Carly Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett- Packard, took her first formal step Tuesday toward a campaign for Barbara Boxer's seat in the U.S. Senate.

Fiorina, who would face Assemblyman Chuck DeVore of Irvine in the Republican primary in June, announced that she had filed papers with the Internal Revenue Service to start exploring a candidacy.

"The people of California have serious concerns about job creation, economic growth and the role of government in solving problems that touch each of our lives," Fiorina said in a written statement.

Her personal wealth would make Fiorina a heavy favorite for the Republican nomination. But she would have a tough fight to unseat Boxer, a Democrat seeking a fourth term. And Fiorina is opposed to abortion, which puts her at odds with most California voters.

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine — who's running against Democratic U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer — has taken off the gloves on his GOP challenger, Carly Fiorina, telling us today that he's not even sure she would "vote in her own primary with her name on the ballot.''

DeVore was on the phone today reacting to The Chronicle's story Wednesday revealing that Fiorina's spotty state voting record may be a pattern – since public records show that there's no record of her voting in two states she lived for years prior to California.

He's unveiled a new website today officially welcoming Fiorina to the U.S. Senate race, and among the many zingers is a note to "remind Carly to get an absentee ballot," complete with a link to the California Secretary of State's Vote By Mail website.
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DeVore will not make many GOP voters over with these tctics

Boeing, industry teammates and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency have completed construction of a second interceptor test silo for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the company announced Tuesday.

Because a silo needs to be refurbished after its hot-burning interceptor is fired, having two underground test silos will allow one to support testing while the other is being refurbished, Boeing said. It said the new silo can be configured for testing or tactical operations. Vandenberg's first test silo has been used in tests since 2006.
The Huntsville, Ala.-based Ground-based Midcourse Defense program has deployed more than 20 operational interceptors at Vandenberg and Fort Greely, Alaska, to defend against long-range ballistic missile threats.

Hundreds of auto dealers in the New York area have withdrawn from the government's Cash for Clunkers program, citing delays in getting reimbursed by the government, a dealership group said Wednesday.

The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, which represents dealerships in the New York metro area, said about half its 425 members have left the program because they cannot afford to offer more rebates. They're also worried about getting repaid.

The U.S. must address the massive amounts of “monetary medicine” that have been pumped into the financial system and now pose threats to the world’s largest economy and its currency, billionaire Warren Buffett said.

The “gusher of federal money” has rescued the financial system and the U.S. economy is now on a slow path to recovery, Buffett wrote in a New York Times commentary yesterday. While he applauds measures adopted by the Federal Reserve and officials from the Bush and Obama administrations, Buffett says the U.S. is fiscally in “uncharted territory.”

The ABC News Business Unit does some recession math and compares other luxury vacation resorts to Martha’s Vineyard, where the Obama family will travel next week for an end-of-summer stay.

FYI, you’re footing some of the bill:

…Caroline Taylor, another Martha’s Vineyard realtor, estimated that the property would go for $35,000 to $50,000 a week. The Obamas will pay for at least a portion of the rental, but taxpayer funds will be used to pay for Secret Service and staff housing on the property.

Former Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Carly Fiorina has taken a step closer to challenging Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), according to media reports in California on Tuesday.

Fiorina has created a campaign committee, Carly for California, which will enable her to begin raising money for a possible Senate bid. A spokeswoman for Fiorina told the Associated Press that she has no timetable for formally announcing her candidacy.

State and national Republicans are high on the prospects of a Fiorina Senate bid, though a poll conducted recently for a liberal Web site found Boxer with a substantial lead over Fiorina and the top Republican in the Senate race so far, state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore.

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday defended critics of Democratic health care reform plans who claim the proposals would provide subsidized health care to illegal immigrants. Kyl said Democrats have long sought to block curbs on public services for people illegally in the country.

“It’s a logical question for people to ask,” Kyl said during a conference call with reporters, maintaining that during last year’s State Children’s Health Insurance Program debate and other legislative fights, Democrats blocked efforts by Republicans to include curbs on health care for illegal immigrants.

The problem is that Axelrod's former firm is currently receiving huge fees "from Healthy Economy Now, a coalition that includes the Washington-based Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, known as PhRMA," as well as AARP, the SEIU and other big players in the health care debate.

If Axelrod has been negotiating any part of any deal involving any of these players which are funneling money to the firm that owes him money, or if he is advising the president on the deals with any of these groups, that's a conflict of interest. Laundering the money through a "coalition" doesn't remove the conflict much less the appearance of impropriety. The coalition is in effect partially funding David Axelrod's severance package though its members might have done so unknowingly. These forthcoming payments to Axelrod are much more significant than the sort of "retained ties" that Democrats blasted Dick Cheney for vis-a-vis Halliburton..
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Axelrod has a very big problem here.

In other words, the claim here was about half true. It was completely false regarding Best Buy, and CVS didn’t request ads for Beck before requesting to avoid him. Only Wal-Mart actually pulled ads from the show, and even at that may still be redirecting its ad money to other shows.
Addendum: I have to say I’m puzzled by Wal-Mart’s acquiescence in this boycott. It’s not Beck fans who picket their stores, demanding unionization and demonizing them for their employee compensation policies. They’re appeasing the same people who want to drive them out of business.

When it comes to staff sickness, the review found that those who worked more than eight hours a day had higher rates, as well as those who felt pressure to return to work.

Women were more likely to report in sick, alongside those who had worked for the NHS for a long time.

The review found that while NHS workers were more likely to pick up illness and infections through their work, this could not explain all of the higher rates of absence.

It said: "Nearly half of all NHS staff absence is accounted for by musculoskeletal disorders, and more than a quarter by stress, depression and anxiety."

It went on: "Most staff believe that their state of health affects patient care."

More than half of the 11,000-plus members of staff who contributed to the study said they felt more stressed than usual at the time of completing the survey.

“Social Security could face default within two years,” U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus predicted here Tuesday. “The situation is much worse than people realize, especially because of the problems brought on by the recession, near depression.
“That’s not been on the board — people don’t seem to know that,” Bachus, the ranking member of the House Committee on Financial Services, said in a wide-ranging interview with the Tuscaloosa News Editorial Board. “What this recession has done to Social Security is pretty alarming.