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A double-digit drop in mail volume helped pushed down third-quarter earnings at the U.S. Postal Service, which posted a loss of $2.4 billion for the quarter ended June 30. The service, which has lost $4.7 billion so far this year, compared to a loss in the same period last year of $1.1 billion, said it expects to lose more than $7 billion by fiscal year’s end on Sept. 30.

The principal behind the Cash for Clunkers program that has proven catastrophically popular is that it allows people with gas-guzzling and polluting old cars to trade them in for more fuel efficient vehicles. But what does that really mean? Legislators could easily have required that new cars get better than, say 22 mpg combined. Why didn't they? Because American cars are clunkers. Requiring clunkers to be traded for truly efficient vehicles, then, would have provided stimulus for foreign companies. So, in answer to my question, the Cash for Clunkers program is only the teensy tiniest bit green. Opportunities were missed...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- While the Cash for Clunkers program is being hailed as a success, having apparently burned much or all its of its billion dollar budget in a matter of days, some analysts doubt the program will amount to much in the long run. Even with more funding, the resulting boost in auto sales will amount to little more than a temporary reprieve, said Gary Dilts, an auto analyst with J.D. Power and Assoc. "$2 billion will buy you another piece of a month," he said, "it would buoy August into a reasonable month."

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US House of Representatives voted Friday to pump another two billion dollars into a program that lets consumers trade in gas-guzzling cars and trucks for more efficient vehicles. Lawmakers voted 316-109 to prime the "cash-for-clunkers" program with monies taken from a giant economic stimulus package approved in early 2009 after the vastly popular effort burned through one billion dollars in its first week. The measure must now clear the US Senate, where its fate is far less clear, amid disputes on whether to require higher fuel efficiency and greater emissions reductions before extending the campaign. The...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional officials say the government plans to suspend the popular "cash for clunkers" program amid concerns it could quickly use up the $1 billion in rebates for new car purchases. The Transportation Department called congressional offices late Thursday to alert them to the decision to halt the program, which offered owners of old cars and trucks $3,500 or $4,500 toward a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle. The congressional officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Through late Wednesday, 22,782 vehicles had been purchased through the program and nearly $96 million had...