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Boston Herald - Boston Herald

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 21 September 2013 | 23.54

Boston Herald - Boston HeraldRussia warns Ukraine against EU dealGunman's employer sought Navy consulting workMicroloans surging in Silicon ValleyChiquita seeks dismissal in Colombian caseUK charges 4 in cyber theft from Barclays BankMagnificent Jag is a treat for allBay State defense firms get work despite cutsCambridge penthouse could be your castleMIT study: U.S. needs to step up manufacturingColonial Drug departs from Harvard SquarePipe had leak 1 year before Hawaii molasses spillScheme to snag iPhones leads to chaos in Calif.BlackBerry slashes jobs in face of $1B 2Q lossNavy suspends company implicated in schemeAllegiant delays, cancels flights to check MD-80sGOP House: Keep government open, hit 'Obamacare'Stocks drop as investors fret over budget fightSenator concerned about Apple's fingerprint techOil falls as another US budget battle loomsMoody's: Established gambling markets faltering

http://bostonherald.com/feed/4 en http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/russia_warns_ukraine_against_eu_deal YALTA, Ukraine — A top Russian official on Saturday warned Ukraine against signing a landmark trade and cooperation agreement with the European Union, saying Moscow would retaliate with trade restrictions that could push this ex-Soviet republic toward default. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 11:10:22 -0400 Associated Press 1063305806 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/gunmans_employer_sought_navy_consulting_work WASHINGTON — A little more than 24 hours after an IT contractor shot dozen workers at the Washington Navy Yard, the company's CEO told the Navy secretary he had the experience to help improve military security.The email from The Experts chief Thomas Hoshko, which included descriptions of his background and expertise, stunned some Navy leaders in the wake of the shootings Monday that left 13 people dead, including the gunman, former Navy reservist Aaron Alexis. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 11:03:33 -0400 Associated Press 1063305866 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/microloans_surging_in_silicon_valley SAN JOSE, Calif. — A daycare provider needed cribs and high chairs. A coffee truck needed a generator. A couple renting party supplies needed to move into a storefront.When these Silicon Valley small businesses needed cash, and fast, they didn't find help at a bank. They turned instead to a type of financing more commonly associated with buying a sewing machine for a Guatemalan tailor or a tractor for an African farmer.Microlending, a decades old form of financing for the world's poorest, is now booming in Silicon Valley. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 10:51:07 -0400 Associated Press 1063305801 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/chiquita_seeks_dismissal_in_colombian_case MIAMI — Faced with potentially billions of dollars in legal liability, Chiquita Brands International is asking a federal appeals court to block lawsuits filed against it in the U.S. by thousands of Colombians whose relatives were killed in that country's bloody, decades-long civil war. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 10:49:00 -0400 Associated Press 1063305776 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/uk_charges_4_in_cyber_theft_from_barclays_bank LONDON — British police have charged four men in connection with the theft of 1.3 million pounds ($2.1 million) from a Barclays Bank branch.The men — aged between 26 and 47 — were arrested Friday and accused of installing a device on the bank's computer system made it possible to carry out the cyber theft.Police said cash, jewels and thousands of credit cards were found in related searches of addresses in the greater London area. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 04:59:08 -0400 Associated Press 1063305441 http://bostonherald.com/business/automotive/2013/09/magnificent_jag_is_a_treat_for_all It's the chicken or the egg conundrum: Do you want to be the driver of the sleek 2013 Jaguar XJL or the passenger in the elegant cabin?The long wheelbase of the XJL affords rear passengers a playground of luxurious creature comforts. Start with the reclining soft leather seats, drop-down glass trays and personal remote controls for the headrest-mounted entertainment centers. Add a whisper-quiet ride, a footrest to leisurely stretch out your legs, cooled and heated massaging seats and you arrive at work or the weekend estate in style. Automotive Sat, 21 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Jim Mahoney 1063304386 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/bay_state_defense_firms_get_work_despite_cuts Massachusetts companies that work with the U.S. Defense Department are still getting contracts in spite of federal budget cuts, but the firms say those contracts tend to be smaller.The Defense Department this week announced more than $865 million in contracts, including $9.9 million to Boston Dynamics of Waltham for work on the Legged Squad Support System, or LS3, a legged robot to help service members carry their gear, following them through rugged terrain and interpreting verbal and visual commands. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Marie Szaniszlo 1063304391 http://bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2013/09/cambridge_penthouse_could_be_your_castle This four-bedroom duplex penthouse condo, the home of former Channel 4 meteorologist Mish Michaels, features a dramatic sweeping staircase that joins what were two separate units.Part of the 113-unit Bay Square condo complex built in 1989, Michaels and her husband, Wes Atamian, combined two units in 2006 to create a showpiece custom-designed penthouse highlighted by a dramatic two-story vaulted turret with a living area overlooking a great room connected by a curving metal staircase. Real Estate Sat, 21 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Paul Restuccia 1063304401 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/mit_study_us_needs_to_step_up_manufacturing The nation's booming innovation economy is in danger of losing steam and moving overseas unless there is a significant increase in manufacturing in the U.S., according to a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but Massachusetts is poised to take advantage of such an increase, a state official says. Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Jordan Graham 1063304411 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/colonial_drug_departs_from_harvard_square Another vestige of the much lamented Harvard Square of old will close its doors today.Colonial Drug, known for its stock of more than 1,000 fragrances, is relocating after 66 years on Brattle Street to combine with the Stoddard's cutlery store in Newton at month's end."We did business with (Stoddard's owner David Marks') father, and his grandfather did business with our father," co-owner J.P. Botindari said. "We said someday we should get together, and we are. We complement each other." Business & Markets Sat, 21 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Donna Goodison 1063304531 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/pipe_had_leak_1_year_before_hawaii_molasses_spill HONOLULU — A state inspector saw molasses dripping last year from the same spot where a pipe leaked up to 1,400 tons of the sugary substance into Honolulu Harbor earlier this month, killing more than 26,000 fish and other marine life.Department of Transportation Deputy Director Randy Grune said Friday he sent a letter in July 2012 to Matson Navigation Co. notifying the company of the leak. The letter, provided to reporters Friday, asked Matson to tell the state when the pipeline was repaired. Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 22:27:32 -0400 Associated Press 1063303856 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/scheme_to_snag_iphones_leads_to_chaos_in_calif PASADENA, Calif. — An overnight campout for the new iPhone turned chaotic Friday morning when two men were arrested for fighting outside an Apple Store and a man's plan to hire homeless people to wait in line for the coveted devices backfired, authorities said.Dozens of people recruited at a downtown Los Angeles homeless shelter to buy iPhones at a Pasadena store were left unpaid, and they mobbed the man who had hired them, Pasadena police Lt. Jason Clawson said. Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 21:22:17 -0400 Associated Press 1063302971 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/blackberry_slashes_jobs_in_face_of_1b_2q_loss TORONTO — It was once so addictive it inspired the nickname "CrackBerry." President Barack Obama confessed to being among the millions of devotees who couldn't bear to stop tapping feverishly away on its tiny keyboard. Madonna once said she slept with hers under her pillow.Then came the iPhone.Users newly addicted to Facebook and photo-sharing and Angry Birds started flirting with the opposition. And as more smartphones flooded the market with their supersize Samsung screens and thousands of apps, the BlackBerry failed to keep up with the flash. Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 20:06:10 -0400 Associated Press 1063303256 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/navy_suspends_company_implicated_in_scheme WASHINGTON — The Navy suspended a Singapore-based company and its president from contracting with the federal government after the arrests earlier this week in a bribery conspiracy scheme.The president and chief executive officer of Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd., Leonard Francis, and his company and its affiliates are barred from federal contracts and can't receive benefits from federal assistance programs. Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 19:52:00 -0400 Associated Press 1063304181 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/allegiant_delays_cancels_flights_to_check_md_80s LAS VEGAS — Allegiant Air officials said Friday that delays and cancelations could continue for several days as more than half of the airline's MD-80s remain grounded for overhauls of emergency slides like the ones deployed in an evacuation this week.The inflatable chutes worked properly Monday when smoke was reported in the cabin of an Allegiant MD-80 at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, company officials said. An incident review, however, found that fleetwide maintenance hadn't complied with the slide manufacturer's recommendations. Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 19:51:00 -0400 Associated Press 1063302331 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/gop_house_keep_government_open_hit_obamacare WASHINGTON — Charting a collision course with the White House, the Republican-controlled House approved legislation Friday to wipe out the 3-year-old health care law that President Barack Obama has vowed to preserve — and simultaneously prevent a partial government shutdown that neither party claims to want. Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 19:35:48 -0400 Associated Press 1063301316 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/stocks_drop_as_investors_fret_over_budget_fight Washington's budget fight jolted investors on Friday, reminding them that the next few weeks could bring a lot of uncertainty. Wall Street hates uncertainty.Stocks fell in an afternoon sell-off that wiped out most of the gains from a rally earlier this week, when the Federal Reserve decided to keep its huge economic stimulus program intact.Major indexes were mixed in morning trading, but turned lower around midday after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to defund President Barack Obama's health care law. Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 17:50:51 -0400 Associated Press 1063302201 http://bostonherald.com/business/technology/technology_news/2013/09/senator_concerned_about_apples_fingerprint_tech NEW YORK — Sen. Al Franken is asking Apple for more clarity on privacy and security concerns he has with its use of fingerprint recognition technology in the new iPhone 5S.The iPhone 5S, which went on sale Friday, includes a fingerprint sensor that lets users tap the phone's home button to unlock their phone, rather than enter a four-digit passcode. Technology News Fri, 20 Sep 2013 17:39:16 -0400 Associated Press 1063302701 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/oil_falls_as_another_us_budget_battle_looms NEW YORK — Oil fell more than 1 percent Friday as fears of a disruption to Middle East supplies eased while concerns about a shutdown of the U.S. government grew stronger.Benchmark oil for October delivery dropped $1.72, or 1.4 percent, to close at $104.67 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, oil dropped $3.54, or 3.3 percent. That's despite a 2.5 percent increase on Wednesday, when the U.S. Federal Reserve announced it would keep its stimulus policy in place. Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 17:14:39 -0400 Associated Press 1063303601 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/moodys_established_gambling_markets_faltering LAS VEGAS — Established gambling towns like Las Vegas and Atlantic City are hurting as more states start welcoming bettors' dollars, Moody's Investors Service warned this week.The credit rating agency issued a report describing a shift in casino tax revenues away from New Jersey, Indiana and Nevada to new markets in places like Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio.The recession crushed gambling revenues across the county, and casino towns have been slow to bounce back. Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 16:13:19 -0400 Associated Press 1063303041

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Mass. 1st state to join Alzheimer's program

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 14 September 2013 | 23.54

BOSTON — State officials say Massachusetts has become the first state in the nation to sign on to a program that provides employees information about Alzheimer's Disease.

Gov. Deval Patrick's administration says the state's partnership with the Alzheimer's Early Detection Alliance will give thousands of state workers information about early warning signs of the disease, along with resources to help care for a loved one who has been affected.

The programs are offered through the Massachusetts/New Hampshire chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.

About 100 businesses in the Bay State previously registered for the program.

In 2010, Patrick formed a task force on Alzheimer's Disease and related disorders to formulate strategies to help families impacted by the disease.

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Strawberry growers seek pesticide alternatives

FRESNO, Calif. — For decades, California strawberry growers injected the potent pesticide methyl bromide into soil to kill bugs, weeds and plant diseases before planting strawberries.

But the chemical was slated to be phased out by international treaty because it depletes the Earth's ozone layer. And later its replacement methyl iodide was pulled off the market after numerous public protests.

Now California regulators have proposed stricter rules to protect the public from a third fumigant, chloropicrin, which growers use to sanitize their fields. The restrictions are pushing California's $2.3 billion strawberry industry toward developing nonchemical alternatives to pesticides.

The industry and state say alternatives such as sterilizing soil with steam or growing berries in peat are not ready for prime time.

California supplies nearly 90 percent of the nation's strawberries.

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100,000 Poles in anti-govt march, threaten strike

WARSAW, Poland — Threatening a general strike, throwing smoke grenades and blowing whistles, around 100,000 Polish union members marched through Warsaw on Saturday to vent their anger against the government's labor and wage policies.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government is rapidly losing support after recently raising the retirement age, announcing a reform of the pension system and relaxing some labor code provisions that allow for longer daily and weekly working hours.

City authorities have blocked traffic in central Warsaw to allow the demonstrators to march to the historic Castle Square with flags and balloons in national white-and-red colors, and banners saying "We are Coming to Get You", "Tusk's government Must Go," and individual plaques reading: "I am Tusk's Slave."

They converged on Warsaw from all over Poland on the last of four days of major, peaceful protests in the city that also included meetings with politicians and debates with labor market experts.

Some of them have camped in front of parliament since their first march Wednesday.

The organizers — Poland's largest union, OPZZ, Solidarity and groups representing various professions — said about 120,000 participated in the march Saturday. City authorities said there were some 100,000.

The unionists said that the policies of Tusk's pro-market government hurt the interests of workers and of their families. Tusk, in his second term and sixth year in office, is Poland's longest-serving premier since the fall of communism in 1989.

A protester, Andrzej Kulig, said the government never listens to workers' needs.

"Our situation is getting worse and worse, and our government doesn't listen to us," Kulig told AP Television News. "We want them to hear us today, to hear our protest and to know that they don't govern very well."

A nurse interviewed on Polish private TVN24 said that after 31 years in her job her monthly earnings are 2,000 zlotys ($630.)

OPZZ leader Jan Guz said the march was a warning and if the government does not change its policies "we will block the whole country, we will block every highway, every road" to demand better work conditions.

"We don't accept a policy that leads to poverty," Guz said amid the noise of whistles and horns.

Poland has experienced big strikes in the past. In the 1980s, the Solidarity freedom movement organized nationwide strikes that eventually led to democratic reforms.

A prominent member of Tusk's Civic Platform party, Rafal Grupinski, said the workers have every right to express their discontent, but they should primarily return to the long-established negotiations with the government and employees, which they broke off in the summer over changes to the labor code.

The marchers complained of large-scale layoffs after economic growth slowed down to 1.9 percent of gross domestic product last year from 4.5 percent in 2011. They want job security and contracts that guarantee health care and retirement benefits at a time when unemployment is at 13 percent and many companies offer short-term contracts without social security.

Workers say average monthly wages of about 3,700 zlotys ($1,150) before tax are among Europe's lowest. They also want the reversal of a recent raise in the retirement age to 67 years from the previous 60 years for women and 65 years for men.

The ruling coalition of Tusk's center-liberal party and a peasant party is losing popularity to the nationalist opposition Law and Justice party of former prime minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, and its parliament majority has shrunk precariously to 232 votes in the 460-member lower house.

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Bacterial outbreak roils Mass. oyster industry

BOSTON — A mystery of sorts threatens to stunt Massachusetts' small but growing oyster industry after illnesses linked to bacterial contamination forced the state to shut down beds for the first time ever.

The culprit is the Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacterium, which has occurred in state waters since the 1960s. Theories abound about the recent increase in illnesses linked to Massachusetts — but those are only theories.

"Honestly, I'm confused by the whole thing," said Don Merry, an oyster grower from Duxbury, where oyster beds have been closed.

Average monthly daytime water temperatures in the region rarely approach the 81 degrees believed to be the threshold that triggers dangerous Vibrio growth. Rising average water temperatures locally, while not reaching that threshold, could be causing environmental changes that cause strains of Vibrio to thrive, said Suzanne Condon, associate commissioner of the Department of Health.

In addition, virulent Vibrio strains that aren't as temperature-sensitive may have been carried from overseas in ships' ballast water in the past decade, said the state's chief shellfish biologist, Michael Hickey.

Meanwhile, it has been only six years since states were required to federally report Vibrio illnesses. So testing for it is relatively slow and underdeveloped and can't yet predict, for instance, if outbreaks are coming, Hickey said.

The bacterium causes gastrointestinal problems, including vomiting and cramping, but the illness is generally severe only in people with weakened immune systems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the U.S. has about 4,500 cases of Vibrio infection annually.

Since May, Massachusetts has had 50 laboratory-confirmed cases of Vibrio, compared with 27 during the same period last year. Other states have also seen increases in Vibrio-related illnesses.

Last month, Connecticut closed oyster beds and issued a voluntary oyster recall after its first Vibrio outbreak, which sickened at least 14 people. Also last month, officials in Washington's King County, where Seattle is located, warned oyster fans that Vibrio had sickened twice as many people as normal.

Cape Cod oyster farmer John Lowell said the trouble hits everyone working to build his state's industry, though his East Dennis farm is nowhere near the closed beds.

"You either hang separately or you hang together, so it affects all of us," he said.

Massachusetts has about 260 oyster growers who harvested roughly $12 million worth of oysters in 2012. That total is dwarfed by Louisiana — the highest-revenue oyster state, at $42 million — but it's in the top five nationally, according to federal statistics.

Hickey said a boom in aquaculture operations fueled a 67 percent increase in the value of the Massachusetts oyster catch between 2010 and 2012.

Massachusetts' first closures were announced Aug. 30 for oyster beds along the shore south of Boston, after illnesses caused by Vibrio were linked to an oyster-growing area in Duxbury. The second closure, announced Monday, shut down oyster beds in Katama Bay in Edgartown, on Martha's Vineyard.

Combined, this year's closures affect about 14 percent of Massachusetts growers, Hickey said.

Sal Bartolomeo, an oyster eater from Boston's North End, said that he's always cautious with shellfish, and news of the closures will make him more so. Now, he'll be sure to ask restaurants where they get their oysters, though he added he'll likely just avoid oysters altogether for a while.

"But I wouldn't give them up, like, for forever," Bartolomeo said.

Vibrio growth is not pollution-related. Since it grows quickly at higher temperatures, state oyster dealers are under are strict handling requirements to keep the oysters cool, and it's unknown where things went wrong with Massachusetts' recent cases.

As researchers try to figure it out, they may also be able to find correlations in existing data that could help avoid future problems, Condon said. "Is there some way we can predict, maybe, when (harvesters) shouldn't be collecting oysters?" she said.

Hickey figures it may be a month before the closed beds can reopen. Growers like Merry won't lose their oysters during that time, just the chance to sell them.

No estimate of total lost sales is available. Merry said it's costing him about $6,000 to $7,000 a week. Another cost, he said, may be higher.

"Quite honestly, the worst thing, is when we get back and rolling, is anybody going to want to eat a Duxbury oyster?" Merry said. "It's hard to quantify how much this has hurt us."

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Mass. fisherman pushes Congress for disaster aid

BOSTON — A top fishing industry advocate has told a Congressional committee that New England fishermen need major improvements in fishing law, but first they need disaster aid.

Gloucester fisherman Vito Giacalone of the Northeast Seafood Coalition testified Wednesday before a House committee considering the reauthorization of the nation's fishery law. His testimony comes as New England fishermen struggle with huge cuts in their allowed catch.

Giacalone said current fishing law doesn't work because it demands science know things it can't know about how fish populations respond to their dynamic environment — including how they'll behave and how fast they will recover.

He said the law must better recognize to this unpredictability, to give the industry much-needed stability.

But first, Giacalone said, fishermen critically need federal aid so the industry doesn't collapse during the current crisis.

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Poker players have winning hand in NY case

NEW YORK — Poker players are on a winning streak in a New York illegal gambling case.

A handful of professional card players have won permission to play in legal, high-stakes poker games while the case plays out. They include a popular baby-faced player named Justin "Boosted J" Smith.

Lawyers for the pro players have argued their clients make a legitimate living playing poker. They say the players should be able to pursue their careers until the case is resolved — and a judge has agreed.

The 25-year-old Smith pleaded guilty last week to playing a role in the international sports betting scheme. He's free on bail — and free to play poker — until his sentencing in January.

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Conn. lawmakers push expansion of video gambling

HARTFORD, Conn. — In response to growing competition in the Northeast gaming market, some Connecticut lawmakers are calling for an expansion of video gambling, and that push is raising concerns about over-saturation in a state that hosts two casino resorts and is already preparing for the rollout next year of keno.

A task force is looking into bringing video gambling, such as video slot machines, to gaming halls that offer betting on simulcast races in Bridgeport, New Haven and Windsor Locks. That would require changes to state law, which currently forbids video gambling, and the compacts with Connecticut's two tribal-owned casinos, the only places where it is allowed in the state.

Rep. Peggy Sayers, a Democrat representing Windsor Locks, said expanding local offerings could keep Connecticut residents from trying their luck across state lines. As proposals advance for a casino in western Massachusetts, she said, allowing video slots at the Bradley Teletheater near the airport could entice gamblers who might otherwise drive north to the Springfield area.

"If we were to expand it to the teletheater in Windsor Locks, that would offset some of those losses, or keep things more competitive," she said. "These are jobs, local jobs."

Sayers and other members of the task force are holding their first hearing in Hartford on Sept. 26. A proposal to authorize the expansion could be submitted for the next legislative session.

Currently, video gambling is only allowed at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, two giant resort casinos that once dominated the region's gaming market. They now face growing competition from casinos in the New York City area, the arrival of table games at Rhode Island's Twin Rivers Casino, and a plan to allow three casinos in Massachusetts.

Chuck Bunnell, a spokesman for the Mohegan tribe that owns Mohegan Sun, said the tribe generally is not opposed to an expansion of video gambling. Those who want the resort experience, he said, still will come to the casino. But he said the tribe would oppose video gambling in Windsor Locks because it is so close to the line with Massachusetts, where the Mohegans are among the groups vying to build a casino in the western part of the state.

Consent is needed from the Mohegans and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which owns Foxwoods, because the compacts that require the tribes to hand over 25 percent of their slot-machine revenue to the state also give them exclusive gaming privileges.

Changes to the compacts are being negotiated for the rollout of keno, a bingo-style lottery game that was authorized by the General Assembly in June as part of a deal to balance the state budget. As long as the compacts were being opened, Sayers proposed along with Sen. Andres Ayala of Bridgeport and Rep. Roland Lemar of New Haven that the state take a look at video gambling, too.

Mary Drexler, executive director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, said it is worried about the potential to expose many more residents, including minors, to gambling.

"It's almost like anywhere you go in the state, there will be an opportunity to gamble," she said.

The office of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy did not respond to a request for comment on his position regarding video gambling.

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Suzuki recalls 193,936 vehicles for air bag defect

DETROIT — Suzuki is recalling 193,936 cars and SUVs because of a defective air bag sensor in the front passenger seat.

Grand Vitara SUVs from the 2006 through 2011 model years and SX4 small cars from the 2007 through 2011 model years are involved.

Sensor mats measure passengers' weight and determine if the air bag should deploy. Determining who sits in the seat is important because the force of an air bag can injure children or small adults.

Suzuki says the mats can stop working after repeated flexing. If that happens, the bag will deploy even if a small person is in the seat.

The Japanese automaker says there are no reports of accidents or injuries due to the problem.

Suzuki will notify owners starting next month. Dealers will replace the mats for free.

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Obama to use Lehman anniversary to cite progress

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is marking the fifth anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse by trying to lay claim to an economic turnaround and warning Republicans against moves that he contends would risk a backslide.

His message to the GOP: don't oppose raising the nation's debt limit, don't threaten to close down the government in a budget fight, and don't push to delay the health care law or starve it of federal money.

The economic emphasis, after weeks devoted to the Syrian crisis, begins coming into focus in a series of events kicked off by a Rose Garden speech Monday. It's a determined effort to confront public skepticism about his stewardship of the economy and to put down his marker for budget clashes with Congress in the weeks ahead.

The White House argues that a better capitalized and better regulated financial sector is extending more credit, fueling an economy now able to withstand headwinds such as spending cuts and tax increases.

"You can draw this straight line from the health of the financial system to the ways the financial system impacts the economy," said Jason Furman, the chairman of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers.

Obama can point to a growing economy, rising housing prices, 35 straight months of hiring, a rebounding stock market and other signs of recovery.

Five years after the federal government stepped in and infused banks with $245 billion in taxpayer money to avert a financial meltdown, the government has been paid back nearly in full.

Sunday is the fifth anniversary of Lehman's bankruptcy, which was the largest in U.S. history. The firm's demise marked the beginning of the global financial crisis and was a major catalyst of the financial meltdown.

"We've put more people back to work, but we've also cleared away the rubble of crisis and laid the foundation for stronger and more durable economic growth," Obama said during his recent trip to Russia.

"And as Congress takes up important decisions in the coming months, I'm going to keep making the case for the smart investments and fiscal responsibility that keep our economy growing, creates jobs and keeps the U.S. competitive. That includes making sure we don't risk a U.S. default over paying bills we've already racked up."

Obama intends to highlight that progress to economists and other guests at the White House on Monday, and his National Economic Council is set to release a report detailing the economic advances.

Obama planned to discuss the economy as part of an interview airing Sunday on ABC's "This Week" and scheduled a speech Wednesday to the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs from the biggest U.S. companies.

But the public is not convinced that the economy is on the mend. Only one-third say the economic system is more secure now than in 2008, and 52 percent say they disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy, according to a Pew Research Center poll. There is still plenty of pain to justify their pessimism.

Despite job growth, the unemployment rate remains high at 7.3 percent. Though the rate has fallen, one of the reasons is because some people have dropped out of the labor force and no longer are counted as job seekers. The income gap between the very rich and the rest of the population is the biggest since 1928.

"We have genuinely made progress. We genuinely have more work to do," said Furman.

What's more, some banks that received government aid because they were deemed "too big to fail" are now bigger than they were in 2008, but they are smaller as a share of the economy than the largest banks in other big economies. Three years after Obama signed a sweeping overhaul of lending and high-finance rules, execution of the law is behind schedule.

"We should not accept a financial system that allows the biggest banks to emerge from a crisis in record-setting shape while ordinary Americans continue to struggle," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who watched over the bank bailout as head of a special oversight panel.

This glass-half-empty-glass-half-full state of the economy has produced competing story lines about the role Obama's administration has played in getting the country to this point. Did Obama's approach validate the philosophy of spending your way out of crisis or did some of his policies actually slow the recovery?

The bank bailout, which started during the closing weeks of President George W. Bush's term, was highly unpopular but is generally credited with stabilizing the financial system.

Obama continued the program and ultimately used some of the $700 billion that had been allocated to prop up the financial system to bail out General Motors and Chrysler, a move generally accepted as a success.

Still, voters in 2009 and 2010 rebelled, and the bank bailout vote cost some lawmakers their seats.

Former Rep. Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who headed the House Financial Services Committee, noted the other day that "you don't get credit for disaster averted."

Some conservative economists say the $800 billion stimulus Obama pushed for in 2009 initially did help reverse the plunging economy, even though some liberals insist the dollar amount should have been even bigger.

But much of the credit for the current recovery, tepid as it may be, goes to the Federal Reserve. It has held short-term interests rates near zero and has undertaken a massive bond purchase program that has supported spending, lifted stocks and kept home mortgage rates at near record lows.

"The Fed was the single biggest policy move in the crisis. No question about it," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office and top economic adviser to Republican Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.

The question that defines the debate is not so much whether government steps helped, but whether it could have done more to accelerate the recovery. Many Democrats and liberal-leaning economists say the economy needed more stimulus. But Republicans, worried about skyrocketing deficits, cut back on spending instead.

Now many say the economy needs long term measures that would reduce spending on entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security and that would overhaul and simplify the tax system.

"We've done too much temporary targeted intervention, we're passed the time for that," said Holtz-Eakin, who now heads the American Action Forum, a conservative public policy institute. "It's no longer 2008 when things were falling like a rock. It's time to have long-term growth policies. We don't have them."

Obama and Republicans are at a stalemate, however.

Obama has proposed some changes that would reduce spending on Social Security and Medicare, including an adjustment that would lower cost-of-living adjustments. But he has insisted on more tax revenue by closing what he says are loopholes for the rich, a step Republicans won't take.

The impasse has revived threats of a government shutdown after the current budget year ends Sept. 30 and, more economically damaging, a default if Congress can't agree to raise the debt ceiling later in October.

Some conservative Republicans say they will only extend current spending levels or increase the debt ceiling if Obama delays putting in place his health care law, a condition Obama has flatly rejected.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has tried to keep the focus on spending reductions, even as some on his right insist on defunding or delaying the health care law.

"This year the federal government will bring in more revenue than any year in the history of our government, and yet we will still have nearly a $700 billion budget deficit," he said. "We have a spending problem. It must be addressed, period."

___

Follow Jim Kuhnhenn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jkuhnhenn

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