By Frank James

With the economy being what it is, you would think a business as consumer dependent as one that sells and leases cars, trucks and boats would be reluctant to offend any potential customers by stirring up political and racial controversy.

But that apparently isn't the case with some businesses, like Wolf Wheat Ridge Interstate Leasing and Sales in Wheat Ridge, Colo. outside Denver. There's a "birther" billboard on the property which shows two caricatures of President Barack Obama, one with him wearing a turban with the word "jihad" next to it. The words "Birth Certificate. Prove It!" appear prominently on the sign. The sign's kicker is "Wake Up America! Remember Ft. Hood."

The Associated Press reports:

General Manager Wayne Means says the dealership has seen strong opinions about the sign, both for and against it. The left-leaning advocacy group MoveOn.org called the billboard "racist" and is asking customers to boycott the business.

Dealership owner Phil Wolf was unavailable for comment.

Again, it really seems like a dubious business move to antagonize potential customers, especially when they're so hard to come by these days. But maybe Wolf has all the customers he wants or needs.

The commercial real-estate crisis hasn't gotten nearly as much attention as the problems in the residential housing market which literally affect people where they live.

But the widening problems in the commercial sector are expected to put even more pressure on banks as their corporate customers have difficulty repaying their loans, thus slowing down the recovery and perhaps even contribute to a dreaded double-dip recession.

So its useful to see the Huffington Post report that brings more attention to the problem which experts say hasn't yet reached bottom. They expect that to come next year.

As Christine Spolar and Lagan Sebert write for HuffPo:

Financial reports this month from federal regulators and industry analysts detail a new cycle of uncertainty that they fear could cripple the economic recovery. Billions of dollars in commercial debt will have to be paid back or refinanced at a time when property values have plummeted. About $500 billion will come due in 2010 alone and an equal amount every year through at least 2012, according to the Federal Reserve.

Many banks that cater to regional and community developments were largely unscathed by the residential mortgage meltdown. But now they are facing huge numbers of possible defaults by builders who erected thousands of office towers, condominiums and shopping centers with the easy credit available five years ago. With few tenants, those developments are turning into what industry insiders call zombie buildings.

The report is accompanied by a video featuring a Washington, D.C. developer, Jeff Neel, who gives Spolar a tour of a zombie building he built as well as other properties.

"I was sad about it a year ago. I'm over it. Move on."

Unfortunately, it won't be as easy for the economy to follow his lead.

The HuffPo piece mentions a report by the Urban Land Institute called "Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2010."

The picture it paints for next year isn't for the faint-hearted:

After more than a year spent in suspended animation lagging already shattered housing markets, the commercial real estate industry hits bottom in 2010, suffering a surge of painful writedowns, defaults, and workouts. Massive government infusions finally build up loss reserves in financial institutions to levels allowing them to foreclose or strike deals with many overleveraged borrowers. In turn, banks will start to dispose of real estate owned, and government regulators will package and sell more bad loans and real estate assets acquired in takeovers of increasing numbers of failed community and regional banks. Transaction markets will begin to thaw and value declines ultimately will average more than 40 percent off mid-2007 pricing peaks. These property market reversals likely will be the worst registered since the Great Depression, eclipsing the industry debacle of the early 1990s.

ACORN, the community organizing group targeted by Republican critics who have accused it of voter fraud on behalf of Democrats and other illegalities, didn't directly receive any Justice Department funding, according to an inspector general's report.

Inspector General Glenn Fine did find, however, that some Justice Department money did indirectly get to ACORN or affiliates of the group.

An excerpt from the report:

Our review did not find any direct DOJ grants to ACORN during the past 7 years. However, as described below, we found that one recipient of DOJ grant funds entered into a sub-agreement with ACORN for program activities. In addition, we identified one direct grant of DOJ funds to an affiliate of ACORN. We also identified three instances in which a DOJ grantee entered into a sub-award with an ACORN affiliate. Thus, in total, we found that ACORN and its affiliates received one direct grant and four sub-awards totaling approximately $200,000 between fiscal years (FY) 2002 and 2009. In addition, during this period we determined that ACORN affiliates submitted five applications for DOJ grant funds that were denied.

Congress began to scrutinize ACORN after undercover activists filmed ACORN workers apparently giving advice on how to avoid taxes for a child prostitution business.

The House and Senate both voted to cut off ACORN from federal money.

Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, asked whether the Justice Department has ever given grants to ACORN or its affiliates.

The new report by Inspector General Glenn Fine says ACORN did not receive any money directly from the Justice Department.

But some of the group's affiliates did.

And three groups that won Justice Department grants distributed money to ACORN.

In total, all those awards add up to $200,000 dollars.

That's a fraction of the $53 million ACORN and its affiliates have received in federal funds over the last 15 years.

By Frank James

Just because they're masters of the universe doesn't mean the people of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. don't care about their fellow man.

Fairly or not, the investment bank, which reported a $3.2 billion third-quarter profit, is perceived by many as a company that places profits and political power ahead of the general good.

But would a corporate culture that didn't care have three hundred Goldman employees volunteering to tidy up next week after a Salvation Army Thanksgiving dinner for 10,000 needy people?

Or would it create a $500 million fund, as Goldman has, to help finance thousands of small businesses, many of which are having a difficult time finding credit to keep going in the present economic climate?

Specifically, they want the company to reduce the number of Goldman employees, including temporary workers, who are in the bonus pool which makes them eligible to receive lots of money and stock.

As The Wall Street Journal reported:

Some of the largest shareholders in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have urged the Wall Street firm to reduce the size of its bonus pool, arguing that it should pass along more of its blockbuster earnings to investors, according to people familiar with the situation.

The investors hold tens of millions of shares in Goldman Sachs, which is on track to make the biggest employee payout in the firm's 140-year history.

Their complaints in private conversations with the company and at analyst meetings show how anger over its big-money culture is spilling into the ranks of investors who typically shy away from debates over Wall Street pay.

One frustration: Despite record net income and compensation at Goldman as markets rebound and the firm outmuscles weakened rivals for business, analysts expect its 2009 earnings per share to be 22% lower than in 2007 and roughly equal to its 2006 earnings, according to Thomson Financial.

The decline is caused by issuing more than 100 million shares in the past year to bolster Goldman's financial position and capital. The shareholders have said that reining in the bonus pool would deliver an upward jolt to per-share earnings and the share price, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Some major Goldman shareholders also are concerned about a little-noticed change in the company's financial statements that increased the firm's total head count by adding temporary employees and consultants. The change reduced per-employee compensation, making it look like Goldman employees earn less than they actually do.

The figure is a lightning rod for criticism of Goldman because its staff is on pace to earn about $717,000 apiece for 2009. Excluding temporary employees and consultants would increase compensation per employee to about $775,000.

The company's response, according to the WSJ, doesn't suggest that the company is about to share in quite the way these shareholders want.

In response to criticism that Goldman should share more of its wealth with investors, company spokesman Lucas van Praag says shareholders "have historically been more focused on the absolute return on equity and on book value per share growth" than per-share earnings.

In otherwords, with these shareholders, Goldman would prefer to change the subject.

By Mark Memmott

Traces of writing on the "Shroud of Turin" appear to be something of a death certificate and are consistent with what would have been on such a shroud at the time of Jesus Christ's death, a Vatican researcher says.

The Times of London writes that Barbara Frale, a researcher in the Vatican secret archives, says that the fragments of words written in Greek, Hebrew and Latin suggest the shroud was placed over "Jesus of Nazarene, or Jesus of Nazareth."

While carbon dating has indicated the shroud was made in the Middle Ages, well after Jesus' death, Frale maintains that it would have been "heretical" in the Middle Ages not to refer to him as the Son of God. She also says it was common at the time of Jesus' death for documents to be written with letters from several languages.

The Associated Press writes that Frale "believes the text was written on a document by a clerk and glued to the shroud over the face so the body could be identified by relatives and buried properly. Metals in the ink used at the time may have allowed the writing to transfer to the linen, Frale claimed."

She details her findings in a new book, La Sindone di Gesu Nazareno (The Shroud of Jesus of Nazareth)>

Sen. Ben Nelson will vote to allow Senate Democrats' health-care bill to be debated. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

One down, two to go. Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, one of the three Democrats whose votes are needed to move the Senate Democrats' health-care overhaul legislation to the Senate floor for debate, said Friday he would vote to allow the debate.

"For more than a year, Nebraskans and all Americans have debated health care reform in their homes, at work, and with friends at hundreds of town hall meetings.

"This weekend, I will vote for the motion to proceed to bring that debate onto the Senate floor.

The Senate should start trying to fix a health care system that costs too much and delivers too little for Nebraskans.

"Throughout my Senate career I have consistently rejected efforts to obstruct. That's what the vote on the motion to proceed is all about.

"It is not for or against the new Senate health care bill released Wednesday.

"It is only to begin debate and an opportunity to make improvements. If you don't like a bill why block your own opportunity to amend it?

The remaining two Democrats who have not yet committed publicly to voting for the debate are also from states where many Democrats are more conservative and resemble Republicans -- Sen. Blanche Lincoln from Arkansas who faces a tough re-election fight and Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.

By Mark Memmott

For the first time in the 10 months since he took office, President Barack Obama's approval rating has dropped below 50% in Gallup's daily "tracking" poll.

The polling firm just reported that its surveys show "49% of Americans approving of the job Barack Obama is doing as president."

And the gap between Obama's "approval" and "disapproval" numbers has narrowed to five percentage points: 44% of those surveyed disapprove of the job he's doing, Gallup says.

The numbers, Gallup writes:

Are based on telephone interviews with 1,533 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Nov. 17-19, 2009, as part of Gallup Daily tracking. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points.

It adds that "most of the recent decline in support for Obama occurred in July and August." And:

Obama now is the fourth fastest to drop below the majority approval level, doing so in his 10th month on the job. Gerald Ford dropped below 50% approval during his third month in office, and Bill Clinton did so in his fourth month. Ronald Reagan, like Obama, also dropped below 50% in his 10th month in office, though Reagan's drop occurred a few days sooner in that month.

Gallup has been doing presidential approval polling since the Truman administration, and it says "all presidents except John Kennedy dropped below the majority approval level at some point in their presidencies, and all recovered after the first time below this mark to go back above 50% approval."

Pollster.com collects data from a variety of pollsters. It's latest average of those surveys puts Obama's approval rating at 50.5% and his disapproval rating at 44.5%.

NPR's Political Junkie, Ken Rudin, blogs over here.

By Frank James

People who love to fish the waters of the Great Lakes for salmon, trout and sturgeon have reason to worry today.

Federal officials are reporting that the Asian carp may have gotten past a electric barrier meant to prevent the invasive species from entering the Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes where they could threaten the existence of the multi-billion dollar sports fishing business.

According to the Associated Press:

Officials with the Army Corps of Engineer say Friday that DNA of the giant carp have been found north of the barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

A bighead carp at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium.(M. Spencer Green / AP Photo)

If correct, that would mean the carp might reach Lake Michigan if they get through a navigational lock. From there, they could spread throughout the Great Lakes and out-compete native species for food

The Fish and Wildlife Service provides useful background on the Asian carp. For instance, there are several species of these fish -- the Bighead, Black, Grass and Silver carps.

These fish can get huge. The Black and Grass carps can grow to more than four feet and weigh in at more than 100 pounds.

... carp have been imported into the U.S. for use in the aquaculture industry. There are concerns about the effects that four Asian carp species (grass, bighead, silver, and black) are having on native fish and shellfish when released or escaped into the wild.

The carp grow to large sizes (50-110 lbs.) and quickly become some of the most abundant fish captured from an area, possibly out competing native species for food or habitat resources. They have become so abundant in the Missouri River that there have been reports of commercial fishermen abandoning fishing sites due to the large catch of Asian carp. The carp are found throughout the Mississippi River drainage. They have not been found in the Great Lakes, and there is some concern that they may spread to that area through the Illinois River and Chicago Shipping and Sanitary Canal.

Illinois officials announced earlier this month, that they planned to dump fish poison into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to kill carp below the barrier. The plan is to use electrical prods to chase good fish to the surface so they can be relocated away from the poison.

Asian carp have been detected using environmental DNA testing in the canal below the barrier, and there is consensus among federal, state, and local agencies along with other partners that actions must be taken to prevent these invasive species from reaching Lake Michigan while Barrier IIA is shut down.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), in coordination with the multi-agency Asian Carp Rapid Response Workgroup along with the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force, will manage the application of rotenone in the CSSC. While the toxicant will eradicate Asian carp and other fish in the canal, rotenone does not present a risk to people or other wildlife when used properly.

The application of rotenone is planned for December 3, and crews from the IDNR and other agencies will remove fish from the canal and dispose of them in a landfill. The fish habitat in the section of the canal scheduled for treatment is made up of mostly non-sport fish with the most common species being common carp, goldfish, and gizzard shad. Before the application of rotenone, an electro-fishing operation will be conducted to relocate as many sport fish as possible. Rotenone dissipates quickly on its own, but to accelerate that process a neutralizing agent known as potassium permanganate will be used following the application.

NPR's David Schaeper, who on Friday reported on the latest Asian carp developments for the network and has covered this story for some time, told me after listening to a Friday conference call with officials:

... While they can't say definitively they are no Asian carp is Lake Michigan, the state and federal officials and scientists all say they have no evidence whatsoever that Asian carp are in the lake.

Also:

...The new DNA evidence puts the ugly fish about 6 -- 8 miles away, near the Thomas O'Brien Lock on the Calumet River, but that is 20 miles closer to the lake than previously thought.

David also tells me:

Environmental and conservation groups are calling for the three locks between Lake Michigan and the Chicago and Calumet Rivers to be closed in a last ditch effort to keep the Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes.

From their press release:

The groups demand that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state of Illinois close the O'Brien, Chicago River and Wilmette locks until monitoring results show the waterways are completely clear of bighead and silver carp and that an electric barrier built to keep them out of Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes has not been breached.

"Today, there are no second chances," said Joel Brammeier, acting president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes. "We cannot miss this opportunity to protect the lakes from these fish and their devastating legacy. It's imperative we put the health of the Great Lakes -- the world's largest surface freshwater system -- first."

David also tipped me to YouTube videos showing the Asian carp's propensity to jump out of the water when startled.

Over the years, David has had stories about the invasive species problem in the Great Lakes, including the Asian carp; the hope scientists placed in electricity to stop the carp, and the notion that Americans might as well make a virtue of necessity by learning to eat the carp.

The Senate Select Committee on Ethics has sent Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., a "public letter of qualified admonition" for "providing incorrect, inconsistent, misleading or incomplete information" about the events that led to his being appointed to fill the seat vacated by President Barack Obama.

Burris' statements, the committee says, reflected unfavorably upon the Senate.

They did not, however, amount to "actionable violations of law," the bi-partisan panel added.

The Chicago Tribune writes that Burris, "sought to cast the committee's action as a vindication" because it did not find he broke the law and issued a statement saying:

"I am pleased that after numerous investigations, this matter has finally come to a close. I thank the members of the Senate Ethics Committee for their fair and thorough review of this matter, and now look forward to continuing the important work ahead on behalf of the people of Illinois."

The ethics committee found that:

-- The senator "gave multiple and at times contradictory explanations for failing to disclose" his contacts with the governor's associates.

-- Burris had an "inappropriate" conversation with Blagojevich's brother on Nov. 13, 2008, during which Robert Blagojevich "was explicit about the purpose of his call: to raise campaign funds for his brother" and Burris "appeared to agree to write a check."

There's a storm brewing on the Web over e-mails that hackers got hold of in which some scientists at one of the world's leading research centers say things such as the need to "hide the decline" in data about temperatures. Skeptics who have doubts about whether humans are contributing to global warming are pouncing on the revelations.

As The Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capital blog says, "this should get interesting."

The Guardian lays out much of the story here. It writes that:

Australia's Investigate magazine reports here that Phil Jones, head of the Climate Research Unit, says that he does not remember exactly what he meant 10 years ago when he wrote in an e-mail about the need to "hide the decline." He argues, though, that he was not trying to mislead anyone, but rather had likely been discussing how to add "instrumental data" from recent years to "proxy data, going back further in time, a thousand years."

It was apparently a blog called The Air Vent that first broke the news.

The BBC suspects it's no coincidence that the e-mails surfaced shortly before the December climate summit in Copenhagen.

Ed Morrissey at the conservative Hot Air wonders:

Do scientists use data to test theories, or do they use theories to test data? Scientists will claim the former, but here we have scientists who cling to the theory so tightly that they reject the data. That's not science; it's religious belief.

The queen of all media, Oprah Winfrey, fought back tears a short time ago as she confirmed to her talk show audience that her show will end in 2011. The Chicago Sun-Times writes writes:

"Twenty five years feels right in my bones and right in my spirit," she told her audience, at times tearing up during the announcement. "It is the exact right time."

The Chicago Tribune adds this:

"Why walk away?," she said at the end of her show, fighting back tears. "Here is the real reason. I love this show, this show has been my life, and I love it enough to know when it's time to leave."

Over at Monkey See, Linda Holmes predicts that "the next two years are going to be so insufferable that they will make you forget all about the multiple, tearful, overwrought, tooth-gnashing farewells to Brett Favre."

The lengthy saga of former NBA star Jayson Williams, who has battled criminal charges ever since the 2002 death of a limo driver by a blast from a shotgun the ex-professional athlete was showing off, is apparently growing even lengthier.

It's being reported that the judge has indefinitely delayed a hearing scheduled for Friday at which, according to the Associated Press and Newark Star-Ledger, Williams was expected to plead guilty to an aggravated assault charge. The AP reports that "no reason was given."

Both the AP and Newark Star-Ledger reported Thursday that they had learned that Williams had agreed to plead guilty to an aggravated assault charge which carries the possibility of a three-year prison sentence.

By Mark Memmott

As Planet Money's Daniel Costello reports this morning, "Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas Republican and lifelong critic of the Federal Reserve, scored a big win Thursday on Capitol Hill by getting a House panel to pass a bill requiring new reviews of the Fed's interest-rate decisions."

The Wall Street Journal writes that "Mr. Paul's amendment removes restrictions on the Government Accountability Office's auditing authority, giving auditors access to every item on the Fed's balance sheet. He for more than 20 years has championed significantly neutering the Fed."

And The Washington Post adds that on a day when the administration was under attack from several lawmakers over its economic policies:

Perhaps most troubling for the administration was that one of the few measures to succeed Thursday was an amendment by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) that would subject the Federal Reserve to unprecedented scrutiny. ...

Paul and allies in both parties -- more than 300 members of Congress have endorsed the measure -- are looking to increase oversight of an institution they consider partly to blame for the financial crisis. Federal officials and many private economists worry that the amendment could make future central bank policymakers reluctant to take unpopular steps to prevent inflation or support the economy for fear of second-guessing by Congress and government auditors.

So, the theory in support of the Fed's traditional independence is that it shouldn't be subject to political pressures from the White House or Congress because that could adversely affect its role in setting monetary policy.

The counter-argument is that the unelected officials at the central bank have too much power.

You can read Paul's legislation here.

It's a complicated issue, of course, but we wonder:

(This question will close Sunday at 10 a.m. ET.)

Update at 9:55 a.m. ET. Back in September, Paul was on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to talk about his book End The Fed:

Also, early in my career -- when I covered economics for USA TODAY -- I found William Greider's 1989 book Secrets of the Temple of enormous help in understanding the central bank and why some have questions about the power it has.

Don't panic, Virginia, letters to Santa Claus may still reach the North Pole.

There's word from North Pole, Alaska, this morning that volunteers there have met with U.S. Postal Service officials to try to work out a way that children's letters to Santa can still be sent to the town -- where for decades volunteers have taken the time to send back answers.

The program is in jeopardy because of new, stricter Postal Service rules designed to ensure that the volunteers in such programs around the nation don't have access to the names and addresses of children. There's concern about the possibility of registered sex offender getting such information -- one such person had volunteered at a Maryland location last year.

NPR's Todd Holtzman, the son, nephew and cousin of "proud U.S. postal workers," writes that the Postal Service's new rules are "another overreaction in a world grown foggy with fear."

As he says, the famous 1897 newspaper editorial known as "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," offers some solace. In case you haven't read that holiday classic in a while, here's a link to the Newseum's online copy.

He doesn't like what the Postal Service is thinking. (Sam Harrel/AP)

"The sister of former Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle on Thursday won a $300 million jury verdict, the largest individual win in the Big Tobacco lawsuits in Florida," the Sun Sentinel writes. "Cindy Naugle, an office manager and bookkeeper at Layton's Garage in Fort Lauderdale, sued Philip Morris, owner of her cigarette brand of choice, Benson & Hedges."

The newspaper adds that Naugle was "found only 10% at fault for taking up smoking when she was 20-years-old." The Sun-Sentinel says she is now 60 and "has emphysema and labors to do the simplest tasks."

Bloomberg News breaks down the judgement: "$56.6 million in compensatory damages and $244 million in punitive damages." It adds that Naugle's lawyer, Robert Kelley, says Philip Morris is responsible for all the punitive damages and 90% of the compensatory damages (because she was found 10% responsible).

Philip Morris' parent, Altria Group, called the judgment "fundamentally unfair" and said it will seek a court review.

A key issue in the case was Naugle's contention that Philip Morris concealed the fact that smoking is addictive and harmful.

Here's a question:

(The question closes at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday.)