WASHINGTON — Congress seems increasingly reluctant to let taxes go up, even on wealthier Americans. Worried about the fragile economy and their own upcoming elections, a growing number of Democrats are joining the rock-solid Republican opposition to President Barack Obama’s plans to let some of the Bush administration’s tax cuts expire. Democratic [ Read More → ]

What’s stopping small businesses from hiring? One popular story line of the recession is that small businesses, which employ about half the workforce, are afraid to hire because they don’t know what health-care reform and tax changes will mean. Based on that narrative, some stock market observers predict that the November [ Read More → ]

Shopping around for a cheaper quote saves drivers an average of £58, according to Which?. Around 60% of motorists benefit from looking before they leap and other tips to trim your premium include increasing your voluntary excess – a costly gamble if you come a cropper – or telling your insurer [ Read More → ]

International law firm Greenberg Traurig has the best 401(k) retirement plan in South Florida of plans with at least $50 million in assets, independent rater BrightScope said Tuesday. Greenberg Traurig’s plan ranked an 80 out of a possible 100. BrightScope ratings between 73 and 74 are considered average, 75 through 79 [ Read More → ]

NEW YORK — The developers planning to build a $100 million Islamic center near the World Trade Center site still have financial hurdles to clear: They haven’t finished buying all the property they want for the project and are nearly a quarter-million dollars behind on real estate taxes and late [ Read More → ]

Which is the greater threat to investors: inflation or deflation? If you don’t know the answer to that, welcome to the club, and expect the tug of war between the two portfolio influencers to last a few more years. Left to raw market forces, we should probably be [ Read More → ]

NEW YORK (AP) — Total money market mutual fund assets fell by $6.22 billion to $2.827 trillion for the week, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday. Assets of the nation’s retail money market mutual funds fell by $470 million in the latest week to $966 billion. Assets of taxable money market funds [ Read More → ]

Workers are paying a larger portion of their health insurance costs as businesses shift more of the burden to their employees to help ride out the economic downturn, an annual study shows. The average employee contribution toward premiums for family coverage climbed 14 percent this year to nearly $4,000, according to [ Read More → ]

NEW YORK — This year’s back-to-school season isn’t as big a bust for retailers as they feared — or as last year’s — but it’s not great either. Americans are spending only when the item and price are just right, according to August reports from major chains released Thursday [ Read More → ]

James Mayer, The Oregonian Follow Share this story Story tools Brent Wojahn/The OregonianDanna Gunn of Portland shops for shoes on the opening day of Saks Off 5th in Bridgeport Village Thursday. The store features both discounted items from the full-price Saks Fifth Avenue line and merchandise made specifically for Off 5th. 3 0 Share In 1987, Saks [ Read More → ]