Tighter economic times for customers and stores mean tighter political times for Mr Bush.

BBC: US petrol prices rise above the $2 a gallon level

All these votes and opinion polls suggest that European voters are far from convinced, to put it mildly, by Mr Delors's pan-European vision of a tighter political union.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne: In defence of Romano Prodi | The

Fred Wertheimer is a long-time advocate for tighter controls on political money.

NPR: Internet Covered by Campaign Finance Laws

The National Health Service is still with us, but now there is a lot of argument about how it will be paid for, as we all live longer and money is tighter, but nobody from any political party would dare to talk about scrapping it.

WSJ: Social Media

Some liberal political activists are advocating using Washington's new powers to pursue other agendas, such as forcing tighter emissions curbs or mandating costly health insurance coverage.

FORBES: How Capitalism Will Save Us

Although its economy is still growing smartly, India has hit up against several limits--nasty inflation and the tighter money to combat it, redolent corruption and a seeming official hesitance to confront it, and political stagnation with no prospect of it changing soon.

FORBES: Magazine Article