Washington in 5 Minutes

CALIFORNIA

Fiorina launches Senate campaign

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. | Former Silicon Valley executive Carly Fiorina announced Wednesday she is running for the chance to seize liberal stalwart Barbara Boxer’s U.S. Senate seat, depicting the three-term Democrat as a Capitol Hill do-nothing who penned novels while jobs vanished and government spending soared.

The former Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO’s entry into the race could present California’s junior senator with her most formidable re-election challenge, but Mrs. Fiorina first will have to survive what could become a scalding Republican primary against state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who has worked feverishly to court Republican voters.

Mrs. Fiorina described herself Wednesday as a Republican devoted to low taxes and tightfisted budgets and “a political newcomer who actually knows how to get something done.”

“What do you say that come next year, we give Barbara Boxer the chance to become a full-time novelist?” Mrs. Fiorina told an invited audience in Orange County, a traditional Republican stronghold.

UTAH

Bennett’s top rival quits Senate race

SALT LAKE CITY | Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff on Wednesday dropped out of a U.S. Senate race to spend more time with his 17-year-old daughter, who is suffering from severe mental health problems and has attempted suicide in the past.

“It is absolutely 100 percent based on my daughter and my family’s needs,” Mr. Shurtleff said in an interview. “Whether she survives depends on the next year, and so the Senate race had to give.”

Mr. Shurtleff was one of several Republicans challenging U.S. Sen. Robert F. Bennett for the party nomination this spring. He was considered Mr. Bennett’s most serious challenger, although Mr. Bennett has maintained a sizable fundraising lead.

The most recent Federal Election Commission reports show Mr. Bennett has raised about $1.6 million and has about $790,000 cash on hand, while Mr. Shurtleff raised about $209,000 and had $146,000 in the bank.

Mr. Bennett’s three other Republican challengers have little statewide name recognition or political experience.

ANALYSIS

Cash for Clunkers adds little mileage

The most common deals under the government’s $3 billion “Cash for Clunkers” program, aimed at putting more fuel-efficient cars on the road, replaced old Ford or Chevrolet pickups with new ones that got only marginally better gas mileage, according to an analysis of new federal data by the Associated Press.

The single most common swap - which occurred more than 8,200 times - involved Ford F150 pickup owners who took advantage of a government rebate to trade their old trucks for new Ford F150s. They were 17 times more likely to buy a new F150 than, say, a Toyota Prius. The fuel economy for the new trucks ranged from 15 miles per gallon to 17 mpg based on engine size and other factors, an improvement of just 1 mpg to 3 mpg over the clunkers.

Owners of thousands more large old Chevrolet and Dodge pickups bought new Silverado and Ram trucks, also with only barely improved mileage in the middle teens, according to an AP analysis of sales of $15.2 billion worth of vehicles at nearly 19,000 car dealerships in every state.

HOUSE

Climate envoy points to China

The United States will not agree to target cutting greenhouse gas emissions unless developing countries, particularly China, make similar moves, U.S. climate change envoy Todd Stern warned Wednesday.

“No country holds the fate of the Earth in its hands more than China,” Mr. Stern told the House Foreign Affairs Committee, weeks before a major climate change summit in Copenhagen.

Mr. Stern said new climate rules could include exemptions for developing countries to ensure that growth is not hampered, but emerging giants such as China, India and Brazil should pull their weight.

“What we do not agree with, though, is that we should commit to implement what we promise to do, while major developing countries make no commitment at all,” he said.

His comments come as divisions between developed and developing countries threaten to scuttle a Copenhagen climate deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

“We have 32 days left before the beginning of the Copenhagen conference and there is still a lot of work to do,” Mr. Stern said.

LEGISLATION

Senate extends jobless benefits

The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to provide the jobless with up to 20 weeks of additional unemployment benefits and expand a first-time homebuyer tax credit to include a far larger pool of people entering the dormant housing market.

The $24 billion bill, passed 98-0, also provides tax relief for struggling businesses. It would help more than 1 million out-of-work people who will run out of benefits by the end of the year. Everyone will receive 14 weeks of additional benefits, while those in states with unemployment rates of 8.5 percent and above get six weeks on top of that.

If enacted, the jobless in the hardest-hit states could receive up to 99 weeks of benefits, which average about $300 a week. That would well exceed the previous record of 65 weeks during the 1970s.

The $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, enacted as part of the stimulus package last February and set to expire this month, would be extended and expanded to include a $6,500 credit for people who have lived in their current residences at least five years.