US wealth gap putting the squeeze on state revenue

WASHINGTON — Income inequality is taking a toll on state governments.

The widening gap between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else has been matched by a slowdown in state tax revenue, according to a report being released Monday by Standard & Poor's.

Even as income for the affluent has accelerated, it's barely kept pace with inflation for most other people. That trend can mean a double-whammy for states: The wealthy often manage to shield much of their income from taxes. And they tend to spend less of it than others do, thereby limiting sales tax revenue.

As the growth of tax revenue has slowed, states have faced tensions over whether to raise taxes or cut spending to balance their budgets as required by law.

"Rising income inequality is not just a social issue," said Gabriel Petek, the S&P credit analyst who wrote the report. "It presents a very significant set of challenges for the policymakers."

Stagnant pay for most people has compounded the pressure on states to preserve funding for education, highways and social programs such as Medicaid. Their investments in education and infrastructure have also fueled economic growth. Yet they're at risk without a strong flow of tax revenue.

The prospect of having to raise taxes to balance a state budget is a politically delicate one. The allure of low taxes has been used by states to spur job creation, by attracting factories, businesses and corporate headquarters.

"If you've got political pressure to spend more money and pressure against raising taxes, then you're in a pickle," said David Brunori, a public policy professor at George Washington University."

Income inequality isn't the only factor slowing state tax revenue. Online retailers account for a rising chunk of consumer spending. Yet they often manage to avoid sales taxes. Consumers are spending more on untaxed services, too.

S&P's analysis builds on a previous report this year in which it said the widening gap between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else has slowed the U.S. economy's recovery from the Great Recession. Because consumer spending fuels about 70 percent of the economy, weak pay growth typically slows economic growth.

Some states are scrambling for new revenue sources. Pennsylvania has raised fees for vanity license plates and other auto expenses. Colorado and Washington legalized recreational marijuana, in part on the promise that the proceeds would be taxed.

Adjusted for inflation, government data show that median household income rose by a few thousand dollars since 1979 to $51,017 in 2012 and remains below its level before the recession began in late 2007. By contrast, the top 1 percent has thrived. Their incomes averaged $1.26 million in 2012, up from $466,302 in 1979, according IRS data.

The combination of an increasingly global economy, greater productivity from technology and outsize investment returns has shifted a rising share of money to the wealthy. Of all the dollars earned in 2012, more than 22 percent went to the top 1 percent. That share has more than doubled since 1979.

Before income inequality began to rise consistently, state tax revenue grew an average of 9.97 percent a year from 1950 to 1979. That average steadily fell with each subsequent decade, dipping to 3.62 percent between 2000 and 2009.

State tax revenue growth has risen slightly since then as the economy has recovered and some states — California, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, for example — have adopted higher top marginal income tax rates, according to S&P. In 2012, California voters backed a ballot measure to raise taxes.

That measure boosted California's sales tax to 7.5 percent for four years and income taxes rates to between 10.3 and 12.3 percent for seven years on income over $250,000. Plus, there's an additional 1 percent tax on millionaires.

More than half the income tax the state collected in 2012 came from the top 1 percent, compared with 33 percent in 1993. And in 2013, state tax revenue in California surged 15.6 percent.

Seven other states have also raised top marginal rates since 2009. This marks a reversal of the trend from 1985 to 2009, when average top marginal tax rates across all states fell slightly.

The most affluent Americans typically receive most of their income from profits in stocks and other investments, rather than wages. This means that swings in financial markets can cause state revenue to gyrate from year to year.

Some states — including Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Texas and Washington — rely primarily on sales taxes for funding. They're more dependent on consumer spending and don't benefit much from the gains that have flowed mainly to the wealthiest Americans.

Across all states, sales taxes account for 30.1 percent of all state revenue, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Personal income taxes make up 36.6 percent. The rest comes from other sources, such as taxes on fuel, alcohol and cigarettes.

As consumers have spent more online and on untaxed services, many states have tried to tax items like Netflix subscriptions and iTunes downloads. Washington state now taxes services at dating centers, tanning salons and Turkish baths.

Kim Rueben, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, said the rise of untaxed purchases might have squeezed state revenue even if income inequality hadn't widened.

"Sales taxes are being eroded by the fact that we're moving to a services economy, and people are buying far more on the Internet," she said.

Research by Lucy Dadayan, a senior policy analyst at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, notes that income tax collections have become more volatile from year to year, making it harder for states to plan budgets, provide services and launch programs. She endorses an overhaul of state tax codes to produce a more balanced revenue flow.

But S&P says its findings suggest that the wealth gap derives from many factors and that state tax-code revisions don't fully address the consequences.

"Changes to state fiscal policy alone won't likely fix what's wrong," S&P concludes.

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New study on 'income inequality' looks at Mass.

BOSTON — Advocates for changing Massachusetts' personal income tax may have new fuel for their campaign, as a new national study suggests a more progressive income tax that requires wealthier individuals to pay higher tax rates could help states deal with revenue problems.

Standard & Poor's, in a study released Monday, found that the improving fortunes of the nation's top earners corresponds with a decades-long slowdown in tax revenue growth among states. The rating agency says states adopting more progressive, or graduated, income tax rates could be more insulated from the problem, though it stops short of endorsing outright such policy changes.

"In the setting of rising income inequality, the move toward more progressive tax rates may help states generate faster tax revenue growth than would flatter tax regimes," the report concludes.

State Rep. Jay Kaufman, a Lexington Democrat that chairs the legislature's Revenue Committee, says he's not surprised by the findings. He hopes the report helps bolster efforts to address Bay State taxes.

"It's a conversation whose time has come," he said. "The problems that we've got — both with wealth inequality and our regressive tax system — are worth addressing. Our failure to address them would continue the unfairness of the system and the challenges that we have with revenue."

The Tax Fairness Commission, a legislative panel Kaufman co-chaired earlier this year, found that Massachusetts' overall tax system, including state income and sales taxes and local property taxes, places a greater burden on middle and low-income taxpayers than those with higher income. Among that bipartisan commission's recommendations: discarding Massachusetts' flat income tax rate in favor of a graduated tax rate.

Of the 43 states that have a personal income tax, Massachusetts is one of just seven that still imposes a flat rate, which is currently 5.2 percent. Changing the tax's structure, which would require voter approval of a constitutional amendment, has faced stiff opposition over the years.

Michael Widmer, a member of the Tax Fairness Commission who opposed the recommendation, says such an overhaul would only compound income inequality by discouraging business investment.

The president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed research group, he suggested more "modest" changes to the tax code, such as raising the value of certain tax exemptions for individuals and married couples. "That goes directly to the spending power of that person on the lower end that's living in a high cost state and trying to make ends meet," Widmer said.

But Noah Berger, president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a left-leaning budget research group, argues that the state has enacted a series of tax changes over the last 15 years or so that have primarily benefited the wealthy, including reductions in the overall income tax rate and the tax rate on investment income.

The result, he says, is that the lowest income households — those on living less than $21,000 a year — are paying 9.5 percent of their income toward state and local taxes while those in the top 1 percent — those earning about $700,000 or more — are paying just 6 percent.

"Our state tax system has become more conducive to supporting inequality," Berger said. "It taxes higher income people at lower rates than lower income people. That exacerbates the problem."

S&P's report cautioned that a greater dependence on top earners for income tax revenue makes it harder for state policymakers to predict what they'll find in their coffers, since much of their income comes from investments in the sometimes volatile stock market. The agency report closes with this caveat: "tax revenue growth slows as income inequality rises, regardless of a states' tax structure ... changes to state fiscal policy alone won't likely fix what's wrong."

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Building a better lightbulb

Philips Hue Lux Lightbulb ($29.95 and up each or $100 for a two-bulb starter kit with the Philips Bridge, various retailers)

The rumors are true: Lightbulbs are now smart. And the Philips Hue Lux line of smart home lighting aims to be the smartest of them all, with an app that helps you control the brightness of your home from the comfort of your mobile device. Would Thomas Edison be proud? Let's see.

The good: These app-enabled LED bulbs connect with the Hue Bridge, a central hub that plugs into your wireless network. You can dim or brighten the lights or schedule them to automatically turn on or off at a certain time via an easy-to-use app for iOS and Android. Each Hue bulb uses 80 percent less power than a traditional bulb.

The bad: They could be brighter, and they don't emit any colors; only white light.

The bottom line: For the price and the convenience, the Philips Hue Lux line is certainly worth your consideration.

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Booting Up: GM rolling out Wi-Fi across product line

The nightmare of a long drive jammed in a car with all your nearest and dearest could soon be over. In just a few years, family road trips may seem vastly different: Passengers will be able to have their own devices to play a game, stream a movie, or get work done on a computer.

That's because General Motors is working to turn cars into roving Wi-Fi hotspots for up to seven devices, introducing high-speed connectivity into more than 30 of its 2015 models. I had a chance to drive a 2015 Buick Regal with 4G LTE from Boston to New York last week, and it was superconvenient to use my favorite navigation app, Waze, while hooked up to the in-car Wi-Fi. The in-car mobile plans also come with enhanced OnStar, a service that offers emergency response, connectivity to real people, diagnostics and turn-by-turn navigation.

Pretty soon, every car buyer is going to demand this feature, and every manufacturer is going to supply it.

And that means wireless carriers are going to have yet another way to profit from our increased connectivity. Expect more carriers to get into the game, and hopefully pricing to go down as a result — because this could get expensive fast.

GM's plan offers customers either three months or 3 gigabytes of data in a free trial with the option to continue with plans that range between $5 and $50 per month. AT&T customers can add a car plan to their mobile share plan for as little as $10 per month for 200 MB of data.

That's enough to stream more than 6.5 hours of music, surf the Web for 13 hours, or send more than 10,000 emails, according to GM. But think about that for a second: If you have a car full of seven people plugging away on smartphones and tablets, that data gets eaten up pretty fast.

Securing this deal with GM was a major coup for AT&T as competition among potential in-car entertainment providers heats up. Apple and Google are already in the mix, with software that allows an increasing number of apps on your iPhone or Android to be accessed via your car computer. But with the merger of DirecTV and AT&T purportedly close to being finalized, it seems like that's the company with the clear mechanism and pipeline of multimedia content for vehicles.

Then again, there is another way to get Wi-Fi in your car: It's called a portable mobile hotspot, and the beauty of this is that you can take it in your car for family trips. The 4G LTE Verizon Jetpack is available for $129.98 with a two-year agreement on top of a monthly fee. You won't get the enhanced OnStar service, but you will be able to grab it from the car and bring it to your hotel to avoid those awful Wi-Fi fees everyone seems to be charging these days.

So the traditional American hell of forced family interaction, ad nauseam, in close quarters en route to a summer vacation destination is about to be replaced by the serenity of detachment, with each passenger happily distracted. Whether that's a good thing or not is for each family to decide.

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Safety agency investigates Ford Fiesta latches

DETROIT — U.S. safety regulators are investigating complaints that the doors won't latch properly on some Ford Fiesta subcompact cars.

The probe announced Monday covers about 205,000 Fiestas from the 2011 through 2013 model years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it has received 61 complaints about the doors. Some said the latches wouldn't catch. A dozen said a door opened while the cars were being driven.

In one case, a driver complained that his 83-year-old mother was hurt when she closed the door and it bounced back and hit her on the left hip. The woman was in pain for about two weeks. The driver told NHTSA that the door latch was made of plastic and either bent or broke.

The NHTSA database does not identify the people making the complaint.

Investigators will analyze the complaints and see how often the problem happens and determine if a recall is needed.

A Ford spokeswoman says anyone with a door latch problem should contact their dealership.

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Sun-exposure tracking device to help users see the light

A MassChallenge finalist says it's developed the first solar-powered, wearable sun-exposure tracker to improve energy, mood and focus, regulate sleep cycle, and monitor ultraviolet light exposure.

Founded by two Harvard Medical School psychiatry professors, GoodLux Technology developed SunSprite, a thumb-sized device with 10 LEDs that light up, based on a person's percentage of light exposure.

On a sunny day, most people need about 30 minutes of bright light within two hours of waking up to improve energy, mood and focus, said CEO Edward Likovich.

On an overcast day, people may need 45 minutes to an hour. And at night, they should avoid the kind of bright light that comes from a computer to fall asleep because it interferes with their circadian rhythms, Likovich said.

"It's exactly the right time for this as the days are getting shorter," he said. "It really makes an impact on people's lives."

Research dating back to 1984 found that bright light could be helpful in treating people with seasonal affective disorder. But it wasn't until 2005 that the American Psychiatric Association recommended that bright light be used before medication to treat the disorder.

"We had written about social isolation and were interested in how you could gratify someone's natural needs before you started tweaking their brain chemistry," said Jacqueline Olds, who founded GoodLux in 2012 with her husband, Richard Schwartz. "Research also shows that bright light in the morning boosts cognitive functioning in older people."

The two teamed up with Harvard engineers Tom Hayes and Kasey Russell, who developed the first prototype for SunSprite in 2012 and the second early this year.

In March, they raised money for the project on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo, where 700 people signed up to buy the device for $99. After tomorrow, the price will be $149.

The device also syncs with your iPhone, allowing you to track your progress in real time and get personalized goals and tips. GoodLux plans to have an Android app available in the coming months.

"My husband and I sit at a computer during the day, so this is a good reminder to get outside," said Jana Eggers, 45, a customer who lived in Boston for 17 years before moving to Charleston, S.C. "They made the device very simple. You can just wear it and see whether you've gotten enough light for the day. And it's solar-powered, so I don't have to worry about batteries."

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MassChallenge’s global scale

MassChallenge, already the world's largest startup accelerator and competition — with programs in Boston, Israel and, in the coming months, the U.K. — continues to push the envelope of international expansion, exploring the possibility of similar programs in Russia, Germany, Switzerland, France, Mexico and Colombia.

"Part of the vision is that we can demonstrate Boston is the global leader in innovation and entrepreneurship," John Harthorne, MassChallenge's founder and CEO, told the Herald from Berlin, one of his stops on a three-week business trip to Russia and Europe. "In most places around the world, resources like mentors, lawyers and investors for startups are missing or poorly coordinated. We have a good system in the U.S. I think we can help create huge growth, as well as open up new avenues for investment and trade between Massachusetts and these countries."

MassChallenge announced earlier this year that it had secured initial funding to launch its first London program. Harthorne said he hopes to announce new partnerships and sponsorships Wednesday for the program, which could begin accepting applications next spring or early summer. Within 18 months to two years, MassChallenge also may open an office in Russia, where Harthorne and MassChallenge mentors were on hand to offer training to 12 IT startups that recently won a competition in Skolkovo, home to Russia's largest accelerator. That training will continue for five weeks via Skype before the entrepreneurs pitch their ideas in late October in Boston, he said.

In Berlin, Harthorne met with partners who are trying to market the program, with a tentative launch in 2016. He also has planned stops in Switzerland and France.

"Right now, we're focused mostly on Europe, but there's also interest in Mexico and Colombia, both of which have been paying us for mentorship and training," Harthorne said. "When we started MassChallenge, we did plan for expansion. But we didn't expect this much excitement and interest. The challenge is keeping up with the demand."

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Bottle bill foes pour cash into campaign

Well-funded opponents of a ballot question to expand Massachusetts' bottle bill to include 5-cent deposits on bottled water, juice and sports drinks will begin a TV advertising campaign tomorrow to push their cause before the November election.

But Janet Domenitz, executive director of MassPIRG — part of a coalition of environmental groups supporting the bottle bill expansion — hopes that after an unsuccessful 10-year legislative push, voters will see through the "misleading TV ads" and pass the binding measure.

"You can certainly buy a lot of television with that kind of money, but this is a law that's been widely and broadly supported for years, so we're hoping the corrupting influence of big special interest money doesn't change the support for this bill," Domenitz said. "If the vote was taken before a bunch of misleading TV ads, we would win hands-down."

The American Beverage Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group for the non-alcoholic beverage industry, already has contributed $5 million to the "No on Question 2: Stop Forced Deposits" campaign, which has raised $5.4 million in total, according to the most recent campaign finance reports. Supermarkets including Stop & Shop, Big Y and Donelan's also have made large contributions.

The proposed law, which would take effect in April, also would require the state to adjust the deposit every five years to reflect consumer price index changes. And it would increase minimum handling fees paid by beverage distributors and bottlers.

"Question 2 costs a lot and doesn't do much of anything for recycling," said Nicole Giambusso, spokeswoman for the No on Question 2 group.

Passage would increase costs to grocers required to redeem the containers in their stores, according to Giambusso. "Those costs will trickle down to consumers and add nearly $60 million in grocery costs," she said. "And ... we'd only be getting an eighth of a percent of a recycling increase. The other alternative would be to expand curbside recycling, which a lot of communities have. (It) is three times cheaper."

Supporters of the bottle bill expansion have raised just $292,988, according to campaign finance reports. But Domenitz said the grass-roots coalition — which includes the League of Women Voters, Sierra Club, Massachusetts Audubon Society and Emerald Necklace Conservancy — is setting up a "town captain" structure where volunteers will work locally to get out the message in their own communities.

There's one data point that voters need to understand, she said: Carbonated beverage containers with the 5-cent deposit get recycled 80 percent of the time, while only 23 percent of non-deposit beverages are recycled.

"Curbside (recycling) is great, but it's not capturing these beverages," she said.

And anybody who leaves the house "doesn't need a study to back that up," according to Domenitz. "If your kid plays ball at a park or you walk your dog, or you go to the beach, or you live in the city, or you hike a trail, you've had the experience of seeing littered bottle water containers, sports drinks — the things that don't have a deposit."

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Samsung accuses LG execs of damaging its products

SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics Co. has accused senior executives of domestic rival LG Electronics Inc. of intentionally vandalizing its washing machines at retail stores in Germany and has asked for an official investigation.

In a statement Sunday, Samsung said it had asked the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to investigate executives from a Korean company who were seen as damaging its washing machines displayed at shopping malls in Berlin. A Samsung spokesman confirmed that the Korean company referred to was LG.

"The people in question have been implicated in deliberately destroying Samsung washing machines displayed at retail stores in Berlin, Germany, where, at the time, the annual IFA electronics trade show was underway," Samsung's statement said. "It is very unfortunate that Samsung had to request that a high-ranking executive be investigated by the nation's legal authorities, but this was inevitable ... the truth must be revealed for the sake of fostering fair competition."

LG Electronics denied Samsung's claim. It said in a statement that while it is true that some of its executives and staff, including a president, had visited a Berlin store and looked at various products, it is common for its employees to examine rival company's products abroad.

"If our company had an intention to destroy products of a certain company to tarnish the image of the product, it would be commonsensical to not have our executives to directly carry out such acts," LG's statement said. "We hope that this incident is not an effort to tarnish our company, which is the global No. 1 maker of washing machines."

LG said the model in question had weak hinges, but it did not say whether its executives had damaged the products.

Samsung said LG tarnished both its brand image and the reputation of its employees with claims that its washing machines were defective.

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Skin shocks used at Mass. school draw FDA look

CANTON, Mass. — Some cut themselves. Others slam their heads against walls or desks — so hard that one girl detached both retinas and a young man triggered a stroke. Another pulled out all his teeth.

Self-injury is one of the most difficult behaviors associated with autism and other developmental or intellectual disabilities, and a private facility outside Boston that takes on some of the hardest-to-treat cases is embroiled in a major debate: Should it use electrical skin shocks to try to keep patients from harming themselves or others?

The Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to ban devices used by the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Canton, Massachusetts, the only place in the country known to use skin shocks as aversive conditioning for aggressive patients.

It's a rare move by the FDA, following years of complaints from disability rights' groups and even a U.N. report that the shocks are tantamount to torture.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg says the shock therapy has raised a lot of questions.

"We really wanted to take a much more focused and rigorous look at it," Hamburg said in an interview with The Associated Press. "There's a lot of concern about the downside of this approach and the harm and the risk to the patients receiving it."

Rotenberg must get a court's approval to begin administering skin shocks to a student. The center uses a graduated electronic decelerator, or GED, that is attached to the arms or legs. If the student acts aggressively — head-banging, throwing furniture, attacking someone — then a center worker can press a button to activate the electrode, delivering a two-second shock to the skin.

Some patients compared the shocks to a hard pinch or bee sting. Others say it's far more painful; one said it was like being stung by a thousand bees.

At an FDA advisory committee hearing this year, most of the neurology and ethics experts concluded the device poses an unreasonable and substantial risk, while acknowledging that other therapies don't work for everyone.

"I think that what has happened is that this has gone on for this long because this is a population who cannot adequately speak for themselves," Dr. Karen Weigle, a clinical psychologist affiliated with the University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability, told fellow committee members.

Dr. Steven Miles, a bioethicist at the University of Minnesota, was one of several advisers concerned about the lack of scientific studies showing the shock therapy works. That only one treatment facility uses them, he said, makes it "unreasonable to conclude that these devices are part of the standard of care for this class of patients."

But Louisa Goldberg of Newton, Massachusetts, says the skin shocks are the only treatment that has worked for her son, Andrew, who suffered brain damage at birth and became dangerously aggressive as he got older.

Andrew Goldberg spent years at a New Hampshire facility, where his mother says he bit, hit and kicked staff members. When restraints did not work, workers tried medications to calm him. "He was a zombie," Louisa Goldberg said.

He was kicked out at age 19 and taken to Rotenberg, which weaned him from some medications and began the skin shocks. Now, at 33, Goldberg still gets a shock or two every month, but his mom says his life is better.

"Andrew is awake. He's alert. He's happy and he's functioning to the best of his abilities," Louisa Goldberg said in an interview. "We have our son back."

Rotenberg's executive director, Glenda Crookes, calls the shocks a last resort coupled with positive behavior programs, such as rewarding students with time at JRC's Internet cafe or the teen lounge with its arcade games. The idea is that the two-second shock is quick but painful enough to jar the patient out of the harmful episode.

Of the 235 patients at the center, 55 are being treated with skin shocks. Most are in their 30s; five are between age 17 and 21.

The FDA first cleared the GED device for use in 1994. But Rotenberg started using a more powerful version, about 2.5 times stronger, that was developed after one student built up a tolerance to the shocks. In 2000, the FDA said the newer device didn't need approval, but the agency changed its position in 2011 and said approval was required, eventually leading to April's hearing on whether to ban it altogether.

The center insists it is safe.

Some former students say otherwise.

"It's not safe. It doesn't feel safe. I ended up having nightmares," Jennifer Msumba testified via video at the FDA's hearing. The 38-year-old said the GED left burn marks and was prone to misfires, unintended shocks.

Msumba's mother is suing JRC. Her attorney says Jennifer Msumba, who has autism, was given more than 230 electrical shock treatments since 2002 and not permitted to take psychiatric medications. Msumba said she is less anxious at a new treatment facility in Florida.

"They help figure out what makes me want to do things that could be harmful so I can learn how I feel before it happens," Msumba told the AP.

Rotenberg representatives says the suit has no merit and that "Jennifer made incredible progress" at the center.

About 10 percent of people with intellectual disabilities or autism display self-injurious behavior. Severity varies widely and treatment should be individualized, said Dr. Louis Hagopian, program director of the neurobehavioral unit at Baltimore's Kennedy Krieger Institute. Hagopian was not part of the FDA panel reviewing skin shocks.

The most studied approach — behavioral treatment — involves identifying what social or environmental factors trigger a patient's behavior, and then teaching the person coping skills plus altering their environment to decrease those problematic situations. Hagopian said medications that address mood, impulsiveness and other conditions also frequently are used.

Jennifer Msumba's suit is not the first.

Cheryl McCollins sued the center for malpractice after her autistic son, Andre, was shocked more than 30 times over approximately seven hours in 2002. In a surveillance video played in court, Andre is seen lying face down with his arms and legs tied to a restraining board. He can be heard screaming, "Help me. No." The center settled the suit.

The center says that "is not the same treatment approach JRC would take today." Crookes, the center's executive director, said skin shocks would be suspended earlier and the center would take a closer look at potential triggers of aggression.

Sharon Wood of Charlottesville, Virginia, fears a ban on skin shocks would return her 21-year-old son, Joshua, to the violent behavior that used to force her to lock herself in a room with her young daughter. Joshua Wood is profoundly autistic. His parents say they tried everything but the only thing that worked was the shocks.

"Do not take away what is saving his life," Sharon Wood said in an interview as the FDA considers the ban. "Don't take this away until you are convinced there are better alternatives."

____

Neergaard reported from Washington.

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