From MSNBC NEWS,
MSNBC staff and news service reports
BUSH VS. KERRY AT A GLANCE
How Republican, Democrat stand on key issues

Here's a quick look at where Sen. John Kerry and President Bush stand on the central issues expected to dominate the 2004 race for the White House.

Economy
Bush: The president has repeatedly called on Congress to make his tax cuts permanent, saying failure to do so would amount to a tax hike and threaten prospects for a robust economic recovery capable of generating new jobs. Congressional analysts say that making the tax cuts permanent would cost about $1.3 trillion over the next 10 years.

Kerry: Kerry has called for repeal of the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $200,000 a year, in order to pay for broad health care reform. However, he would retain the tax cuts for the middle class. He says he can halve the record half-trillion dollar budget by the end of one four-year term, even while spending $72 billion a year to extend health care to 27 million of the 40-plus million uninsured. His campaign has provided no details.

Energy and environment
Bush: Bush, who pulled the United States out of the Kyoto protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, believes the threat of global warming should be addressed through new economic growth and efficiency. He also favors oil exploration in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and backs legislation that would seek to reduce air pollution and acid rain by offering major polluters access to market-based incentives to reduce harmful emissions.

Kerry: Kerry favors U.S. participation in an international climate change program to curb global warming and would cut mercury emissions by American utilities and plants. To encourage more renewable energy sources, Kerry wants to create a renewable energy trust fund to reduce oil consumption by 2 million barrels per day, which is roughly the amount imported from the Middle East. Kerry also backed Senate legislation to impose stricter mileage standards on gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles and automobiles.

Foreign policy
Bush: After straining relations with major European allies and the United Nations over war in Iraq, Bush has shifted his foreign policy focus to the spread of democracy by pushing a Greater Middle East Initiative that would aim to resolve the region's political, economic and social problems through democratic reform. The president, criticized for the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, is also pursuing a policy that seeks to unravel the black market in nuclear components and block programs in North Korea and Iran, countries he has labeled an "axis of evil" along with prewar Iraq.

Kerry: While insisting he would never cede U.S. security to any other nation and would use force when required, Kerry envisions "a new era of alliances" to replace what he sees as the White House's go-it-alone approach to foreign policy. He has pledged to restore diplomacy as a tool of U.S. foreign policy, treat the United Nations as a "full partner" and pursue collective security arrangements. His inner circle of foreign policy advisers features prominent Democratic veterans, including some figures from the Clinton days.

Post-war Iraq
Bush: After seeing his plan to bring democracy to Iraq through regional caucuses scuttled by a leading Shi'ite cleric, Bush has succeeded in brokering an interim constitution for the oil-rich Arab nation and pledged to work with Iraqi leaders and the United Nations to prepare for full Iraqi sovereignty by June 30. The administration expects U.S. troops to remain in Iraq indefinitely as a security measure against insurgents and sectarian violence.

Kerry: He voted in 2002 in favor of the war against Iraq, but has since attacked the administration for misrepresenting the military threat posed by Baghdad and for mismanaging the post-war occupation. He later voted against the appropriation of $87 billion for the U.S.-led effort, a move that has led some critics, including some in his own party, to accuse him of hypocrisy.

Trade
Bush: Bush, an avowed free trader, has embarked on a series of trade agreements with countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa. But his administration has also faced charges of protectionism over steel tariffs that the World Trade Organization ruled illegal, and its reluctance to trim import barriers that protect U.S. sugar, dairy and beef industries.

Kerry: Kerry has promised a 120-day review of all existing U.S. trade agreements upon taking office, and favors using the World Trade Organization to challenge China's currency practices. He also has pressed for stronger labor and environmental language than Bush has required in growing collection of bilateral free trade agreements with countries around the world.

Israel and the Palestinians
Bush: Bush, a staunch defender of Israel, backs the stalled "road map" to Middle East peace that calls for creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel by next year. The White House has also expressed concern about Israel's construction of a security barrier through Palestinian territory, ostracized Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and cautiously embraced Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal to dismantle Jewish settlements in Gaza.

Kerry: Kerry says he would breathe new life into the moribund Middle East peace process and name a special presidential envoy to the Muslim world, who would seek to encourage moderate elements.



From USATODAY.com
CITIES TRY TO GET NEEDS NOTICED IN ELECTION YEAR
By Larry Copeland, USA TODAY (posted 8/11)

Many cities are trying to stem job losses and replace aging roads, bridges and water and sewer systems — and do it while they're devoting more resources than ever to homeland security. Mayors of the nation's large and midsize cities say that such concerns have largely been ignored in the presidential campaign.

Today in Chicago, the mayors will urge President Bush and Democratic nominee John Kerry to adopt parts or all of their "Metro Agenda for America's Cities." It asks both candidates to commit to strengthening the economies of metropolitan areas.

"We don't believe this is a partisan issue," says Don Plusquellic, the Democratic mayor of Akron, Ohio, and president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which represents 1,139 cities with populations of more than 30,000. "We're not trying to place blame. We're saying these are important issues that have nothing to do with any partisan philosophy. These are problems that face our country because they face local communities."

On Thursday, Plusquellic and other mayors from both parties launch a two-day bus tour through Ohio. The trip to Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Toledo and Cleveland is meant to dramatize job losses in a state both presidential candidates are targeting and highlight local programs that work with federal help.

The National League of Cities, which has 1,700 member cities of all sizes, is urging Bush and Kerry to adopt a similar agenda.

The concerns of cities have been overshadowed in the campaign, says Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia. "We've got so many other macro issues at the top of the agenda: Iraq, the war on terror, the overall economy and gay marriage, among others."

Also, he says, big cities aren't electoral battlegrounds this year: "They're actually Democratic by large margins. The Democrats never have to campaign there. The Republicans never campaign there because there are so few votes to get."

The mayors are seeking:

• Tax incentives to spur redevelopment of thousands of polluted industrial sites.

• Better ways to finance water and sewer systems, road and bridge improvements, and schools.

• A more efficient way of getting homeland security money to cities.

"It is not rocket science," says Michael Guido, the Republican mayor of Dearborn, Mich. "The economic strength of the country stems from what happens in the cities."

Terry Holt, a spokesman for the Bush campaign, says the president has pushed through Congress a $26 billion homeland security bill, helped the long-term economic health of cities with tax cuts for small businesses, and cleaned up 1,044 industrial sites.

Spokeswoman Debra DeShong says Kerry believes the mayors have a "very strong and positive agenda," and he "shares their views of stronger city schools, greater support for police officers and new tax incentives for business to create jobs."

Nevertheless, Sabato says, the mayors' issues "are just not going to be on the top agenda for 2004. That's not to say they're not worthy items. They're very worthy. But war always takes precedence."



SUSPECT CONFIRMED TERROR THREAT, FEDS SAY
By Ted Bridis, AP

WASHINGTON (Aug. 5) -- The Bush administration learned from a third person, separate from two prisoners identified this week, that al-Qaida was plotting to attack American financial buildings, officials said.

The information from the third person was ''another new stream of intelligence'' that supported the White House decision to issue a terror warning on Sunday, the officials said.

The information arrived days before the public alert, as officials were reviewing reams of recently obtained documents and photographs that showed surveillance of five buildings in New York City, New Jersey and Washington carried out years earlier by al-Qaida.

''Old information isn't irrelevant information - particularly with this kind of enemy,'' Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn.

The information corroborating al-Qaida's intentions to carry out attacks against U.S. financial buildings came from someone other than two men recently captured in Pakistan, said a senior Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity. It was unclear whether the person was a prisoner or informant.

Information from the two captives - a young militant familiar with computers and a man indicted for the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa in 1998 - had provided the bulk of the intelligence that led to Sunday's warnings.

The corroborating information did not specify targets in the United States or say when an attack might be planned, the official said. But it so closely tracked the other intelligence that U.S. financial buildings had already been under surveillance by al-Qaida that it contributed to the decision to issue the public warnings.

''Coupled with general threat reporting, coupled with other pieces of information, then all of the sudden you say to yourself, 'This is a time when we have to talk to America about the threat.' And that's exactly what we did,'' Ridge said.

A U.S. counterterrorism official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the surveillance information last week was married with ''very recent and current activity'' from al-Qaida, blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, indicating the group's interest in attacking this year. This information, which includes debriefings and other means of gathering information, is causing the administration serious concern, the official said.

''A bunch of things came together at the same time,'' Frances Townsend, the White House Homeland Security adviser, said in an interview Wednesday with National Public Radio. She said the corroborating information came from ''a very sensitive ongoing investigation in another part of the world.''

The FBI is monitoring al-Qaida operatives and others associated with Islamic terror groups inside the United States, although these people have not been directly linked to the threat against financial buildings, the Justice Department official said. These people include financiers for Ansar al-Islam, a group linked to al-Qaida, the official said.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan declined to describe in detail what he called ''another new stream of intelligence,'' saying it might endanger continuing intelligence operations. He criticized as an ''irresponsible suggestion'' any criticism that the administration had issued a terror warning for political purposes.

''When you connect all these streams of intelligence, it paints an alarming picture,'' McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One during a campaign flight to Iowa.

Ridge and other senior administration officials spent parts of Wednesday defending the warnings, which came on the heels of the Democratic National Convention and drew attention from the presidential campaign of nominee John Kerry.

''I categorically state that the none of the terror threats are politically motivated,'' Ridge said.
In New York, Treasury Secretary John Snow said suggestions that terror alerts were manipulated were ''pure, unadulterated nonsense.'' Snow toured the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and praised traders for their resilience in the face of such warnings.

Also Wednesday, intelligence officials told Congress their organizations have made strides since the 2001 terror attacks and cautioned lawmakers against moving too far or fast in the name of intelligence reform. CIA Deputy Director Jami Miscik and other top CIA, FBI and State Department officials appeared in a rare public hearing, and told Congress any changes should be based on intelligence work today, not on problems that existed before September 2001.



From BankRate.com
5 STEPS TO DO-IT-YOURSELF CREDIT REPAIR
By Dani Arthur, Bankrate.com

Blotches on your credit report cost you. But, don't despair. It's never too late to become credit worthy -- just get started, and remember that it won't happen overnight.

Here are 5 steps for improving your credit rating:

1. Order your credit reports
Find out what the top three credit bureaus -- Equifax, TransUnion and Experian -- are saying about you. It's likely that they're all slightly different. Yes, different! Creditors don't have to report to all three credit bureaus, so they typically report to the credit bureau to which they also subscribe.

Time and money is wasted, says Steve Rhode, president and co-founder of Myvesta.org, if you only order a report from one credit bureau. You can order a credit report from each bureau. Costs vary from state to state, but in most states, it costs around $9 to get your report.

If you've been denied credit, insurance or employment because of your credit report, you are entitled to a free copy of your report from the reporting agency. The company you applied to must supply the credit bureau's name, address and telephone number. You have 60 days after receiving the denial notice to request your copy.

2. Examine your reports carefully
Nearly every consumer has an error on at least one credit report from one of the major credit bureaus, says Rhode. Credit bureaus generate your report on information they receive from your creditors; they don't verify.

Keeping your credit report a true reflection of you is -- like it or not -- your job. Get ready to clean and polish. Carefully look for everything from typing errors, outdated and incomplete information to inaccurate account histories. You'll want to make a thorough list of items you dispute and why. Be meticulous.

If the negative information in your report is true, only time and improved habits can change that. Late payments and charged-off accounts remain on your report for seven years; bankruptcies for 10. Most creditors, however, look for a pattern of payment rather than focusing on one-time or rare occurrences; so consistent on-time bill payments will improve those blemishes.

3. Double-D strategy -- dispute and document
Remember, a bad report costs you money. So, it pays to be thorough! You can either complete the dispute form provided with your credit report or write a letter. Clearly identify each mistake and state why it's wrong. A recommendation is to send a photocopy of your credit report with the mistakes circled to the reporting credit bureau. Include copies of supporting documents.

Document, document, document. Keep copies and records of all the forms, letters and documentation that you send the credit bureaus, plus dates sent. The credit bureau must investigate any relevant dispute within 30 days of receiving your letter. Any item that is not verified as accurate by a creditor is removed.

Sometimes it's necessary to contact your creditors to resolve mistakes.

If the credit bureau makes any changes to your credit file, it will send you the results and a free, updated copy of your credit report. Once a negative item is removed from your report, the credit bureau cannot put it back on unless a creditor verifies its accuracy and completeness -- and sends you written notice.

4. Solve and dissolve debt
Now's the time to devise a spending plan that reduces your debt and sets you up to pay on time, every time.

If you're having difficulty making payments, be proactive. Call your creditors and negotiate to keep your accounts current and from being reported as delinquent or "bad debt." You can ask for reduced monthly payments, or even change due dates to balance out your monthly bills.

The same strategy can be used for fixed-loan payments. Remember, though, that this is a short-term strategy. You'll pay more interest to extend the repayment schedule, but it allows you to stay current and save your credit rating. Use the extra money to pay off debts one at a time, gradually increasing payments to other debts.

Deal with any collection accounts. Unpaid collections are worse than paid collections. You can negotiate a pay-off settlement that reduces your bill, plus demand that all derogatory remarks are removed from your credit report or at least reported as paid in full. Be sure to get verbal agreements in writing before sending off your payment.

Slowly close out unneeded or unused credit accounts. Most experts recommend carrying between two and four major cards. But, be cautious when canceling because closing accounts can negatively impact your credit score, commonly called a FICO score. FICO considers the ratio of total debts to total available credit. A good rule of thumb is to keep your revolving debt to 50 percent of your available credit.

Remember that cutting up the card doesn't close out the account.

Other tips:
· Close out your newest accounts so that you don't lose your longer credit history.
· Close out accounts slowly over several months. · Verify that all accounts you've closed are reported as "closed by consumer" for the best report.
· Even if creditors offer to raise credit limits, allow yourself only moderate credit limits.
· Keep your balances low and avoid revolving balances.

5. Add stability to your credit file
You can also work to add positive information and show stability in your credit file.You may have been denied credit because of an insufficient credit file, yet you have credit. Some creditors -- such as, travel, entertainment, gasoline card companies, local banks and credit unions -- may not report your credit history to the credit bureaus. You can try asking the credit grantors to report your account information and monthly payment history to a credit-reporting agency. Not all will do that. So, in the future, before opening a new account, ask if your on-time payments will be reported monthly to a credit-reporting agency, recommends Myvesta.org.

If you have really bad credit -- perhaps even filed bankruptcy -- don't let your credit status go dormant. "The faster you begin to re-establish good credit, where you pay on time, every time," says Craig Watts, consumer affairs manager of the Fair, Isaac and Company, "the faster you'll improve your credit score."

Build a solid credit history. A secured credit card offers those with no credit and those repairing their credit this opportunity. Shop around for the best deal available, but limit your applications. Credit bureaus look at how many new accounts you've opened, and the number of "inquiries" for new accounts that are listed. A sudden flurry of "inquiries" results in a lower score, because many times consumers anticipating money problems increase their credit lines. Inquiries made by creditors wanting to make "prescreened" credit offers are not counted.

Lastly, open a savings account at your bank. This shows creditors that you are working to save and that you have reserves to repay debts.



From BankRate.com
MONEY IN YOUR POCKET, TIME ON YOUR HANDS
By Linda Formichelli

How much did that super-grande caramel mochaccino that you had this morning cost? Just $5, you say?

Think again. It also cost you part of your life. According to the principles of Your Money or Your Life, the money management book by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, money equals life energy. In other words, you worked some period of time for that mochaccino, thereby spending part of your life to pay for that fleeting treat.

"Consciously or subconsciously, we all use some kind of formula when deciding whether or not to make a purchase. Typical factors that weigh into most major purchase decisions are the amount of cash in our pockets and the debt limit on our Visa cards," says Russell Wild, MBA, a fee-only financial planner and investment advisor based in Allentown, Pa.

"But an ultimately more important factor, and one often ignored, is the amount of life energy or true personal cost involved in making a purchase."

Thinking of money as life energy is an excellent way to spend less. For example, would you buy yet another pair of shoes if you knew it would cost you five hours of your life? Or how about a new car when your old one works fine if you lose several weeks of your life to pay for it, and yet more time to maintain it?

"Is it worth the time I'd have to spend away from my family, or time I could be doing something I really wanted to do -- like playing with my kids, reading, napping, planting flowers? I try to think about that when I pull out my credit card or checkbook."

What's your time worth?
If you want to know how much time your purchase is costing you, the first step is to determine how much your time is worth. If you make $20 per hour, you might assume that your time is worth $20 per hour. Not so. You also need to consider how much it costs you to work at your job. Figure out how much you spend every year on these items and services.

-Commuting to and from work, including gas and car maintenance
-Gifts for office parties
-Lunches at work
-Coffee breaks
-Vacations you take to get away from work
-Wine and beer you drink to unwind after work
-Your work wardrobe, including cleaning costs
-Therapy that you go to because you hate your job
-Child care

Now subtract this from your yearly after-tax salary and divide by the number of hours you work in a year. That would be 2,000 if you work a 40-hour week with one two-week vacation per year. However, you should also count the time you spend commuting, working overtime, doing work at home and attending work-related outings such as conferences after hours and on the weekends.

The result is how much you actually earn at your job, and how much an hour of your time is worth.

"People realize they're earning much less than they thought," says Carolyn Hilles, who gives money management workshops based on this concept. "When people realize they're really working for $14 per hour, that $14 bottle of wine looks a lot different. They say, 'I worked one hour just to pay for this, and I don't even remember drinking it.'

"I've seen it blow people's minds open. They didn't understand what they were hiring themselves out for and what they were spending it on. They have one life on this earth, and they're blowing it on stuff that doesn't meet their values."

If you run your own business, another way to think of money is the amount of product or services you'll need to sell to earn whatever you buy.

"Because I'm a writer, I tend to think of the spend part of the equation a little differently," says Jennifer Lawler, author of Dojo Wisdom: 100 Simple Ways to Become a Stronger, Calmer, More Courageous Person.

"For example, I know how hard it is to sell one copy of my book to one customer. I make about $1 in royalties from that sale. So every time I go to spend money, I think of how many books I have to sell to pay for the expense. This really puts the reins on things."

Spending wisely
For simplicity's sake, let's say that your actual earnings are $10 per hour. That means if you buy a $200 golf club, you're using 20 hours of your life to pay for it. Does this mean that you have to give up golf, or new shoes, or trips to Cancun? And how do you figure out which purchases are worth the life energy spent and which are just a waste of time?

When contemplating a purchase, you should consider three things, says Wild: personal cost, utility value and social impact.

"Personal cost is the amount of your personal life energy that went or that will go toward paying for the purchase," he explains. "Utility value is the life energy saved or gained by making the purchase. Social impact is the effect that your purchase will have on the world and all of its inhabitants."

Only you can decide whether the personal cost, utility value and social impact of a product or service are in alignment with your own values. For example, that new rider mower may cost a bundle, but it's worth it to you because you'll save time over the old push mower. Or perhaps it's not worth it to you because the mower negatively impacts the environment.

Still can't decide whether to drop the bucks on the latest electronic doodad or those sparkly earrings?

"A quick-and-dirty exercise is to ask yourself what the world would be like if everyone -- including over a billion Chinese -- followed your actions," says Wild. "Is that a world you'd want to leave to your children?

"Another exercise is to find someone you really admire and respect. It doesn't have to be anyone you know personally. It might be, for example, George Washington or Mother Teresa, or even a fictional character such as James Kirk or Wonder Woman. Ask yourself, 'Would he or she make this purchase?'"

If you start living by this concept, you're sure to start spending less. The result? More money in your pocket, and more time on your hands.



From BankRate.com
HOW SOON WILL IT HURT, DR. GREENSPAN?
By Greg McBride

When the Fed increases interest rates, it doesn't ripple evenly through the economy. Different interest-rate-related products will behave in different ways leading up to, and in response to, a Fed rate increase. Below is a look at how soon each product category will reflect the Fed's rate increase.

Fixed-rate mortgages:
The pain has already been inflicted here. Fixed mortgage rates are closely tied to long-term government bond yields, which move well in anticipation of Fed interest rate moves. Case in point: The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage rocketed from 5.41 percent on March 17 to 6.37 percent on May 12. Rates have been jogging in place since, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now 6.3 percent. The prospect of further rate hikes may well push fixed mortgage rates higher, but the effect of this rate hike was felt months ago.

Adjustable-rate mortgages:
Rates on ARMs are primarily tied to short-term indices, such as the one-year Treasury or the 11th District Cost of Funds Index. As the Fed boosts short-term interest rates, ARMs are far more sensitive after the fact than fixed-rate mortgages. For borrowers facing rate adjustments, the relevant comparison is the current level of the underlying index plus the loan's margin vs. the initial start rate. As short-term interest rates rise, this contrast will expand and lead to some unpleasant rate adjustments for borrowers that took out ARMs at record-low interest rates.

Home equity loans:
Rates for home equity loans are fixed, and increases following Fed rate hikes will not affect existing borrowers. However, new borrowers will see home equity loan rates moving higher within days of the Fed's interest rate hike. Home equity loans are often tied to the prime rate, which moves in close concert with Fed interest rate hikes. Locking in rates sooner, rather than later, will insulate borrowers from higher rates.

Home equity lines of credit (HELOCs):
Variable-rate HELOCs will increase for both existing and new borrowers alike. Lenders will be quick to reprice HELOCs on the heels of the Fed's rate hike, with most borrowers noticing the higher rates within one or two billing cycles. HELOC rates will closely mimic moves in the prime rate.

Auto loans:
Rates for new- and used-car loans are fixed-rate loans and will not impact existing borrowers. However, new borrowers have already begun to notice higher rates on car loans. This trend will continue in the weeks following a Fed rate hike. However, much of the impact of an interest rate hike is seen before a Fed move as car loans are increasingly responding to yields on Treasury securities. This is because lenders are packaging auto loans together and selling them into the secondary market, as is often done with mortgages.

Certificates of deposit:
Yields on certificates of deposit move with yields on Treasury securities of a similar maturity, as they compete for the same investment dollars. Longer-term CDs, such as the five-year CD, move further in advance than a short-term CD, such as the three-month CD. Yields on three-month and six-month CDs will increase in closer concert with actual Fed moves. Just as fixed-mortgage rates moved up in advance of the Fed meeting, so too did yields on many CDs.

Money market accounts (MMAs):
Yields on money market accounts will begin increasing within days of the Fed's move. However, don't expect an immediate jump in MMA yields to correspond with the Fed's move, as many banks will be reluctant to pass along higher yields to depositors before they have passed along higher rates to their borrowers.

Money market mutual funds (MMMFs):
Yields on money market funds will increase gradually in the weeks leading up to a Fed hike and in the weeks that follow. It may take nearly three months before the rate hike is completely reflected in money fund yields as short-term investments within the fund mature and are then reinvested at the now higher rates.

Credit cards:
Variable-rate credit cards will move in direct response to Fed interest rate action, as most are tied to the prime rate. Good news: Some cards that had previously hit floor rates will be immune from the initial interest rate hike, but with repeated interest rate increases they will ultimately rise. There can be a lag of up to three months between an interest rate hike and a credit card repricing. However, rates are quicker to rise than to fall. Even fixed-rate credit cards are sensitive to rising rates, as issuers can change the rate or switch the card to a variable-rate with as little as 15 days' notice. Issuers tend to reprice fixed-rate cards in response to a series of interest rate hikes rather than after each individual change. Fixed-rate credit cards will not be a haven from higher rates.