As Iraq descends further into violence and disarray, the Pentagon is turning to a weapon some believe should have been used years ago: jobs.	Federal prosecutors have enlisted at least one cooperating witness to testify about the role of former Reagan-era budget chief David A. Stockman in a criminal investigation into the finances of a Michigan auto parts company he led until his ouster last year, according to sources briefed on the...	The government plans to limit grain exports, selling no more than 1.1 million tons of grain in the marketing year that starts July 1. The total represents about 10 percent of what Ukraine exported a year ago. The government plans to limit exports to 3,000 metric tons of wheat, 600,000 tons of barley...
Republican lawmakers, with little public debate, quietly added a billion-dollar health-care benefit to legislation that was rushed through Congress just before it adjourned Saturday morning.	S usan Hedeler is going home -- to eleven-eleven, as she calls it.	Are you a serial returner? By that I mean, do you routinely return items, especially holiday gifts? If so, be forewarned. Some retailers have resorted to using a computer database to track customer returns and catch fraudulent or excessive returns. Return fraud, which by the way includes bringing back used merchandise for a full refund, will cost retailers $3.5 billion this holiday season, according to a recent report by the National Retail Federation. For the year, the retail industry says it stands to lose $9.6 billion from fraudulent returns. Meanwhile, returns are expected to accelerate after Christmas. ...