 06/06/2008 - 16:14
Paying taxes unites us. It also divides us. People can pay five and even six times more in state and local taxes than other folks in similar circumstances making similar incomes.
Who's got your number?
In one of the fastest-growing forms of identity theft, crooks are stealing tax refunds by swiping personal information and using it to trick the Internal Revenue Service.
