Yes, extend Medicare // (But send Grandpa the bill if he can afford it)

Why does a nation that boasts of (1) being the richest on earth,(2) being the most generous people on earth and (3) having the besthealth system in the world find it so difficult to protect itselderly citizens from financial destitution through acute or chronicillness, particularly since the United States is also (4) among theleast-taxed nations in the industrialized world?

I raise this question because less than a month ago, the Houseof Representatives voted for the largest one-time expansion ofhealth-insurance benefits offered the nation's elderly since theinception of the Medicare program in 1966. Although the bill passedthe House by a huge margin, it has its share …

Cash for clunkers scheme will hit repairers, says auto parts group CEO.(Brief article)

Byline: Bettina John

Car repairers and auto parts dealers expect to suffer because of Germany's cash for clunkers incentive program.

The scheme took about 2 million cars that were nine years old or more off the market, said Hans-Juergen Wahlen, head of the GVA auto parts company. The program paid buyers to swap old cars for new models and ran from February to early September.

"In general, the owners of these older vehicles were most inclined to have their cars maintained and repaired in independent repair shops and were the most important buyers of parts from independent vehicle parts dealers," Wahlen said.

In the mid term, car repairers and auto …

PLOW OPERATORS TAKE PRIDE IN SERVICE.(MAIN)

Byline: KENNETH C. CROWE II Staff writer

A sense of joy and anticipation filled Wesley Rumpf when he drove his bright orange, eight-ton snowplow out to battle Thursday morning.

``Whenever you're pushing snow, you don't want to stop,'' said Rumpf during his long-awaited plowing debut for the season. He drives Truck 39 for the Saratoga County Public Works Department.

Rumpf, 34, one of hundreds of local government plow-boys, gets great satisfaction being behind the wheel of a plowing rig.

``You're keeping the road open for the public,'' Rumpf said proudly. He works a beat that covers 26 miles of county roads in the city and neighboring Milton. …

On the record with BLX, one of the last true small-business securitizers.(Business Loan Express)

Business Loan Express entered the securitization market in 1997 with a single issuance backed by portions of Small Business Association loans worth just under $20 million. In 2003, the issuer reached nearly $500 million in term ABS volume.

We expect volume to continue to grow," said director of capital markets Ted Horan. "We should beat last year's number in 2004."

That said, the company plans to tap the market just twice versus the three deals issued last year.

Horan joined BLX in 2001, and has been more or less the sole engine powering the 230-employee company's securitization efforts since then.

"We are a small company," he said. …

Official Says Castro Fit to Run in 2008

HAVANA - Fidel Castro will be in "perfect shape" to run for re-election to parliament next spring, the first step toward securing yet another term as Cuba's president, National Assembly head Ricardo Alarcon said Thursday.

"I would nominate him," said Alarcon, the highest-ranking member of parliament. "I'm sure he will be in perfect shape to continue handling his responsibilities."

Mobbed by foreign reporters following a parliamentary session to discuss Cuba's upcoming elections, Alarcon said Castro "is doing fine and continuing to focus on recovery and rehabilitation."

A lengthy process of nominating candidates for municipal elections will begin this summer, …

AARP supplies health-care facts

AARP has launched a new online effort to answer questions about the recently signed health care reform law.

The nonprofit senior group's "Health Care Reform Explained" column will be available at www.aarp.org/getthefacts. The site will provide answers …

Company Watch - Japan Airlines.

New York (AirGuideBusiness - Company Watch) Nov 29, 2009

All Nippon Airways has urged the Japanese government to create a fairer market and relax some regulations to help the country's airline industry. Rival Japan Airlines (JAL) is seeking a bail out from the Japanese government after suffering massive losses over the last year. While ANA's net profit in the three months to 30 September fell 11.5 percent to YEN3.8 billion (USD42.7 million), Shinichiro Ito, the carrier's president and CEO, is more optimistic about his carrier. "We want to do what we have to on our own, and we are not expecting much help from the government," he says at the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines' (AAPA) annual assembly of presidents in Singapore. This can be seen in the carrier's announcement of plans to cut costs and find new ways to increase revenues after its financial results, he adds. However, while he declined to comment on the government's possible aid for JAL, he did urge the state to be more judicious in how it helps the industry. Nov 20, 2009

Delta and its SkyTeam Alliance partners are making a USD1 bil offer to …