Euro Drops After Sarkozy, Merkel Reject Joint

PARIS — The leaders of France and Germany on Tuesday promised to take concrete steps toward a closer political and economic union of the 17 countries that use the euro, but it was unclear whether their proposals would be sufficient, or come quickly enough, to satisfy markets anxious over Europe’s debts and listless economies.

They also pledged to push for a new tax on financial transactions, and for regular summit meetings of the zone’s members under the leadership of Herman Van Rompuy, who heads the council of all 27 European nations.

“We are certainly heading for greater economic integration of the euro zone,” Mr. Sarkozy said.

The much-anticipated meeting at the Élysée Palace here produced little that would seem to quell the nerves of bond traders, who are becoming increasingly worried that the economic slowdown in both Germany and France will make it harder to overcome Europe’s debt crisis.

Both leaders ruled out issuing collective bonds, known as eurobonds, to share responsibility for government debt across member states, and they opposed a further increase in a bailout fund that will not be put into place until late September at the earliest.

Mrs. Merkel repeated that there was “no magic wand” to solve all the problems of the euro, arguing that they must be met over time with improved fiscal discipline, competitiveness and economic growth among weaker states.

Even the stronger members of the euro zone have stalled. Official figures released on Tuesday showed that growth in the zone fell to its lowest rate in two years during the second quarter, and that Germany — considered the Continent’s locomotive — came almost to a standstill, growing 0.1 percent.

The German figures followed data showing that the French economy was flat in the second quarter, leaving Europe’s two largest economies stagnant. That means the two pillars of the European economy may be less willing and able to prop up their weaker counterparts, analysts warned.

Across the euro zone, gross domestic product rose only 0.2 percent in the second quarter from the first, when growth had advanced by 0.8 percent, according to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency.

The joint French-German proposals were as modest as German officials had forecast. And the most ambitious idea — that all euro zone states legally bind themselves to working toward balanced budgets and reduced sovereign debt — is unlikely to be accepted by all member states. It may not even get through the French constitutional process, since Mr. Sarkozy does not have a constitutional majority in Parliament.

The proposal calling for twice-yearly meetings and increased integration could formalize the “two-speed Europe” — of those in the euro zone and those outside it — that many warned of when the European Union expanded so rapidly after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

Both leaders said that France and Germany must set an example, citing their agreement to propose jointly a financial-transaction tax by 2013 as “an example of convergence” needed in the entire euro zone. But such a tax is unlikely in the larger European Union, especially if Britain, which is outside the euro zone and contains Europe’s biggest financial center, continues to resist the idea.

They also said they would work to harmonize French and German economic assessments and, in the future, corporate tax rates.

“France and Germany are committed to strengthen the euro,” Mrs. Merkel said. “To that end we need to better integrate our economies” and “to see that the stability pact will be acted on.”

The stability pact, a central element of the treaty that established the euro zone, commits members to keep fiscal deficits to 3 percent of gross domestic product a year and total sovereign debt under 60 percent of G.D.P. Both benchmarks are regularly missed.

The Sarkozy-Merkel meeting came after a dizzying week in the markets and a general gloom about the lack of European leadership on the euro. Economists said the weak data could simply reflect a pause after two years of brisk expansion. But the numbers could also signal that the sovereign debt crisis is undercutting growth outside the countries like Spain that are most directly affected.

“The longer the sovereign debt market remains stressed, the greater will be the damage to the wider economy,” Lloyd Barton, an economist, said in a note Tuesday.

If there was any silver lining, it was the hope that slower growth would lead to less inflation, giving the European Central Bank more leeway to keep interest rates low and intervene in bond markets. Since last week, the bank has been buying Italian and Spanish debt on the open market to hold down yields so the two countries do not face ruinous borrowing costs.

The euro dropped to $1.4362 at 10:19 a.m. in Tokyo from $1.4407 in New York yesterday. The shared currency weakened to 110.19 yen after slipping 0.3 percent to 110.65 yesterday. The dollar bought 76.72 yen, compared with 76.80 yen yesterday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy also rejected an expansion of the 440 billion- euro ($632 billion) rescue fund .

Transaction Tax, Inflation

The leaders of Europe’s two biggest economies agreed to press for closer euro-area cooperation, tougher deficit rules and a harmonization of their corporate tax rates. A plan to resubmit a proposal for a financial-transaction tax, which the European Union rejected in 2010, sent stocks lower in the U.S. and Asia.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of regional shares lost 0.3 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index sank 1 percent yesterday.

The rejection of euro bonds coupled with the announcement of a financial transaction tax “could weigh on European equity and bond markets on Wednesday,” BNP Paribas SA strategists including Ray Attrill in New York wrote in a note to clients today. The tax plan “could fall flat, but the uncertainty factor will likely linger and weigh on the euro.”

European consumer prices fell 0.6 percent in July after flat readings for May and June, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg is forecast to say, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Annual inflation in the euro region slowed to 2.5 percent from June’s 2.7 percent reading and in line with a July 29 initial estimate, the survey predicted. That still exceeds the European Central Bank’s 2 percent ceiling for an eight month.

Kiwi Declines

The New Zealand dollar weakened against all of its 16 major counterparts after Fonterra said milk powder fell at auction to its lowest level since Aug. 3 last year. Milk powder for October delivery declined to $3,359 a metric ton from $3,477 two weeks earlier.

The so-called kiwi also declined along with the Australian dollar as concern that the global economic recovery is losing momentum curbed demand for higher-yielding assets.

“There are all sorts of hurdles around in global markets,” said Sean Callow, a senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in Sydney. “That will hurt risk appetite and that would hurt Aussie and kiwi in particular.”

New Zealand’s dollar fell to 83.20 U.S. cents from 83.61 cents and slipped to 63.84 yen from 64.21 yen. The so-called Aussie decreased to $1.0448 from $1.0486.

Michele Bachmann skipping Florida straw poll

Houston - Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul did very well in the recent Iowa Straw Poll.

He came in right behind Michelle Bachman, so why is most of the media ignoring him?

Results of the poll came out this past Saturday.

Candidates were doing 1-on-1 interviews with all of the big news organizations and networks, but not Ron Paul. No interviews for him, no mention of his name. Even one of the nation’s most popular political comedians found it quite obvious.

Leave it to Jon Stewart to turn something very serious into something very funny, and that's the way Ron Paul sees it too. I sat down with him in his small office in Clute where he was all smiles.

“Jon Stewart is not really in our political camp but he likes to pick out those things that deserve to be made fun of and he did a pretty good job,” Paul said.

After getting pretty much zero recognition for a job well done in the Iowa Straw Poll, all Paul can do is laugh about the matter and move on.

“It’s great being ignored. You get a lot of attention, from all the attention, I’m being cynical now, you know we were ignored and people want to know why and I said well, you have to ask the people that ignored me,” Paul said.

Even though he thinks he deserved some media attention, he's not about to complain and pick a fight.

Instead, he thinks the media just doesn't understand his philosophy.

“I give them a pass and say they do not understand it and they don’t want to be bothered with it, it’s a threat to them because they don’t want to deal with it, so maybe if we just pretend like he doesn’t exist…but believe me, it’s not going to work,” he said.

And She was the winner in Iowa's straw poll, but a spokeswoman confirms Michele Bachmann won't be taking part in Florida's Presidency Five straw poll, which falls just after the GOP candidate's debate being held in the state.

Organizing for a straw poll is pricey and logistically rigorous, although the Bachmann campaign did it once already. And the state is shaping up as crucial given the current dynamics of the primary, with Rick Perry and Bachmann playing aggressively for Iowa and Mitt Romney still the heavily-favored prospect in New Hampshire, and it could be an opportunity for her to prove she can play in a more moderate swath of the map.

Responding to a heckler rarely worth trouble for politicians

Not knowing who the eventual Republican presidential nominee will be in the 2012 election, President Obama's supporters are taking the opportunity to blast all of the GOP candidates, using aggressive language to argue that the crop of contenders is either uninterested or incapable of helping Americans.

Much of the criticism is focused on describing the candidates as lackeys to the Tea Party, which establishment Democrats have classified as right-wing zealots bent on destroying the U.S.

"While protecting tax breaks for the wealthy and big oil while proposing to end Medicare, slash Social Security and pile additional burdens on the middle class might win plaudits with the Tea Party, it's not remotely what the American people are looking for," Democratic National Committee Communications Director Brad Woodhouse said in a statement Sunday after Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the race.

"In a Republican field that has already pledged allegiance to the Tea Party and failed to present any plan that will benefit the middle class or create the jobs America needs to win the future, Governor Perry offers more of the same," Obama campaign spokesman Ban LaBolt said Saturday after Texas Gov. Rick Perry jumped into the race.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz noted that Obama asked for compromise on a debt reduction plan but all the presidential candidates at the Fox News-Washington Examiner debate on Thursday night agreed that they would not back a deal that would be 10-1 cuts to revenue.

"That's how strangled by the Tea Party that they are, and that's not what Americans are looking for. They're looking for solutions," she said.

"If anyone is in trouble, it's the Republican Party," continued Wasserman Schultz, who was appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation." "Right now, they have a collection of candidates for president who are busy out -- trying to out-right-wing each other. Essentially, they are all so similar that they might as well be Legos; they're that interchangeable."

Often the speaker will try to talk over or ignore the heckler — but sometimes they just can’t resist mixing it up.

That’s almost always a mistake.

The latest incident occurred last Monday night in Iowa, when one Ryan Rhodes stood up and shouted a question during a Town Hall meeting, and afterward confronted the president as Obama was shaking hands and signing autographs, asking the president how he could call for more civility “when your vice president is calling people like me, a Tea Party member, a terrorist.”

Rhodes was referring to reports that Joe Biden used the word “terrorist” in a closed-door meeting. Biden has denied using the word.

Obama responded to Rhodes by noting he’s “been called a socialist who wasn’t born in this country, who is destroying America and taking away its freedoms,” so he’s all for toning down the rhetoric. A woman in the crowd joined the fun, yammering at Obama, “You do realize that 90 percent of domestic terrorist attacks are done by left-wing, environmental radicals and not people like me!” (Where does she get her figure? Also, does she really believe Biden was saying Tea Party activists are domestic terrorists?)

“You don’t seem to be interested in listening,” Obama said to Rhodes as their little tiff ended.

“Neither do you,” said Rhodes, as casually as if he were debating with his next-door neighbor and not the president of these United States.

Bachmann turns on overdrive

Michele Bachmann has emerged as a rising superstar with the GOP — Sarah Palin without the commitment issues. She’s fresh off a straw poll victory and she was on five — count-’em, five — Sunday morning political talk shows.

But rebel or traditional candidate, there are certain rituals you have to participate in on the campaign trail, including the time-honored practice of eating the local food in diners and at country fairs, and pretending there’s nothing you’d rather wolf down than some barbecue in Kansas City, a cheese steak in Philly — or a corn dog in the Midwest.

So there was Bachmann at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines the other day, downing a corn dog with gusto and inspiring a thousand Google Images and countless easy jokes on Twitter, Facebook and on the comedy shows.

In the meantime, Bachmann continues to deal with the “submissive” question. A few days after the topic was raised at the Iowa debates, Bachmann was asked on “Face the Nation” about saying, “[T]he Lord says, be submissive. Wives, you are to be submissive to your husbands.”

When asked if submissive meant subservient, Bachmann said, “You know, I guess it depends on what word people are used to, but respect is really what it means. We respect each other, we listen to each other, we love each other, and that is what it means.”

Of course, that is not what it means. The dictionaries tell us “submissive” means, “inclined or willing to submit to orders or wishes of others,” and that suitable synonyms include “meek, passive, obedient, yielding, docile, dutiful, deferential,” etc.

One can argue about the biblical context, but it’s hard to get away from such quotes as, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands . . . for the husband is the head of the wife.” That seems pretty clear-cut.

Not that it’s going to matter in the end. Bachmann’s chances of actually becoming the next president? I’d say it’s 30-1 against. Iowa straw poll aside, Rick Perry has the best chance of making a serious run at Mitt Romney. (When did the Iowa straw poll become such a national event, anyway, and how do we put an end to that?) A new Rasmussen Poll of likely GOP primary voters has Perry leading with 29 percent, with Bachmann a distant fourth with just 13 percent.

Like Sarah Palin, Bachmann loves needling the mainstream press and playing the part of the rock star who refuses to do things the traditional way. Yet it’s that very attitude — and yes, the fact that both are attractive women — that makes them such intriguing subject matter for the very “lamestream” media for which they have such supposed disdain. It just might be that both Palin and Bachmann are bigger stars and bigger players in the media than they are on the Republican depth chart.

Obama: I'll be ready for GOP in 2012

Peosta, Iowa — United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday played down prospects for a spectacular Al-Qaeda attack 10 years after the September 11th strikes, saying he worried more now about solitary extremists.

"The most likely scenario that we have to guard against right now ends up being more of a lone wolf operation than a large, well coordinated terrorist attack," he told CNN television during a campaign-style swing through Iowa.

"We still have to stay on top of it, though. We're never letting our guard now, that's part of our job," said Obama, who vowed "heightened" security measures and "extra vigilance" ahead of the grim anniversary.

He had been asked about the prospects of a terrorist attack either to mark 10 years since the strikes on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center or in retaliation for the May raid in which US commandos killed Osama bin Laden.

Obama said US officials were "constantly monitoring potential risks" but said a punishing US campaign had left Al-Qaeda "a much weaker organization with much less capability than they had just two or three years ago."

"The risk is always there, and obviously on a seminal event like the tenth anniversary of 9/11, that makes us more concerned -- it means we've got heightened awareness," he said.

But "the biggest concern we have right now is not the launching of a major terrorist operation -- although that risk is always there."

"The risk that we're especially concerned over right now is the lone wolf terrorist, somebody with a single weapon being able to carry out wide-scale massacres of the sort we saw in Norway recently," said Obama.

He was referring to Anders Behring Breivik, who shot dead 69 people, many of them teenagers, in a July 22 rampage on the island of Utoeya after killing eight others in a bombing of government offices in Oslo.

n a wide-ranging interview with Wolf Blitzer, the president said the inability of GOP leaders in Congress to support a recent $4 trillion deficit reduction deal focused more heavily on spending cuts than revenue increases is evidence of a party placing political considerations before national interests.

Americans want to see "Democrats and Republicans putting country before party," he said. "The fact that Speaker (John) Boehner and folks in his caucus couldn't say yes to that (deficit deal) tells me that they're more interested in the politics ... than they are in solving the problem."

Obama's interview on the campus of Northeast Iowa Community College was conducted in the midst of a three-day presidential swing through the politically pivotal Midwest, a region believed to be critical in determining the outcome of the 2012 campaign. The discussion touched on a host of domestic and international topics, though the president noted the importance of the fragile economy heading into next year's election.

Obama renewed his call for an extension of payroll tax cuts as well as some business tax breaks. He also urged Congress to pass stalled trade deals with Panama, South Korea and Colombia.

He noted his intention to unveil new job growth legislation for senators and representatives to consider once they return from their summer recess after Labor Day.

"I'm going to make my best case for where we need to go" as a country and make "one more run at Congress," he said.

The president was largely dismissive of the Republican presidential field, claiming he was not thinking about it too much at the moment.

"I'll let (the Republicans) winnow it down a little bit," he said. But once the GOP chooses a presidential standard-bearer for 2012, "I'll be ready for them," the president promised.

Asked to respond to Texas Gov. Rick Perry's assertion that members of the armed services would prefer a commander in chief who has served in the military, Obama said presidential candidates have "got to be a little more careful" about what they say. But as Perry had just entered the race over the weekend, Obama said, he will "cut (Perry) some slack" for the moment.

Regarding former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's remarks that "corporations are people," Obama conceded that corporations play a critical role in the generation of wealth. He stressed his disagreement with some conservatives, however, over the closure of tax loopholes benefiting certain major corporations.

"If you tell me that corporations are vital to American life, that the free-enterprise system has been the greatest wealth creator we've ever seen ... that I absolutely agree with," Obama said. But "if, on the other hand, you tell me that every corporate tax break that's out there is somehow good for ordinary Americans ... then that I disagree with."

Romney and Perry are considered by most political analysts to be leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination.

The president also dismissed growing Republican calls for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, arguing that such a dramatic change shouldn't be necessary to put America's fiscal house in order.

"We don't need to amend our Constitution in order to do that," Obama said. "Why can't Congress simply make good choices?"

The president stressed that the federal government often needs to run deficits in cases of war or recession, partly in order to help state and local governments that are now required to keep their budgets in balance.

While admitting that politically popular entitlement programs such as Medicare are contributing to Washington's spiraling deficits, Obama refused to offer details about what he is willing to do to help control medical costs. He stressed the need to lower health care costs as a whole, as opposed to going along with GOP attempts to "voucherize" Medicare and leave more responsibility for health expenses in the hands of vulnerable seniors.

Turning his attention to national security, the president said federal officials are remaining vigilant as the country approaches the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

"The risk is always there," he said in response to a question about the prospect of an attack launched as revenge for the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Shortly before his sit-down interview with CNN, Obama talked about the best and worst parts of being president -- a position he called the "greatest job on Earth."

He said the best part is hearing from regular people about how policies he has put in place have improved their lives. The worst part, Obama said, is when he talks to a family member of a fallen soldier.

"You're reminded of the incredible sacrifices that people are making for our country. And then when you see sometimes our politics not living up to that level of commitment and patriotism that we see from our troops, that gets a little bit frustrating," he said.

The president wrapped up his regular interview by noting that if he is re-elected in 2012, his gift to daughters Sasha and Malia will be "a continuation of Secret Service so that when boys want to start dating them, they are going to be surrounded by men with guns."

When he was elected in 2008, Obama told his daughters he would get them a puppy -- a promise that was eventually fulfilled.

Media's Bachmann Obsession, Tough Reporting or Sex

As you know, Michele Bachmann has a habit of dodging questions about her past anti-gay remarks.

Well, Anderson Cooper is not buying it, and last night called Bachmann out for her sudden shyness about same-sex equality.

Cooper points out that Bachmann is likely avoiding such questions because she's running for president and such anti-gay notions won't go over well with the American voter. He also notes that Bachmann was invited to join in the conversation, but no one from her camp returned CNN's calls.

As with Sarah Palin, the media keeps the focus as frequently on Bachmann’s verbal gaffes as on her political positions.

“It does seem that female politicians get caricatured more harshly than men. They seem to get caricatured more quickly,” Jessica Wakeman, a writer for women's pop culture blog The Frisky, told TheWrap.

Also read: Newsweek's Michele Bachmann Cover Unlikely to Give Mag What It Needs Most

Bachman’s perky looks and anti-establishment views were on display in last week’s hotly debated Newsweek cover story, which plastered a shot of a loony-eyed Congresswoman alongside the headline “The Queen of Rage.”

Conservative blogger Michelle Malkin took the magazine to task, saying Newsweek “... resorted to recycling bottom-of-the-barrel moonbat photo cliches about conservative female public figures and their enraged ‘crazy eyes.

On Tuesday, pictures emerged with a rival GOP candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, conspicuously munching on a similarly prodigious corndog. Whether those photos will rise to the same level of scrutiny as those of Bachmann remains to be seen.

Not that Bachmann has exactly discouraged the gender double standard. The press may scrutinize her outfits, just as they do the getups worn by Hillary Clinton and Palin. But as a recent New Yorker profile of the politician documents, Bachmann is singularly obsessed with appearances, refusing to be photographed in informal clothes.

“The glamour-puss element to their candidacy is partly imposed, but partly encouraged by them as well,” Bruce Cain, professor of political science at UC Berkeley, told TheWrap. “Once the media senses a person is more a glamour-puss than a substance person, they will press you with the kind of factual questions they might not push on other candidates.”

There’s no denying that Bachmann is a problematic figure for feminists who might be compelled to rise to her defense.

Bachmann’s stances on the debt ceiling or the Iraq War fail to generate the same attention as the time she confused John Wayne’s Iowa hometown with that of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, or when she wished Elvis Presley a happy birthday on the anniversary of his death.

She's certainly not the first female politician to face scrutiny that seems inappropriately harsh -- Hillary Clinton is often indelicately labeled a shrew for the slightest display of assertiveness.

But it's Bachmann's very intelligence that always seems up for debate.

And willingly or not, she seems to invite comparisons with Sarah Palin.

“She does fill the Palin niche,” Cain said. “They’re both media-genic. They have the capacity to say in snappy sentences things that are often controversial, and they can state their policy ideas in snarky one liners. That’s important, because much of modern campaigning is by electronic media and social media, so they come across well on TV, radio, tweets and YouTube.”

Taking a page from the former Alaska governor, Bachmann has also demonstrated a tenuous relationship with facts and a creative interpretation of American history, such as her much derided claims that the Founding Fathers worked “tirelessly to end slavery."

Like Palin, she has also engaged in a love-hate relationship with the press corp. She craves its attention, but refuses to answer questions about her more controversial beliefs on homosexuality and Dominionism, a view among conservative Christians that they should take control of secular institutions.

To Walsh’s way of thinking, the marriage questions and the photo shoots are less offensive than the constant comparisons with Palin.

“They always say she’s the smart Sarah Palin; she’s never the pragmatic Ron Paul or the Christian right Ron Paul,” Walsh said. “She and Rick Perry have a lot in common, so why is she not compared to Rick Perry? Women have to go in the women candidate silo.”

It’s also left Palin in the unusual position of ceding the klieg lights to Bachmann, leaving her own presidential ambitions, if indeed she has any, in jeopardy.

That Palin has been eclipsed by Bachmann can also be chalked up to a series of political miscues ranging from her ill-considered “blood libel” comments following the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to a bus tour of historical sites that produced only one highlight reel worthy moment, a rambling re-imagining of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride.

The consensus is Bachmann’s Tea Party views and penchant for putting her foot in her mouth will prevent her from ever winning the Republican nomination, but her technicolor conservatism has helped her stand out in a field of staid men in grey flannel suits.

At least, that was the case, until the cowboy boot-wearing Rick Perry dropped his figurative 10-gallon hat in the ring last week.

No apologies from Perry for Texas-style tough talks

But is it all too much? Even before this week, there were questions from political strategists who have watched Perry as to how suited he is for a general-election campaign, in which he would have to appeal to independent voters, to suburban women around Philadelphia and Denver, to older voters in Florida, and to those who will hold the balance in swing states such as Iowa.

And Perry suffers from the inevitable comparisons with the Texan who was most recently in the Oval Office. Bush and Perry are strikingly different politicians, and in Texas the rivalry between their two camps is well known. But to the untrained ears of the national electorate, Perry may sound too much like another brash Texan for voters not eager to revisit the Bush years.

Another obstacle may be learning to broaden his appeal. Texas-based strategists say Perry has focused his campaigns almost completely on the Republican base and conservative independents. That may not be enough to win a national race, unless the dissatisfaction with the economy and Obama’s leadership make 2012 a race that is the Republicans’ to lose.

What is considered the conservative mainstream in Texas may be too conservative in other parts of America. What worked in Texas won’t necessarily work elsewhere. Being too Texan, never much of a problem at home, could hurt him nationally. Aspects of his record that Perry may assume have been fully litigated could become problems when the national spotlight begins to shine.

The Republicans who worry about Perry as a general-election candidate fear that he is too conservative on social issues, too grounded in the idiom of Texas, too enamored of his 10th Amendment, states’ rights message.

They also worry about more rhetoric like his comment about Bernanke, or his response to a reporter who asked whether he thought Obama loves America: “You need to ask him.” Or his suggestion that a president who has never worn the uniform, like Obama, may be less respected than one, like him, who has.

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked the president Tuesday whether he found Perry’s comments disrespectful. “You know, Mr. Perry just got into the presidential race,” Obama said. “I think that everybody who runs for president, it probably takes them a little bit of time before they start realizing that this isn’t like running for governor or running for senator or running for Congress, and you’ve got to be a little more careful about what you say. But I’ll cut him some slack.”

Perry would present the sharpest possible contrast with Obama in an election that is likely to be fought on big issues and along ideological lines. His advisers believe that the unhappiness with Obama and worries about debt, deficits and the growth of government mean that voters will find the Texas governor’s message appealing.

The governor, in the midst of a swing through the first state to pick presidential delegates in 2012, also drew fire for asserting that members of the armed services would prefer a commander-in-chief who served in the military.

"I think that's a true statement, and I wouldn't back off it an inch," Perry said. "Go ask your veterans if they'd rather see somebody who has never served in uniform as their commander in chief."

Perry, 61, was a C-130 pilot and served in the Air Force from 1972 to 1977. Obama, 50, was four years old when the Vietnam War started and has never served in uniform.

Obama's campaign team jumped on the Republican for what they called questioning the president's patriotism.

"I'm glad he declared his love (for the U.S.)," Obama strategist David Axelrod retorted. "Last I checked he was suggesting Texas might secede, so this is real progress."

Obama, however, declined to criticize the man who has accused him of presiding over an "economic disaster."

"Mr. Perry just got into the presidential race," Obama told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday. "I think that everyone who runs for president - it probably takes them a little bit of time before they start realizing that this isn't like running for governor or running for senator or running for Congress. And you've got to be a little more careful about what you say. But I'll cut him some slack - he's only been at it for a few days now."

In Texas, Perry is known for his take-no-prisoners politics and raw language. In 2005, he apologized and said he didn't realize the station was broadcasting when he ended a TV interview, signing off with "Adios, mofo."

Tone down the act?

But he isn't as well-known by voters outside Texas, and Merle Black, a political science professor at Emory University, says Perry risks becoming known as a shoot-from-the-lip Texan if he doesn't "tone his act down by about 25 percent."

"Most Americans know very little about Perry, and first impressions sometimes persist," Black said. "He needs self-discipline so that his judgment and temperament do not become the story. There is a tremendous amount of anger in the nation, but Americans expect a president to do more than simply reflect their irritations."

Presidential scholars noted that Perry's dust-up is a common occurrence when prominent state politicians ace the glare of the national media.

"Welcome to the big leagues," University of Iowa political scientist Tim Hagle said. "Now, Texas isn't exactly the minor leagues by any stretch of the imagination, and there's a reputation for Texas politics being rough and tumble at times, but it still jumps to a different level when someone hits the national stage. That's particularly true when you jump into the presidential race with the amount of attention that Perry generated."

Amid the controversy, Perry got good news from a Rasmussen Reports telephone survey taken Monday that found him with the support of 29 percent of likely GOP primary voters. Mitt Romney, the early leader, polled 18 percent, and Michele Bachmann, who won the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa on Saturday, picked up 13 percent.

"Gov. Perry is enjoying a bounce from entering the race at precisely the right time," pollster Scott Rasmussen said. "Now the difficult part begins for the new frontrunner. It's much easier winning support when people are hoping you will get in the race than retaining support when you are the frontrunner.

Construction of Walmart Neighborhood Market to Begin in Fall

A $10 million retail project anchored by a Walmart Neighborhood Market has won final approval in Menomonee Falls, including $820,000 in village funds to help pay for cleaning up a former gas station at the project site.

Gatlin Development Co. is to begin construction this fall on the 40,000-square-foot Walmart supermarket and a separate 5,000-square-foot building for other retail tenants, Village Manager Mark Fitzgerald said Tuesday. The buildings are expected to be completed by next fall.

Gatlin will demolish a former Piggly Wiggly supermarket and other vacant space at Pilgrim Village shopping center at Pilgrim Road and Main St. to make way for the Walmart grocery. Portions of the shopping center leased to Friends of Nature pet supply store and Otto's Wine and Spirits will remain.

The Village Board unanimously approved a development agreement with Gatlin on Monday. That agreement includes paying $406,000 to Gatlin for strips of land at the corner of Pilgrim Road and Main St. now occupied by a vacant gas station. The village will use that land for a future street widening, Fitzgerald said.

Also, the village is providing $414,000 to Gatlin to pay for demolishing the gas station and doing an environmental cleanup at that site. The gas station will be replaced by the smaller retail building.

The $820,000 will be repaid to the village through property taxes from the new development and other new projects within the village's tax incremental financing district on Main St., which includes the new Radisson Hotel. The payback will take an estimated eight years, Fitzgerald said.

Once the tax district's entire debt is repaid, property taxes from the Walmart, Radisson and other new projects along Main St. will go to the village, its school district and other local governments.

The village will advance no more than $820,000 toward redevelopment of the gas station site. A total of $620,000 will fund developer improvements, as well as a right of way land purchase allowing for future expansion of Pilgrim Road. The village also advanced $200,000 to buffer costs resulting from environmental remediation needed on the site.

Fitzgerald said all of the funds pertain solely to the gas station site, and will not be used for the larger development that includes the Neighborhood Market.

As part of the agreement, the village is requiring the developer to construct a “landmark” building on the corner of Main Street and Pilgrim Road. Fitzgerald said this will be a retail building with aesthetics suitable for that high profile corner in the village.

“This will be retail building very with pleasing architecture and appropriate design for that very visible corner,” Fitzgerald said.

An occupant for the “landmark” building is yet unknown, and plans for it will need to go through the village’s approval process. However, plans will likely appear soon as the village included a “time is of the essence” clause in the agreement, which requires timely completion of the project.

Since the gas station property is within a tax incremental financing district, the village will be repaid through additional tax revenue generated from redeveloping the site.

The overall redevelopment plans call for the construction of three more retail buildings along Main Street, in addition to Schlotzsky’s Deli, which will be remodeled. Both Friends of Nature and Otto’s Beverage Center will stay as well, but their storefronts will be revamped.

Both Minuteman Press and Sounds Audio have found new locations within Menomonee Falls. Minuteman Press has moved to the Falls Plaza II shopping center on Appleton Avenue. Sounds Audio has moved into the Neu’s building on Ridgeway.

Elgin mourns Lowe's closing, looks ahead to Walmart, Sam Club

Name Lowe’s was taken down from the store on Randall Road, less than a full day after the home improvement company closed the Elgin store in addition to one in Schaumburg.

The two stores closed Sunday night leaving 195 employees without a job, the company said Monday.

Spokeswoman Katie Cody said the two suburban stores were among seven across the country to close Sunday night due to disappointing profits. The other stores were located in Alaska, Connecticut, Georgia, Minnesota and New York.

“Unfortunately, despite the hard work of store employees…we didn’t see profitability for those stores, and they had to close,” she said.

Leo Nelson, president of the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce, said he had no prior indication the store would be closing, but said the lack of warning is not uncommon when it comes to large corporations.

“It’s a major loss of an outstanding retail store,” he said.

He added the closing could have a significant impact on the city’s sales tax revenue and said the chamber will do what it can to help get a new business into the building.

Colleen Lavery, chief financial officer for Elgin, did not immediately have sales tax figures available for the store, but said she has contacted the state requesting the information so she can determine how much of a hit the city will take.

Rick Kozal, assistant city manager for Elgin said it wouldn’t be easy to find a business to fill the Lowe’s facility.

“Finding any retailer to open in this environment is difficult especially with the action in the stock market,” he said.

But, he added, he does not believe the closing is reflective of the Elgin retail market, and is instead symptomatic of issues across the company. He said pointing to a new Walmart that is under construction at Randall and Bowes roads as proof of the city’s healthy marketplace.

Lowe's spokeswoman Stacy Lentz said the Elgin store routinely missed sales estimates since it opened in 2007, marking it for closure.

When business wrapped up Sunday, employees were told the store would not reopen the next day. In line with legal requirements, they will continue to receive benefits and pay for 60 days, according to Lentz.

Elgin Chief Financial Officer Colleen Lavery requested sales tax reports for Lowe's from the state but will not know for weeks how the closing will affect the city's budget for the rest of this year and in the future.

Mayor David Kaptain said he is concerned about surrounding businesses, filling the soon-to-be vacant building and, most importantly, the employees who lost their jobs.

“I don't know if there are places that are going to absorb them because of the job market,” Kaptain said.

But with the bad comes more promising news. Kozal said Walmart is scheduled to open at Bowes and Randall roads in time for the Thanksgiving shopping weekend. And the company will continue with phase two of its plan and open a Sam's Club next year.

Professionals look to Walmart for job

If you’re one of those people with an irrational but nonetheless bone-deep hatred of Wal-Mart, then don’t read this Top 10 list.

Because it’ll only hyperstimulate that reflexive foaming at the mouth and dyspeptic rage that bubbles up inside of you whenever the company’s name is mentioned—and particularly when what’s being said about the employer of 2.1 million people is positive.

For the rest of us, this list of Wal-Mart’s Top 10 Sustainability Initiatives provides some valuable and inspiring insights into how one of the world’s most influential corporations is marshalling its resources to combat hunger around the world, reduce waste, lower fuel consumption, train many thousands of students for careers in retail, and generally improve the quality of life in the communities in which Wal-Mart operates.

Under the leadership of CEO Mike Duke, Wal-Mart has combined its sustainability, social, and environmental initiatives under the broader heading of “global responsibility,” and the company recently reviewed those efforts in a richly detailed Global Responsibility Report. (To see the full PDF, go to that link, scroll to the bottom of the page, and under the heading of “Sustainability” you’ll see a PDF icon for “2011 Global Responsibility Report”.)

That report begins with a letter from Duke offering an overview of the company’s philosophies and goals as well as some of its achievements, and it is from Duke’s letter that I’ve extracted this Top 10 list.

Walmart is opening a new store in Durham in October, and is looking to hire 200 people. The world's largest retailer last week opened a temporary hiring center nearby to process applicants and conduct interviews over six weeks.

The competition is intense. Some openings have attracted 300 to 400 applicants, said Randy Peery, the manager of the planned store. Thousands are expected to apply for jobs ranging from hourly overnight shifts to day slot supervisors in such departments as produce, electronics and clothing.

"We're getting a lot more at the site than we have in times past," Peery said, noting the uptick in white-collar candidates. "They may be thinking they can find something to get them through (hard times). They may be our future managers."

For long stretches, more than a dozen people crowded the small waiting area at Walmart's rented office suite. Hundreds more applied online.

Applicants sat at computer banks, typing their life summaries into an electronic database. Job seekers disappeared quietly into side rooms for their interviews. Energetic Walmart staffers buzzed about, directing people here and there.

The spectrum of applicants spanned baggy shorts and T-shirts to crisp khakis and trim polo shirts. All have similar stories about countless resumes sent into a black hole, few job leads and diminishing hopes.

Travis Cheek arrived before lunch, his presentation oft-rehearsed to prove his worthiness. With a master's degree in divinity, and two years doing missionary work in Central Asia, he says he has optimal people skills that translate into customer service and good management.

"For me, it's a good way to expand and develop my leadership skills," he said.

Cheek, 29, is keen on Walmart's management track, even as he continues looking for jobs as a youth pastor or other mission-type work locally.

He hopes to get married and established in the area before one day resuming foreign mission work.

"I'm looking for a job that pays," he said. "There are just limited options."

Darius Robinson, 43, would take a midnight shift and work his way up. He's a teacher's assistant in Durham Public Schools with a degree in criminal justice from N.C. Central University. He's been substitute teaching since getting laid off two years ago from a job in pharmaceutical sales.

"The ultimate goal is to have a stable career, to provide for the family and prepare for retirement," Robinson said.

"Retail is not the route that I thought that my career would go into," he added. "But in today's society ... "

He trailed off, his gist self-evident.

Walmart typically requires three job interviews before a candidate gets an offer. An associate's job pays $11.24 an hour on average, Peery said, and basic requirements are not complicated.

"We're looking for availability - can they work when we need them?" Peery said. "We're looking at their charisma - are they friendly?

Japan Stocks Drop as Sarkozy, Merkel Reject Bigger Bailout

Paris - France and Germany unveiled far-reaching plans on Tuesday for closer euro zone integration and said joint euro bonds may be a longer-term option, leaving the currency area vulnerable to more attacks from traders.

Under heavy pressure to restore confidence in the euro zone following a dramatic market slump, President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel stopped short of increasing the bloc's rescue fund but vowed to stand side-by-side in defending the euro and laid the groundwork for future fiscal union.

Their message was that the focus should be on further economic integration rather than signing bailout checks, and suggested that straying from euro zone rules and fiscal targets would no longer be tolerated.

"We have exactly the same position on euro bonds," Sarkozy told a joint news conference with Merkel after their talks.

"Euro bonds can be imagined one day, but at the end of the European integration process, not at the beginning."

But many experts said the measures would fail to assuage markets, which believe a common bond is the only way to ensure affordable financing for euro zone members struggling with debt.

U.S. stocks dropped more than 1 percent and the euro slid as the

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest carmaker, lost 1.4 percent. Sony Corp., Japan’s biggest exporter of consumer electronics, dropped 1.9 percent after talks in Paris yesterday between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Inpex Corp., Japan’s No. 1 energy exploration company, declined 2.3 percent on lower crude prices.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.8 percent to 9,039.47 as of 9:31 a.m. in Tokyo. The broader Topix index dropped 0.5 percent to 774.98 with three stocks retreating for every two that rose.

The Paris meeting “confirmed debt issues cannot be resolved in a short period of time,” said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager in Tokyo at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 0.4 percent today. In New York, the index fell 1 percent to 1,192.76 yesterday as the German and French leaders rejected selling euro bonds and expanding the 440 billion-euro ($633 billion) rescue fund. The leaders also proposed resubmitting a financial- transaction tax that was rejected in 2010.

Gross domestic product in the 17-nation euro area expanded 0.2 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months, when the economy grew 0.8 percent, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said in a statement yesterday. That’s the weakest growth since the euro region emerged from a recession in late 2009 and was less that the 0.3 percent median estimate of 34 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

In the U.S., housing starts fell 1.5 percent in July from June, the Commerce Department reported yesterday. Building permits, a proxy for future construction, also dropped.

“The U.S. housing numbers were not strong, and that signals a slowdown in the U.S. economy may persist,” Nishi said.

Exporters declined after reports showed economic growth in Europe and the U.S. is slowing, hurting the outlook for overseas earnings. Sony slumped 1.9 percent to 1,668 yen. Toyota lost 1.4 percent to 2,860 yen. Honda Motor Co., Japan’s third-largest carmaker, sank 2.3 percent to 2,556 yen.

Mining companies dropped on lower oil prices. Inpex lost 2.3 percent to 514,000 yen. Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., the second-biggest oil driller, slid 0.8 percent to 3,330 yen.

Crude oil for September delivery declined 1.4 percent to settle at $86.65 a barrel in New York yesterday. The London Metal Exchange Index of prices for six industrial metals including copper and aluminum dropped 0.5 percent.