NEW YORK (AP) — If you're looking for an extra bargain before the holidays, you may only have to ask. With holiday sales shaping up to be the lowest in years, possibly the worst since the industry began annual comparisons in 1969, retailers say they're taking consumers' demands for good deals seriously. Some are extending return policies, while others are matching competitors' prices. Many are volunteering on-the-spot discounts and even letting customers haggle prices well down from what's marked in a desperate bid to make the cash register ring. "You'd have to be a moron not to ask for a discount," said Stephen Hoch, a retailing expert at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ President George W. Bush expressed remorse that the global financial crisis has cost jobs and harmed retirement accounts and said he'll back more government intervention if needed to ease the recession.

It's been over a week since Obama won the presidential race and the nation was in euphoria. We have a right to be happy. In one fell swoop, America largely reinvented itself. But, we cannot let our joy and pride take away attention from pressing matters. We have to transform our hope into reality.

The 2008 federal budget deficit is about $455 billion and the 2009 federal budget deficit is projected to be anywhere from $700 billion to an extremely liberal estimate of $1 trillion. That's pretty scary, no doubt about it, by Blum sheds a bit of light on what it really means, relatively speaking. It turns out it's not something to be too worried about.

For some reason, between Obama doing freestyle battle with his opponent and the real Sarah Palin bobbing her head to a stupid rap on SNL, I am not convinced any of them is fit to lead the nation. It almost makes me wish Ron Paul was on the ticket. Almost.

Laura Martin | Guest Room Some people like John McCain. I have gotten your attention with a disruptive exclamation … rather like shouting “sex!” in a quiet room. Let’s be honest, the 2004 election wasn’t nearly this interesting. The prospect of another four years of Bush seemed ominous and slightly annoying, but there was nothing to be feared but more-of-the-same. Besides, the only real opposition to the inept incumbent was an unpalatable beneficiary of the ketchup dynasty. And yet this current election cycle is different. It is riveting. I can’t help but check the Gallup poll ten times a day, even though I know its fundamental flaws (after all, it’s only a poll). I cling to each Palin gaffe, each Biden gaffe, each Obama and McCain un-gaffe (they both have an amazing ability to avoid the dread gaffe).

Through all the criticism and the tanking poll numbers, McCain has demonstrated a determination to, in the words of the Rawhide theme, “keep moving moving moving — though they’re disapproving.” Yet given his admission last night that he had taken time out of campaigning this Sunday to watch the Arizona Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys play football, we wonder if McCain might find more affinity with another line from the song: “All the things I’m missing: good vittles, love and kissing, are waiting at the end of my ride.”

Ever since the first I.Q. test was administered in 1914, standardized testing has developed rapidly in the U.S. In true capitalist fashion, “prep” or “crash” courses have developed even more rapidly, and at the present time they are in full bloom of speculation and swindling. If you are considering becoming an Atticus Finch Esq., Dr. House, Warren Buffett, or just want to be a professional student, you know you need to take the LSAT, MCAT, GMAT, or GRE respectively. Although many may coddle you — saying your score doesn’t matter — you know that the closer you get to 180/ 45T/ 800/1600, the closer you get to moving out of your parents’ basement. If that’s not enough pressure, your score often dictates the amount of scholarship funding available to you.

We are less than three weeks away from Elec­tion Day. In the longest presidential campaign in Amer­ican history, 15 primary candidates became two presidential hopefuls: Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain. At this point in time, a typical campaign analyst would presume both platforms would have been well articulated, challenged, and disseminated in the presidential debates. But this is not a typical campaign, and that does not seem to be the case. In the midst of bemused moderators and citizens it is important to ask, what have we learned from Obama and McCain in the debates?