As he rolled out one last reprieve for the nation's troubled automakers, President Obama also restarted a legislative push that ran out of gas during last month's stimulus talks: a $10,000 rebate offer to car owners who traded in their old models for more fuel-efficient wheels.

The "cash for clunkers" plan was originally proposed by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tom Harkin (D-IA), at a total cost of about $16 billion. It was dropped from the stimulus amid GOP opposition, but Obama said today that he would "work with Congress to identify parts of the recovery act that could be trimmed to fund such a program and make it retroactive starting today."

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), who sponsored a $4,500 version of the "cash for clunkers" rebate alongside Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), has just released a statement promising to work quickly on complying with the president's request.

On the face of it, this sounds fantastic.  It would not only help to get old gas guzzling cars off the road which helps the environment and save on energy consumption.  It would also help the dying auto industry to stay afloat, and it would give the new owner a brand new car for a much cheaper price, saving them money on gas and with 5-10 year warranties to finish off the whole deal.

What Republican would vote no to this? Some did, as the report tells us, during the stimulus package negotiations.

What are the requirements to receive this rebate?  Last I heard one requirement would be that the car had to be made in the U.S..  What does that mean?  Parts are made all over the world, does it mean the whole car (parts and all) has to be made in the U.S., or does it mean the finished product has to be made in the U.S.?

As for a more fuel efficient car, what does that mean?  Will exchanging my 21mpg car for one that gets 27 be accepted or must I buy one that gives me 40mpg?

Also, the rebate itself, is that given at the time of purchase or after I've paid the car off?  If I buy a car that cost $158,000, will the rebate be deducted at that time, leaving me with only $5,000 to pay, or must I pay the $15,000 up front, then I would get the rebate?  This makes a difference if you have to buy a car on the payment plan which most citizens do, especially those with old clunkers like mine.

Must the car be of a certain price to be considered acceptable?

I need more details please - anybody?

However, if I can buy an $15,000 car for just $5,000 or even 10,500-- I'm ready to seriously consider it.

Pleas for help -- spiritual and financial -- are flooding U.S. churches, from tiny congregations to megachurches, as recession woes seep into the pews, a new survey finds.

Pastors say they're giving out benevolent funds in record numbers, increasing ministries to the unemployed and the financially fearful, even reaching into their own pockets more to help.

Nearly two in three pastors (62%) report more people from outside their church asking for help, and nearly a third (31%) see more such requests from church members, according to a survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors.

The survey, by LifeWay Research, a Christian polling firm based in Nashville, finds that 40% of pastors say they have church members out of work, and 37% say their church has increased spending to help the needy. (The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.)

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Nearly one-third of Americans (32%) say crime has increased in their communities in the past year, and 72% of those impacted say it is Very Likely that increase is related to the poor economy.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 54% say crime in their communities has stayed the same, and eight percent (8%) say it has decreased. Six percent (6%) are not sure.

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Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The recession is stinging in President-elect Barack Obama's hometown, where the Chicago Police Department is slowing hiring even as murders increase.

Murders in Chicago rose 16 percent in the first 10 months of the year. The city's homicide rate is triple New York's and double that of Los Angeles. Thirteen pupils have died from gunfire since the semester began in September, said Mike Vaughn, a spokesman for Chicago Public Schools.

"When economic prospects go down, crime goes up," said Rev. Marshall Hatch, 50, pastor of New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church on the city's west side. "This is exactly the worst time to cut police manpower."

The council's decision to reduce police hiring next year by about half, to 200 officers, will save $10 million. The budget also requires firing as many as 759 workers in other departments.

"This is a historic deficit that the city is faced with," said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a non- profit research group. "The fear now is the downturn in the economy will create even more criminal activity."

Remember when President Obama was ridiculed, even lost some votes over it, for reportedly saying residents of small-town America "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them" out of bitterness over lost jobs?

I do.